@excathedrachoir
Reviews
Posted: Friday 5th April 2013
St Matthew Passion review - Birmingham Post
'The Ex Cathedra Choir and the young singers of its Academy of Vocal Music, under Jeffrey Skidmore, were excellent both in the great choruses which open and close the work and in their dramatic interjections like the cry of “Barabbas!” The Ex Cathedra Baroque Orchestra’s support was often of a high order...' (The Birmingham Post) Read more..
Posted: Tuesday 2nd April 2013
St Matthew Passion review - www.bachtrack.com
'excellent choral blend, richness of tone and youthful freshness' Read the rest of the review at www.bachtrack.com
Posted: Monday 25th February 2013
The Face of Humanity - 4*
'Ex Cathedra makes everything sound natural and positively simple, from melting tenderness to scary fugues, shifting key and time signatures, but with every entry immaculate and all thinking as one.' (Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Tuesday 19th February 2013
Birmingham’s French Connection: Magnifique!
'First we heard one of Poulenc’s most enduring works, his Organ Concerto... Briggs brought out Poulenc’s puckish side very well while the concluding Largo was sensitively done by all concerned. After the concerto came Figure humaine, Poulenc’s remarkable setting of eight poems by Paul Éluard for a cappella double choir... This was a very fine performance indeed of an immensely demanding work. After the interval we were in the calmer waters of Fauré’s Requiem... The choir sang with great finesse and control. Line was always paramount, it seemed, and the diction was excellent throughout. The orchestral playing demonstrated consistent refinement and from my seat in the stalls it appeared that the balance between orchestra and singers was expertly judged.' Read the rest of the review at www.seenandheardinternational.com
Posted: Friday 25th January 2013
A Boy was Born - Church Times
'What a concert, and what quality! ... In tuning, rhythmic subtlety, responsiveness to the conductor's lead, blend and the quality of individual voices, Ex Cathedra is now world class... Lucky Birmingham. Lucky music.' (Church Times)
Posted: Monday 21st January 2013
A Boy was Born Review
'This concert was a splendid introduction to Britten 100. While many towns and cities will be aiming to celebrate the centenary it will be interesting to see how many do it as well and as broadly as Birmingham.' (www.behindthearras.com) Read more...
Posted: Monday 21st January 2013
A Boy was Born Review - 4*
'Yet another triumph to be chalked up in the Ex Cathedra archives.' (Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Friday 4th January 2013
'a unique, precious and diverse musical resource' - 5*
'Atmosphere, imagination, anticipation, soft candlelight plus inspired music in St Paul’s church, an 18th Century gem. Add the words Ex Cathedra, for all to experience the true magic of Christmas 2012. This choir, forever excellent, was created over 40 years ago and conducted throughout by its founder Jeffrey Skidmore. It is the core of a unique, precious and diverse musical resource for the city and far afield ... These singers excel in all aspects of vocal expertise with wonderfully clear diction throughout, stories sung with clarity, lovely musical expression, smooth silky phrasing and always ending with neat consonants sung as one voice. Fire and brimstone contrasts with magical echo effects...' (Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Thursday 20th December 2012
Flawless - Birmingham Post review of Gaudete!
'when someone said at the start of the interval, “You can’t improve on perfection”, I couldn’t help but agree. Indeed, this particular Christmas celebration was well nigh flawless, both in its programming and the superlative artistry of the ten Ex Cathedra Consort singers.' (Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Monday 10th December 2012
Gaudete! - York Early Music Christmas Festival
'sections from his frisky Missa Ego Flos Campi (Mass: “I am the flower of the field”), interwoven with native hymns, carols and lullabies, made a luscious patchwork ... the music was intoxicating' (The Press) Read more...
Posted: Monday 10th December 2012
Gaudete! Bramall Music Building, University of Birmingham
'What a delightful performance! ... The ten-strong vocal ensemble used the space creatively... The haunting start set the scene for a thoughtfully structured programme... the end result was wonderful entertainment – or in the words of my neighbour, "I could listen to this for ever"' (www.bachtrack.com)
Posted: Monday 19th November 2012
Like Unto My Sorrow review
'We marvelled at yet another of Skidmore's imaginatively-constructed programmes...The 10 voices of the Ex Cathedra Consort projected a huge range of timbre, colour and dynamics, not only in the searing textures of James MacMillan's Tenebrae Responses but also in the radiant consolatory cascades of the Missa Pro Defunctis by Duarte Lobo' (Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Monday 12th November 2012
Opernwelt Review of Mittwoch
'Während die Gäste sich auf dünnen Schaumstoffmatten lagerten, bestiegen die 36 fantastischen Choristen des ensembles Ex Cathedra (Einstudierung: Jeffrey Skidmore) sonnengelb gestrichene Hochstühle, die ein riesiges Oval bildeten.' (Opernwelt)
Posted: Thursday 18th October 2012
A Time to Dance review - 5*
'Words can scarely convey the impact Ex Cathedra makes on the vocal world. Total commitment is the name of the game ... magical offerings of distinctive eras and styles as in this wonderful concert... Roth is a magician creating exceptionally fine orchestral and vocal scoring, challenging for everyone and stimulating to perform' (Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Monday 15th October 2012
Birmingham Dances to Alec Roth's Tune
'the choral writing is impressive and effective and Ex Cathedra responded to Roth’s music expertly and with evident enthusiasm' (www.seenandheard-international.com) Read more...
Posted: Monday 10th September 2012
New Yorker Review of Mittwoch
'In "World Parliament," the singers of Ex Cathedra were perched on high yellow chairs, their faces painted with national colors. Their performance was a phenomenal feat of musicianship; the climax had a rollicking energy, like modernist gospel.' (The New Yorker)
Posted: Thursday 6th September 2012
Mittwoch aus Licht - Sunday Telegraph
'the highlights were mostly musical ... not least the ethereal World Parliament scene sung by the choir Ex Cathedra perched high in an oval of umpires’ chairs' (Sunday Telegraph) Read more...
Posted: Friday 31st August 2012
Birmingham Post review of Mittwoch - 5*
'sung by Ex Cathedra as radiantly and as animatedly as if it were Monteverdi.’(The Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Sunday 26th August 2012
Observer review of Mittwoch
‘praise cannot be high enough for Jeffrey Skidmore's Ex Cathedra singers who displayed astonishing levels of virtuosity, their faces painted in the colours of national flags, as they extolled peace and love in languages real and imagined.’ (The Observer) Read more...
Posted: Friday 24th August 2012
The Stage review of Mittwoch
'Highlights include the virtuosic choral singing of Ex Cathedra in the World Parliament scene' (The Stage) Read more...
Posted: Friday 24th August 2012
theartsdeskreview of Mittwoch
'Ex Cathedra ... ululated and chanted with immense power and precision, and conjured a sustainably captivating theatre from thin air.' (theartsdesk.com) Read more...
Posted: Friday 24th August 2012
Times review of Mittwoch
'Perched on yellow umpire stools, the choir Ex Cathedra and their wonderfully virile unaccompanied voices were easy to enjoy in the first scene's World Parliament' (The Times)
Posted: Friday 24th August 2012
Bachtrack review of Mittwoch - 5*
'The wonderfully resonant choir, Ex Cathedra, and non-singing delegates discussed love in “unknown” and known languages, gesturing to each other in constantly evolving phases of body language...' (bachtrack.com) Read more...
Posted: Thursday 23rd August 2012
Guardian review of Mittwoch
'the extraordinary a capella World Parliament, wonderfully performed by the Birmingham-based choir Ex Cathedra perched high in umpires' chairs around the edge of the performing space' (The Guardian) Read the rest of the review
Posted: Thursday 23rd August 2012
Telegraph review of Mittwoch
'I was both exasperated and enchanted, bored and riveted. Best of all is the World Parliament scene: voluptuous, melismatic and polyrhythmic, it shimmers ecstatically ... High praise is due to the director Graham Vick and his colleagues who have devised a flamboyantly imaginative and rigorously executed staging in a disused warehouse, to the superb instrumentalists and to the choirs of Ex Cathedra and London Voices. Whatever one’s ambivalence about the musical content, this is a magnificent show.' (The Daily Telegraph) Read more...
Posted: Monday 6th August 2012
Ein Fest für die Ohren
'Mit teilweise doppelt besetzten Stimmen brachten sie das ganze Kirchenschiff zum Erklingen und entführten die Zuhörer von Beginn an in die Welt der venezianischen Mehrchörigkeit... Für ein absolut herausragendes und außergewöhnliches konzert ernteten die Ensembles minutenlang stehende Ovationem und tosenden Applaus.'
Posted: Thursday 12th July 2012
Magnificent Rachmaninov resonates in Cheltenham
'I’ll cut to the chase. This was a magnificent performance... I’ve heard several live performances of this great work but this was as exciting an account of it as I can remember. The singing was consistently precise in every respect and the rhythms were articulated crisply and clearly. The choir was well balanced so that every part registered, even in Rachmaninov’s most sumptuously scored passages. Not only was there superb responsiveness to dynamics but also the quality of tone was hugely impressive... I doubt anyone fortunate enough to have been in the audience for this remarkable performance will forget it in a hurry.' Read more at www.musicweb-international.com
Posted: Thursday 28th June 2012
A Whole New World - 5* review
'this was a joyous occasion complementing the Olympic spirit with music from 14 countries, sung in ten languages and including seven living composers, plus young voices from the Academy of Vocal Music... A cornucopia of wonderful choral sounds, sophisticated children, sensitive blending, listening and balancing throughout.' (The Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Thursday 7th June 2012
Salisbury Cathedral review
'an imaginative use of the cathedral’s resonant space, and neither a note nor voice was out of place, such was the blend and balance.' (The Salisbury Journal) Read more...
Posted: Thursday 31st May 2012
Splendours from the Doge’s Chapel
'Saturday’s concert took us right to the heart of Venetian polychoral music, with magnificent liturgical settings by Giovanni Gabrieli... We could almost smell the incense rising, as in the 12-part ‘Sanctus’ published in 1615 with its wonderful colours, and sense the devoutness in the cumulative power of the 8-part ‘Litaniae a Mariae Virginis’.' (The Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Thursday 12th April 2012
St John Passion - 5*
'Who better to inspire with Bach’s St John Passion than Jeffrey Skidmore and his Ex Cathedra singers and Baroque orchestra. This close-knit group of fine musicians pulled out all the stops... These fine performers never fail to delight with their seemingly effortless musicality: lovely smooth phrasing, immaculate entries and drama moving the audience to awed emotions' (The Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Thursday 12th April 2012
Parsifal - Mariinsky Theatre & Valery Gergiev
'an offstage contingent from Jeffrey Skidmore’s Ex Cathedra sounded positively sacramental' (The Birmingham Post Read more from this review of the Mariinsky Theatre performance of Parsifal
Posted: Tuesday 10th April 2012
Parsifal - Mariinsky Theatre & Valery Gergiev
'extra-special mention must be made for the ladies of the British chamber choir Ex Cathedra, whose off-stage input was ethereally blissful; truly, Wagner could not have asked for a greater or more precise contrast between the earthly main chorus and Ex Cathedra’s spiritual purity of sound' Read more at www.bachtrack.com
Posted: Friday 16th March 2012
Bach Motets and Cello Suites - 5* review
'For some Bach is an acquired taste. For others he is a composer who satisfies on every level, as Ex Cathedra demonstrated so stunningly in the opening concert of last weekend’s Bach mini-festival... The performances, marked throughout by elegant phrasing, superbly clear contrapuntal lines and sensitively proportioned dynamics gave these emotionally charged, life-affirming works an extra dimension of personal communication... Framed by these devotional works were two Cello Suites, played by Andrew Skidmore. Often quite ruminative, and displaying no overt glitz, these understated and somewhat contemplative readings provided a wonderful complement to the motets. (The Birmingham Post) Read more
Posted: Thursday 22nd December 2011
Christmas Music by Candlelight - 5 star review
'A candlelit Christmas evening by Jeffrey Skidmore and his incomparable Ex Cathedra choir is not to be missed. St Paul’s Georgian church is the perfect venue, both for atmosphere and acoustics, and as in previous years we were treated to a truly wonderful, imaginative programme telling the Christmas story in all its guises... This is a choir with perfect entries and immaculately clear words, flawless consonants and evocative blending expression throughout.' (The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review
Posted: Monday 5th December 2011
'Ex Cathedra bring a touch of class to Vivaldi'
'Ex Cathedra have a hectic festive schedule but you would not have guessed it from this performance. Both the choir and the accompanying Ex Cathedra Baroque Orchestra had these pieces by Vivaldi completely under their control. At the helm was Jeffrey Skidmore whose enthusiasm for the works and for the performance was clear to all. With Psalms, the Stabat Mater and Magnificat there was a huge variety of tone and colour, showing the versatility of Antonio Vivaldi. All emotions were covered from the solitude and agony of Mary watching her son Jesus on the cross to the celebration of his nativity. While all of the soloists were wonderful, special mention has to go to Matthew Venner whose beautifully sinuous voice only served to emphasise the sadness of the Stabat Mater.' (Birmingham Mail) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Thursday 24th November 2011
The Rivered Earth concert review
'Jeffrey Skidmore and his choir are obviously fans, as their finely polished, committed performances demonstrated. ... Roth's style ... is very accessible and immediately appealing... Earthrise, a remarkably accomplished 40 part motet, written for Ex Cathedra's 40th anniversary, offers a fundamental sense of wonder at Man's relationship to the Earth and cosmos, utilising luminous close harmony textures to suggest an elevated sense of light and space... and the children's choir (Junior Academy)... were excellent' (The Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Thursday 6th October 2011
‘a powerfully atmospheric and often hypnotic account’ - 5 star review
'Forget the ‘All-Night Vigil’ tag and visions of a dusk-to-dawn Russian Orthodox marathon... From first note to last this was a powerfully atmospheric and often hypnotic account, with Jeffrey Skidmore and his singers (Jeremy Budd and Martha McLorinan the gloriously idiomatic soloists) going beyond melody and harmony to explore a rich choral tapestry where inner-part textures and movements were of equal importance and, especially in the basses, awesomely sonorous. In such a finely judged musical environment, Steven Osborne transcended the role of solo pianist to become an additional member of the ensemble. His playing of the nine Preludes...showed a subdued virtuosity and tonal subtlety that perfectly matched the mood of the occasion.' (The Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Wednesday 5th October 2011
Rachmaninov review
'the piano and choral music complemented each other in demonstrating – in a refreshing new way – the extent to which Rachmaninov’s music is permeated by Russian ‘soul.’... Steven Osborne’s playing was as excellent as I’d expected. The chosen preludes were all very different in character and style and he interpreted each superbly... And Mr Osborne can’t have been indifferent to the singing of Ex Cathedra for it was magnificent.' www.seenandheard-international.com
Posted: Friday 24th June 2011
Vespers from the Golden Age of Spain
'a non-stop tour-de-force for all participants in the fading soft evening light. The eventual effect of myriads of candles added to the ancient atmosphere in the outstanding surroundings of The Oratory... Subtle balance, beautifully shaped phrasing, total involvement with the music – all are trademarks of this superb choir. As ever Jeffrey Skidmore unobtrusively directed the outstanding Ex Cathedra singers with sensitive and seamless unfussy gestures.' (The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review
Posted: Thursday 23rd June 2011
'an incredible vocal performance'
'In seeking to describe Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production of Carmina Burana – which is one half of their present Passion and Ecstasy production – all superlatives seem inadequate. The work was mind-blowing, quite simply, sweeping the audience away in a cavalcade of dramatic jumps and phrases; combining stunning balllet and an incredible vocal performance from Ex Cathedra with the beautiful musicianship of the resident orchestra.' (Shropshire Star) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Thursday 28th April 2011
St Matthew Passion - 5*
'flowed with deceptive simplicity telling the well-known story with poignancy and drama, aided and abetted with many fine soloists from baroque instrumentalists to well-balanced solo singers... Skidmore's discreet direction brought out exceptional musicality, from truly beautiful solo instruments to clear-as-a-bell chorales exquisitely touching everyone's soul.' (The Birmingham Post) Read more...
Posted: Friday 4th March 2011
Peace on Earth - 5* review
'Soon to be 60, Jeffrey Skidmore celebrated his forthcoming birthday by selecting an amazingly searching programme to display all the skills of Ex Cathedra, the expert choir he founded 42 years ago and which has become his life’s triumphant work ... with the demands of chromaticism, harmonic richness and pitch-maintenance they impose – all superlatively encompassed.' (The Birmingham Post). Read more...
Posted: Wednesday 26th January 2011
Harmonic Spiritual Theatre - The Times
'Ex Cathedra told the story in the easefully inflected Italian in which they excel... Ex Cathedra's articulation of Frenchified Latin, in works by Guillaume Bouzignac and Marc-Antoine Charpentier, sharpened the focus and fervour. And their closing performance of Carissimi's Jephte splendidly showcased the mellow mezzo of Martha McLorinan, Samuel Boden's clear, light tenor, and the bright, dancing soprano of Katie Trethewey' (The Times)
Posted: Friday 24th December 2010
Christmas Music by Candlelight - 5* review
'Skidmore’s Christmas programmes are one of Birmingham’s real seasonal treats – superbly chosen sequences of choral music from across six centuries, ravishingly performed by an invariably on-form Ex Cathedra. They’re the Christmas concerts of choice for those seeking quiet poetry rather than commercial schmaltz.' (The Birmingham Post). Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Friday 17th December 2010
Christmas Oratorio review
'Jeffrey Skidmore gave us four of the six Cantatas (Parts 1, 2, 3 and 6) and Ex Cathedra was on its best form. The Baroque Orchestra (led by Simon Standage) was outstanding, with some terrific individual contributions...' (The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Thursday 16th December 2010
St John’s Smith Square review
'Birmingham-based and with an international reputation, Ex Cathedra seldom lacks for enterprise... The programme (unfolding over two halves of around 50 minutes each) brought together the familiar and the unusual in a sequence of productive contrasts... What resulted was less an alternative 'lessons and carols' than a continuum of words and music to make one think anew on this most hallowed yet tarnished of events.' Read the rest of the review online at www.classicalsource.com...
Posted: Friday 29th October 2010
Monteverdi Vespers - Church Times review
'There are few heights that Ex Cathedra has not scaled. This outstanding choir, founded in Birmingham, and perspicaciously steered by him ever since, performs a wide range of music. It has commissioned and launched contemporary pieces, introducing them with equal virtuosity and sensitivity; breathed new life into Mendelssohn and Elgar by means of fresh thinking in interpretation; and demonstrated its mastery of both familiar and less well-known Baroque repertoire... French, Italian, and Hispanic repertoire of the 17th century is very much Ex Cathedra's home ground... this was a first-rate rendering, and provided for a deeply satisfying late-afternoon concert.' (The Church Times)
Posted: Friday 22nd October 2010
Monteverdi Vespers (1610) - 5* review
'The spiritual and the sensual are inextricably intertwined in the Vespers as are the vocal lines of the motet Pulchra es, beautifully sung by sopranos Grace Davidson and Natalie Clifton-Griffith. The motet Duo Seraphim, sung by three tenors, rang out powerfully while the echo-motet Audi coelum, with tenors Jeremy Budd and Mark Dobell, was a musical balm. The Magnificat, a virtuosic creation by Monteverdi, crowned the work with singers and players combining to create a memorable performance which enthralled the audience in a packed Town Hall' (Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Monday 18th October 2010
'A great Monteverdi evening'
'A great Monteverdi evening in a performance of the Vespers, carefully prepared and choreographed by Jeffrey Skidmore, giving opportunities for each of Ex Cathedra Consort's fine professional singers to duet and take solos (for which Skidmore sat aside) as well as coming together as a chamber choir of ten... The well-filled Cadogan Hall was the perfect ambience visually and its acoustic ideal.' Read the rest of the review at www.musicalpointers.co.uk
Posted: Friday 24th September 2010
The Dream of Gerontius - review
'...well-balanced, well-phrased choral delivery, a Town Hall organ of stirring presence, an OAE where wind solos on “period” instruments cut tellingly through the throaty string textures...' (Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Monday 20th September 2010
The Dream of Gerontius review
'the blending of orchestra and choir was so seemless it was sometimes difficult to hear where the orchestra ended and the choir began, with no sense of competition between them' Read the rest of the review at www.birmingham-alive.com
Posted: Sunday 5th September 2010
The Lying Down Concert: Earthrise
'Earthrise: The Lying Down Concert was a spectacularly enjoyable opening event... inspired by the Earthrise photograph of the earth brought back from space by the Apollo 8 crew, and sung by its dedicatees, the Ex Cathedra choir, from a breathtakingly spotlit setting on the shadowy balcony overhead ... climactic finish of Thomas Tallis’s heartstopping 40-part motet, Spem in alium, evidently Roth's inspiration. All the performers should be unstintingly congratulated, but the format’s a winner of itself - it should be given regularly around the country, on the NHS, to contribute to reducing health costs, and surely the next step has to be for lying-down Proms.' Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Wednesday 25th August 2010
Latin American Vespers - The Times
'I almost missed the start [of an Usher Hall concert] because I couldn't tear myself away from the delightful Latin American Vespers concert presented by Jeffrey Skidmore's Ex Cathedra in Greyfriars Kirk... To a foot-tapping patter of percussion, Skidmore's ten singers and five instrumentalists performed superbly.' (The Times)
Posted: Tuesday 24th August 2010
Latin American Vespers - The Guardian
'There is no doubt that musically Skidmore had come up with one of the best balanced and thought-out programmes of this series. In a sequence intended to roughly follow the Vespers service, the programme demonstrated something of the scope of the South American sacred tradition.' (The Guardian) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Tuesday 24th August 2010
Latin American Vespers - EdinburghGuide.com
'It was as if I had attended an evening service in a Latin American cathedral - not understanding the words being sung, but realising and appreciating that it was immensely devotional.' (edinburghguide.com) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Tuesday 24th August 2010
Latin American Vespers - The Scotman
'From Birmingham to Bolivia seems quite a leap. But with South American early music specialist Jeffrey Skidmore as their conductor, the Brummie singers and instrumentalists of Ex Cathedra were a natural choice for a celebration of Latin American Vespers ... an atmospheric and colourful programme which interspersed haunting stillness with pulsating rhythms ... appropriately sung and played by soloists and ensemble with all the energy of a fiesta at carnival time.' (The Scotsman) Read the rest of the review here...
Posted: Saturday 10th July 2010
A song contest with real X-factor
'When the birds and the beasts go head to head the result is a joyous explosion of colour and music in the World Premiere of this collaboration between Welsh National Opera and Birmingham Hippodrome... Judging the contest were the Owls from Ex-Cathedra Junior Academy of Vocal Music, the sort of jungle Simon Cowells... Apart from the bright eyed infectious enthusiasm of the cast the contest also benefitted from the well rounded, melodic score from distinguished Welsh composer Mervyn Burtch which had everything from drama to humour and it produced a lively performance from the WNO Orchestra conducted by Ex-Cathedra’s Jeffrey Skidmore - who wore a bright blue feather head dress for the occasion.' Read the rest of the review at www.behindthearras.com
Posted: Friday 25th June 2010
Superlatives are not enough...
'Superlatives are not enough for this final concert in Ex Cathedra's 40th anniversary season. Jeffrey Skidmore and his choir surpassed themselves as ever, with a truly magnificent performance of Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil (Vespers)... How is it possible for a Birmingham choir to sound authentically Slavonic, we wondered? Apparently perfectly possible, as the Oratory rang with the ancient church language.' (Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Thursday 6th May 2010
Bach Mass in B Minor
'All of Ex Cathedra’s renowned hallmarks of quality were on display for Saturday’s Town Hall performance of Bach’s mighty Mass in B minor: a lithe, athletic and textually intelligent chorus, soloists emerging from the ranks to acquit themselves generally with distinction, a period-instrument orchestra which relished its opportunities, and Jeffrey Skidmore’s customary fluent and enabling conducting.' (Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Thursday 8th April 2010
St John Passion review
'Jeremy Budd’s Evangelist was exemplary in his crisp articulation of the text, never lapsing into routine declamation. He was matched by the Jesus of James Rutherford whose sonorous bass was spiritual authority personified... The Ex Cathedra Choir, supplemented by the young sopranos of its Academy, was superb both in the sublime chorales and in their vividly characterised crowd music which conductor Jeffrey Skidmore ensured was bitingly dramatic. The final chorale, sung with beauty and power, had the timeless appeal of true greatness.' (Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Friday 26th March 2010
Spring Season of Love and Beauty
'A journey of discovery, with the unknown 16th century Claude Le Jeune rubbing shoulders with composers of today - America's Morten Lauridsen and Gerald Busby (both masters of lush choral textures) and our own John Joubert, present to modestly acknowledge his Three Portraits, a work whose harmonic directness and economy of means (so vibrantly sung here) make such a powerful emotional impact. There was also Britten (the Five Flower Songs, tailor-made for the occasion) delivered, as was everything, with subtly pointed intimacy and expressively charged attention to detail.' (Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Friday 26th February 2010
Things to sing when you’re 40
'The Birmingham-based choir Ex Cathedra shines like a beacon on the British musical scene. It recently celebrated its 40th anniversary with a polished intensity of which few other English choirs are capable... Fabulous though it was to hear both versions, Latin and English, of Tallis’s Spem in alium (Sing and glorify), sung with the choir’s usual brilliance and perfect intonation, the triumph of this concert was two works written for Ex Cathedra by Alec Roth...' (The Church Times) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Monday 8th February 2010
XL - In 40 Parts review
'Everything was seamlessly delivered ... Thomas Tallis’ famous Spem in Alium was naturally the keystone, surging and pulsating, and ... the goodie here was the world premiere of Alec Roth’s four-movement Earthrise, almost a choral symphony, exploiting so many vocal resources for infinitely pure musical ends, and consummately delivered by Skidmore’s amazing choristers.' (Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Friday 5th February 2010
XL - In 40 Parts review
'The programme was imaginatively planned and expertly performed. The juxtaposition of Renaissance music and some very fine music of our own time worked brilliantly. And the large and appreciative audience had the good fortune to be present at the first performance of an eloquent and important new piece.' Read the rest of the review at www.musicweb-international.com...
Posted: Thursday 7th January 2010
Christmas Music by Candlelight review
'... a truly wonderful Christmas concert... As ever Jeffrey Skidmore delivered a treasury of seasonal music. Old favourites rubbed shoulders with rare offerings from far afield, all seamlessly performed with true conviction, imagination and impeccable musicality.' (Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Friday 18th December 2009
Latin American Christmas - review
'The imaginative programme of baroque music from Mexico and Bolivia was by turns extrovert and meditative, always fresh and tuneful and presented with theatrical flair by Ex Cathedra’s music director Jeffrey Skidmore.' Read the rest of the review at www.birminghampost.net
Posted: Thursday 3rd December 2009
Dream of Gerontius review
'The choral singing was clear, well-projected and beautifully floated (I hope the tenors of 1900 were looking down and repenting.) Adrian Thompson was an intelligent, poignant Gerontius, Roderick Williams delivered the Priest and the Angel of the Agony with a mellifluous authority…' (Birmingham Post)
Posted: Tuesday 1st December 2009
'surely this account must rank among the very best' - Gerontius review
'Since the near-disaster of the first performance I’m sure that Birmingham Town Hall has been the venue for many fine performances of Gerontius but surely this account must rank among the very best. One can only congratulate Jeffrey Skidmore and Ex Cathedra on this excellent performance, which was a worthy celebration of their fortieth anniversary and a fitting salute to the hall in which Elgar’s great masterpiece was first heard one hundred and nine years ago.' Read the detailed review at www.musicweb-international.com
Posted: Friday 27th November 2009
Dream of Gerontius review
'[Jeffrey Skidmore’s] input into this performance…was considerable – most obviously in the austere string sound, the squeaky-clean textures and gently expressive slides between notes. And Ex Cathedra’s ultra-disciplined voices, notably younger and purer than the main London choirs, paid dividends in an ethereal Chorus of Angelicals.' (Financial Times)
Posted: Thursday 26th November 2009
'a revelatory, compelling and deeply involving performance' of Gerontius
'Jeffrey Skidmore immediately established unrest and expressiveness, a wholly natural flexibility of pace and phrasing that informed the whole of this wonderful performance, one well-researched into what instruments to use (including Elgar’s own trombone) and in terms of ‘performance style’, the OAE sounding marvellous in its distinctive timbres and with ideal balances ... a translucent vividness that ensured details were transparent and meaningful. The choral singing, unfailingly sensitive ... drew one into the narrative without point-making and was as characteristic as the playing in being notably and sustainably ‘different’... Susan Bickley (replacing Anna Stephany) was a very moving Angel... Adrian Thompson was magnificent at Gerontius... All in all, this was a revelatory, compelling and deeply involving performance...' Read the rest of the review at www.classicalsource.com
Posted: Thursday 26th November 2009
'This was a fine performance of Gerontius, revealing in all that we heard: and how very well we heard it.'
'Tonight’s performance, given in celebration of Ex Cathedra’s 40th birthday, was a real attempt at performing this work as it might have been heard in Elgar’s lifetime, and, more importantly, how it might have sounded at the first performance. The first thing which was noticeable about it was just how good Jeffrey Skidmore is as an orchestral conductor... His conducting was spot on, direct and to the point, giving clear leads where necessary, and with little in the way of flowery gestures. Everyone responded well to his leadership... Skidmore’s chorus, Ex Cathedra, was magnificent... This was a fine performance of Gerontius, revealing in all that we heard: and how very well we heard it.' Read the rest of the review at www.musicwe-international.com
Posted: Wednesday 25th November 2009
Dream of Gerontius review
'The 100 singers gave a committed performance to help celebrate [Ex Cathedra’s] 40th Anniversary. They certainly deserved the acclaim directed towards them at the end... I don’t think I’ve seen such a young soprano section, helping to generate a fresh, youthful choral sound among the 100 singers… This was a Gerontius full of life and love and drama which can only maintain its upward trend in my appreciation of the work and stands as an appropriate means to mark Ex Cathedra’s birthday.' (Opera Britannia)
Posted: Monday 23rd November 2009
St Matthew Passion review - Gramophone
'... a profoundly sensitive new translation from Nicholas Fisher and John Russell... Skidmore's overall shaping of the St Matthew is marked by exceptional judgement in nuturing his forces... The chorales and choral interpolations are responsively delivered with deft voicing and attention to textural detail ... the coherence and rich colouring of "O World, your singful ways lament" (No 29) and the final chorus confirm the quality of Ex Cathedra's distinguished involvement' (Gramophone) Read more...
Posted: Monday 23rd November 2009
Joy in the morning review - Gramophone
'Ex Cathedra's Christmas is more meditative ... with contributions from the Gaelic fringe, continental Europe and Lapland, and leading off with a processional by Alec Roth to a text adapted by Vikram Seth from ancient Buddhist scriptures. A highlight for me is a raptly sung "For He shall give his angels", an ineffable anthem drawn from Mendelssohn's Elijah, and the most exciting performance I've heard of John Gardner's "Tomorrow shall be my dancing day"... (Gramophone) Read more...
Posted: Monday 9th November 2009
Joy in the morning review - Classic FM magazine
'Concentrated thought and artistic conviction inform Jeffrey Skidmore's eclectic repertoire selection for Joy in the morning, twin blessings that govern its compelling cumulative impact... Ex Cathedra's tonal warmth and collective ability to generate evocative atmosphere add to the pleasures of listening.' (Classic FM) Read more...
Posted: Friday 6th November 2009
An exhilarating mix of Christmas music
'Ex Cathedra's "Joy in the morning" is an exhilarating mix of Christmas music from all periods and countries.' (Birmingham Post)
Posted: Friday 6th November 2009
The standard of singing and playing is absolutely first rate
'The standard both of singing and playing is absolutely first rate throughout the programme. Factor in excellent recorded sound and documentation and you have a most enjoyable and enterprising Christmas offering from Ex Cathedra. The Christmas CD market is overflowing but this issue has a very strong claim indeed on the attention of collectors.' Read the rest of the review at www.musicweb-international.com...
Posted: Thursday 5th November 2009
Verve and panache from Ex Cathedra
'Two new CD releases from Ex Cathedra help us celebrate this expert chamber choir’s 40th anniversary season, and one of these is of immense importance. This is the performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion which Ex Cathedra gave at Symphony Hall on Good Friday afternoon this year, sung in a new "contemporary" English translation by Nicholas Fisher and John Russell. The immediacy of the text is matched by the confiding intimacy of vocal projection under Jeffrey Skidmore’s direction... Eamonn Dougan is quietly dignified as Jesus, and Jeremy Budd is the engaging Evangelist. The Ex Cathedra Baroque Orchestra plays with style and clarity, sprung from a light bass-line, and it is particularly gratifying to have the viola da gamba obbligati delivered with such verve and panache by Richard Campbell: a far cry from the purgatorial interminabilities of these movements in decades long gone.' (Birmingham Post)
Posted: Monday 2nd November 2009
BBC Music Magazine review
'The Ex Cathedra performance is superb ... finely balanced between the over-dramatic and the merely prosaic. Jeremy Budd is an unaffected narrator of the Evangelist's story ... and, as choral singers, all the aria soloists are free of overly-distinctive vocal affectations. Obbligato instruments are excellent throughout, mometary blemishes of intonation well worth the added exuberance of live performance in Birmingham's Symphony Hall.' (BBC Music Magazine - 5*)
Posted: Friday 30th October 2009
The stuff of dreams
'... a breathtaking display of sheer musical magic... Ex Cathedra are the finest choir of their kind in the UK and last night's performance was the stuff of dreams.' (Shropshire Star) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Monday 19th October 2009
Choir & Organ review
'And finally, out of the bran tub comes my favourite Christmas choral disc of 2009 - Joy in the morning, another wide-ranging collection from Jeffrey Skidmore's excellent Birmingham-based choir, Ex Cathedra. There's entertainment aplenty...' (Choir & Organ) Read the rest of the review and order your copy here!
Posted: Monday 19th October 2009
Thousand years of gems are unveiled - 5*
One suspects few choirs would be brave enough to celebrate 40 years of innovative music-making with a concert of 26 works covering 1,000 years of sacred music. This is no ordinary group of singers however, but Birmingham’s very own internationally-recognised and unique Ex Cathedra, inspired and directed throughout by Jeffrey Skidmore. (The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review
Posted: Monday 24th August 2009
Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 are problematic
Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 are problematic. Scholars have failed to establish exactly why the work was written or indeed whether it should even be regarded as a unified piece... The music brings with it an extraordinarily wide range of issues, from duplication of material to the potential freedoms created by lack of specific instructions. Performers have long been happy to confront these, and music lovers have been equally enthusiastic to turn out in large numbers for performances. Friday’s performance, which took place at St Canice’s Cathedral in Kilkenny as part of the Kilkenny 400 celebrations, was no exception. (The Irish Times) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Thursday 25th June 2009
'The best choir of its kind in Britain? Very possibly.'
'The best choir of its kind in Britain? Very possibly... The programme was intriguing and spectacular... And it’s hard to imagine it being done more beautifully than by these wonderful singers who, under their director Jeffrey Skidmore, are all a choir should be: packed with attractive, strong but balanced voices, musically intelligent, and disciplined, but in a heartfelt, human way. Their concert was a triumph. May they come back soon. (Michael White)
Posted: Friday 19th June 2009
Handel & Purcell review
Forty years on, this matchless team is famed for fascinating and challenging programming performed with exceptional musicianship. (The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Monday 11th May 2009
IgorFest, Fauré and Brighton Festival
I caught the first, a collaboration with Jeffrey Skidmore’s Ex Cathedra choir, comprising the neoclassical Orpheus ballet and Symphony in C, and late scores exemplifying Stravinsky’s reinvention of himself as a vanguard (wholly convincing) serialist: Introitus — TS Eliot in Memoriam, Variations — Aldous Huxley in Memoriam and Requiem Canticles. Stravinsky’s arrangement of Bach’s Chorale Variations on Vom Himmel Hoch completed this intriguing programme, bristling with unusual sonorities. (The Sunday Times) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Monday 4th May 2009
IgorFest: Orpheus review
We heard the stark weirdness of the 1966 Requiem Canticles, hurled out by the crack vocal squad Ex Cathedra with plenty of resinous tang and bite — even when simply reduced to ritualistic murmuring. Allotted two even stranger miniatures, the Introitus (written after the death of T. S. Eliot) and a puckish setting of Bach, the Choral Variations on Vom Himmel Hoch, they fielded both with pungent, aptly deadpan concentration. (The Times) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Friday 1st May 2009
Igor the Great
... the real treasures were to be found in two concerts focusing on the far less frequently heard works of Stravinsky's later years, between 1957 and 1966: a period of creative resurgence in which he radically transformed his musical language. Yesterday, Jac van Steen conducted a programme comprising the Symphony in C, the ballet score Orpheus and the Requiem Canticles, his last substantial composition and the work played at his funeral in 1971. (The Guardian) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Monday 13th April 2009
St Matthew Passion is 'an account rich in musical values'
'Jeffrey Skidmore knows this shattering music intimately, and he imparts his love of it so well to his performing forces. Here Ex Cathedra was joined by its Baroque Orchestra boasting an impressive array of names, and it was scintillating to relish here the variety of oboes responding to Bach’s detailed demands, the rasping double-basses, and a viola da gamba which delivered the usually purgatorial solos for this instrument without any penitential grittiness.' (The Organ / The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Monday 16th March 2009
Monteverdi 'made spiritual': In Search of 1610
This concert from Ex Cathedra was among the most brilliant in the expert choir’s near 40-year history. (The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Sunday 25th January 2009
Faith in the city
Their performance captured its mercurial moods, hushed and meditative, brash, exuberant and serene in turn, and it was crowned by some beautiful soaring vocal lines from counter-tenor Matthew Venner. It was matched by a haunting and rapt performance from this virtuoso choir of Samuel Barber’s Agnus Dei, a vocal transcription of his Adagio for Strings. MacMillan’s Mass, sung in English, is grand, austere and vocally demanding. (The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Friday 2nd January 2009
The concert that made my Christmas
This concert made my Christmas. It was how things can and should be done, without collective choreography or tacky gestures: just superlatively well-prepared, well-disciplined but heartfelt singing. Nothing more or less. And what a privilege it is, occasionally, to find it. Read the rest of the review by Michael White...
Posted: Monday 22nd December 2008
Ex Cathedra at St Paul’s Church; King’s College Choir, at Birmingham Town Hall
This choir is a beguiling blend of timbres with every individual composition being treated with unique consideration. As ever, conductor Jeffrey Skidmore marshalled his performers with discretion throughout. Ancient and contemporary works shone with a whole gamut of committed musicality. (The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Monday 8th December 2008
A Boy was born: Britten at Christmas
... the refined Town hall acoustics were faultless, with Ex Cathedra fulfilling every anticipation of choral perfection... (The Birmingham Post)
Posted: Wednesday 22nd October 2008
Mendelssohn's 1846 Elijah
'Birmingham has had a love affair with Mendelssohn ever since his first visit to the Town Hall in 1837. And judging by this weekend's sold-out performance of Elijah, that love has not grown cold ... meticulously researched details ... the dramatic vigour and momentum [which] Jeffrey Skidmore drew from his players and singers...' (The Times)
Posted: Sunday 19th October 2008
Mendelssohn's Elijah 1846
Heading an excellent team of solo singers was James Rutherford, for whom the part of the imposing but sorrowing Elijah might have been written. He was simply the business. (The Organ / The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Saturday 18th October 2008
Mendelssohn's Elijah 1846
Any performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah in Birmingham is a bit special, the first performance having been held there in 1846. This particular rendering was that little bit extra... (Musicweb International) Read the rest of the review here...
Posted: Saturday 12th July 2008
Ex Cathedra at the Chichester Festivities
Under the masterly direction of Jeffrey Skidmore, Ex Cathedra sung with total unanimity giving each word crystal clear clarity. Exceptionally beautiful was the Gregorian chant style and the quality tenors and basses. (Chichester Observer)
Posted: Friday 20th June 2008
Parisian Vespers
Wednesday's sequence of "Parisian Vespers", candles galore illuminating the midsummer gloom, was one of these brilliant concoctions Skidmore creates with such a magic touch, bringing the English composers Pelham Humfrey, Purcell and John Blow (all influenced by the French taste of the newly-restored Charles II) into the equation, and focusing on the miraculously expressive music of Henry Du Mont, a name scarcely known in this country. Du Mont's music is big, emotionally searching material, vocal lines dovetailed and terraced to convey the utmost effect, and with substantial instrumental paragraphs to add to the gravity of atmosphere. (The Birmingham Post)
Posted: Friday 11th April 2008
Concertgoers feedback in the Birmingham Post
Dear Editor, Seated in the magnificent (and packed) Symphony Hall in Birmingham on Saturday evening, I and about 2,000 Midlanders were treated to possibly the greatest Messiah we have ever seen, or are likely to a see and hear. Read the rest of the letter here
Posted: Monday 7th April 2008
Showcase and Messiah 1784
It was a significant weekend for Ex Cathedra, beginning with a heartening showcase of the education work the choir carries out so brilliantly and yet so unobtrusively. (The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review here...
Posted: Sunday 2nd March 2008
Bach's St John Passion
Ex Cathedra, under Jeffrey Skidmore, delivered a taut, dramatic, flowing account of Bach's St John Passion in the perfect venue of Birmingham Town Hall. The immediacy of the performances from choir, soloists and the colourful Ex Cathedra Baroque Orchestra conveyed all the essence of the most powerful and poignant story in western culture. (The Birmingham Post Read the rest of the review here...
Posted: Monday 18th February 2008
Sacred Symphonies: The Splendour of Venice
A beautiful venue sadly does not necessarily fulfil everyone's aural expectations, and with the best will in the world I found much to frustrate in Ex Cathedra's captivating Splendour of Venice. Not the impeccable voices, or playing from His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts, but the basic logistics of clarity from the musicians for the congregation. (The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Friday 28th December 2007
A year of musical superlatives
There was also an exhilarating trawl by Jeffrey Skidmore's Ex Cathedra through the kind of music performed at those festivals, including several contemporary works which might well have been given here had these culturally significant jamborees continued after the First World War. (The Birmingham Post) Read the rest of the review here...
Posted: Tuesday 11th December 2007
Sing Noël!: A Baroque Christmas
Jeffrey Skidmore's knack for imaginative programming has not diminished over the near-40 years since he founded Ex Cathedra, the crack chamber choir which performs so committedly under his direction. (The Birmingham Post)
Posted: Monday 15th October 2007
Spirit of the Age: A celebration of Birmingham's great choral tradition
It is sobering to realise that Ex Cathedra is within sight of celebrating its 40th birthday. One of the country's premier chamber choirs, its performances unfailingly come up fresh and innovative... (The Birmingham Post)
Posted: Wednesday 15th August 2007
Monteverdi Vespers at the Three Choirs Festival, Gloucester
Ex Cathedra were joined here by His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts, with director Jeffrey Skidmore pacing the sequence to highlight the contrast between Monteverdi's serenely beautiful melodic writing and the joyous lilt of the recurring dance metre. (The Guardian) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Thursday 9th August 2007
Monteverdi Vespers at the Three Choirs Festival, Gloucester
Presiding over all this was Jeffrey Skidmore and the evening must be counted as something of a personal triumph for him. He was quite obviously the master of every detail of the score and he drew from everyone involved playing and singing that was characterised by vitality, commitment and great style. (Musicweb International) Read the rest of the review here...
Posted: Friday 22nd June 2007
The full Monte by candlelight
Ex Cathedra's late-night presentations of "Vespers by Candlelight" amid the glittering splendours of the Birmingham Oratory have become a midsummer tradition, and this year's offering was a return to the daddy of them all, the sumptuous 1610 setting by Monteverdi. (The Birmingham Post)
Posted: Thursday 21st June 2007
Monteverdi Vespers at Aldeburgh Festival
... the 10 brilliant voices of the Ex Cathedra choir plus instrumentalists of the Baroque Ensemble with the splendidly titled His Majestys Sagbutts Cornetts conducted by Jeffrey Skidmore, gave a collectively memorable performance... (Eastern Daily Press) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Friday 8th June 2007
Shared Ground
Some partnerships have stardust sprinkled on them. That between the writer Vikram Seth and composer Alec Roth is turning into the Rolls and Royce of the arts world. Last year my colleague Geoff Brown enthused about the first instalment of their project to present a new work at four consecutive Salisbury Festivals. Now it is my turn to be bowled over by a piece that's as poetically rich as it is chorally thrilling... They were magically played by Philippe Honoré, and the choral numbers superbly performed by Jeffrey Skidmore's Ex Cathedra singers... (The Times) Read the rest of the review...
Posted: Thursday 24th May 2007
Fire Burning in Snow at the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music
Forget those lost Vivaldi "masterpieces" and "gems" by minor Romantic composers: Jeffrey Skidmore and his Ex Cathedra Consort are mining a seam of pure Inca gold - or rather, a fine Spanish-Inca amalgam. (The Independent) Read the rest of the review here...
Posted: Saturday 5th May 2007
Joubert's Wings of Faith
Among Joubert's most capable and reliable champions are the Birmingham choir Ex Cathedra, directed by Jeffrey Skidmore, whose expertise in Early Music performance and the Baroque era (not least Skidmore's rediscovery of Mexican and South American repertoire) is offset by a sturdy commitment to living composers. (Music and Vision) Read the rest of the review here...
Posted: Tuesday 27th February 2007
Fire Burning in Snow concert
'... the simple, insistent gutsy rhythms from two deep drums ... was a herald to the feast of recently researched and newly introduced music of Bolivian, Juan de Araujo (1648-1712). Fascinating instrumental parts were realised by the conductor, featuring the QuintEssential Sackbut & Cornett Ensemble and based on Araujo's choral music both liturgical and in the villancicos style. As ever, the standards of these musicians are impeccably high with the singers forming into contrasting "choirs" or presenting beautifully crafted solo strands. (The Birmingham Post)
Posted: Sunday 21st January 2007
La voix humaine
Three things distinguished this concert: the quality of the music; the excellence of the execution; and the care and thought that had gone into the planning of the programme and its presentation. (Musicweb International) Read the rest of the review here...
Posted: Monday 11th December 2006
Christmas in Venice
It's difficult to keep superlatives out of any discussion about Ex Cathedra. Here was another exciting concert which combined scholarly research with direct and passionate performances, a shining example of imaginative musicianship in action. (Birmingham Post)
