BBC Music Magazine, March 2006 Building a Library
Extremely accomplished singing moulded into a coherent and eloquent whole
Vasari Singers give a persuasive interpretation of the Mass with conductor Jeremy Backhouse ...The two best performances on CD both date from the more recent past and both come from London-based, mixed-voice choirs - so much for the spiritual home of this piece being within the liturgy. Actually, that is a little unfair since the individual members of the Corydon Singers and the Vasari Singers have all had experience of working within Christian liturgies at some stage during their lives...
... However, the performance by the Vasari Singers is
distinguished by its exciting climaxes and its careful shaping throughout. With
this recording conductor Jeremy Backhouse has arrived at a persuasive
interpretation of the Mass - a piece whose technical difficulty so often
overshadows any chance to mould the piece into a convincing whole. The Vasari
Singers bring Vaughan Williams's Mass to life while also leaving its delicately
archaic style intact. That, it seems to me, is the secret of this masterpiece.
Vaughan Williams Mass in G Minor Top choice - Vasari Singers
Jeremy Summerly
C.Hubert H. Parry: Songs of Farewell
Frank Bridge: A Prayer
Vaughan Williams: Mass in G Minor
GUILD MUSIC: GMCD 7132 (released 1997)