The latest release from Gothic Voices, 'The Dufay Spectacle' has received outstanding reviews, including an Editor's Choice Feature in July's edition of Gramophone Magazine. This new disc for Linn Records, composed of secular music by Guillaume Dufay, features the 4 singers of Gothic Voices alongside several guest artists - singers Clare Wilkinson and Jimmy Holliday, and instrumentalists Keith McGowan, Andrew Lawrence-King on harp, Jane Achtman on medieval fiddle, and Emily White on sackbut.
“Voices and instruments alike swiftly entice the listener with their excellence and evocative atmosphere, Gothic Voices magnificently transporting us to their 15th-century sound world.” - Martin Cullingford, Gramophone (Editor's Choice)
"Given the complexity of rhythm and texture in much of this music, it is wonderful to hear such stylish performances in which vocal flexibility and clarity are never absent" - Tony Way, Limelight Magazine
"The take-away [from this disc] is that Gothic Voices fill this music with life. For all the clarity of the presentation - and this is exemplary, even when instruments are added - the expression always comes first." - Detlef Krenge, BR Klassik
"Exquisite French chansons (in the formes fixes of rondeau and ballade) sit alongside richly textured Latin motets and arrangements. The four singers of Gothic Voices, the mezzo Clare Wilkinson and a quartet of instrumentalists seem perfectly attuned to Dufay’s intoxicatingly elegant, graceful style." – Stephen Pettitt, The Sunday Times
"Their beautiful renditions of motets and chansons by Guillaume Dufay sound as if in the time of our great composer." - Stemband
"I hadn’t realised what a beautiful song ‘Mon bien, m’amour’ actually is until I heard it from the three men of the group and ‘Estrimez moy, je vous estrineray’ is quite delightful, it being a conversational love song for New Year’s Day, Catherine King and Steven Harrold sounding young and innocent." – Gary Higginson, MusicWeb International
"Gothic Voices consists of four to five singers and four instrumentalists, and the singing has a sense of proximity that emphasizes expressiveness over the more cerebral aspects of Dufay's counterpoint." - Blair Sanderson, All Music *****
"The four members of "Gothic Voices" and their five guests present with this CD a magisterial, atmospheric evocation of the immense, poetic and musical richness of the era of the Burgundians, the Hussite, the Council of Basel (1431) and the time of the counterpauses (eg Amadeus of Savoy as Pope Felix V). The beautiful performance, both vocal and instrumental, has an unparalleled technical and expressive perfection. Magisterial! Cannot be missed!" - Michel Dutrieue, Stretto
"What a pleasure, then, to be able to welcome this Dufay recording as matching all the qualities that made Gothic Voices absolute leaders in the field. This time it looks very much as though Julian Podger is the presiding genius; and he has chosen the repertory very well [...] To mention all the glorious details here would break the banks of this review but I cannot avoid mentioning the marvellously experienced singing of Catherine King and her duetting with Steven Harrold: that is seriously classy." - David Fallows, Gramophone
"Endowed with the exceptional singing of the mezzo Catherine King, Gothic Voices emphasize the expressiveness in the more cerebral aspects of Dufay's counterpoint, deploying the rhythmic richness and ingenuity of these motets and his songs." - Charlotte Saulneron, Res Musica
"Gothic Voices, with its almost forty years of existence, is one of the most esteemed early music ensembles, but has always renewed itself. Their latest CD, The Dufay Spectacle, is the sounding proof of this: a tribute to Guillaume Dufay, the greatest composer of the 15th century, in the form of a wide-ranging selection from his oeuvre, arranged into a musical banquet of alternating variety" - Frits van der Waa, De Volkskrant *****
"The honesty and the artistic and technical capacity of Gothic Voices in their approach is admirable..." - Urko Sangroniz, Scherzo
More information on the disc, and audio clips, can be found here.
