BBC Music Magazine gives a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Performance and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recording rating to our new Penelope Thwaites: From Five Continents recording in the July 2020 issue:
“All except one of these choral compositions and songs receive their first recordings in this set and to say they are lively, catchy and imaginative is probably not saying enough. Her style has unmistakable roots in the English choral tradition but brings this soundworld an upbeat rhythmic sense and refreshing lack of pomposity. The beautifully wrought Missa brevis is a model of concise, integrated and well contrasted writing, with some inspired moments (the Gloria is irresistible); and the four psalm settings and the Shakespeare Songs offer vivid responses to their celebrated words… The performances match the music in warmth, directness and communicativeness, with Ex Cathedra in finest fettle and Jeffrey Skidmore picking strong tempos and balancing the voices beautifully. The all-star soloists, Carolyn Sampson, James Gilchrist and William Dazeley, offer excellent diction and projection, and Thwaites herself is at the piano, ably supported by a sympathetic team of instrumentalists… Recorded sound is good, with just the right degree of resonance”
—Jessica Duchen, BBC Music Magazine ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Performance and Recording)