Tallis Scholars victorious in new Victoria Lamentations release on Gimell
Photo: Eric Richmond
Celebrating their return from another critically acclaimed US tour, and having received fabulous reviews for their recent release on Gimell Records, The Tallis Scholars are in peak condition to start celebrations for Gimell’s 30th anniversary.
The Tallis Scholars’ recent US Tour caused The New York Times to gleefully exclaim “It’s hard to imagine any deity resisting a plea sung as gorgeously as The Tallis Scholars’ rendition of the Kyrie, their voices swelling with soulful precision in the church’s resonant acoustics.” Meanwhile, their recent release of Victoria’s Lamentations of Jeremiah received 5 stars in a review by the Guardian, who hailed it as a “beautifully understated recording of one of the greatest achievements of Spanish Golden Age polyphony.” It is hoped that this recording by the Tallis Scholars is going to reach a wide audience having been added to the Classic FM playlist. BBC Music Magazine also paid deference to the consistently high standard of the group, saying that the recording has “a plangent beauty, which is characterised by the lucent sound and faultless intonation that have been the defining strengths of the choir during the last four decades.”
Released on 29th March, this is the 50th recording that the Tallis Scholars have made with their record label, Gimell Records, and 2010 is also the year that Gimell celebrates its 30th anniversary. As Music Web International’s Recording of the Month, ‘the disc can be said very fairly to be a celebration of the core virtues both of the label and of the Tallis Scholars...an outstanding release that celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of Gimell in the most distinguished manner possible.’
Formed by Peter Phillips and Steve Smith in 1980 as one of the first independent record labels, Gimell Records has the unique experience of working with a single repertoire and one artist, having recorded exclusively for the Tallis Scholars. Over their 30 year history, Gimell and the Tallis Scholars have received numerous accolades, including Gramophone Record of the Year in 1987, the first independent label to win this prestigious award and still the only recording of Early Music to do this, as well as a coveted Diapson d’Or de l’Année from the French Diapson magazine. A recording of music by Josquin, released in 2009, received exceptional reviews, and was nominated for a Grammy.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Gimell, the Tallis Scholars will be releasing three 4 CD box sets of “The Best of the Tallis Scholars”, one for each decade. The ongoing project to record Josquin’s complete cycle of masses, when completed, will run to 9 discs.
