
Gramophone has featured Stile Antico in the latest issue of the Magazine. The feature focuses on the 500th birthday of Palestrina, which they are celebrating with a new album that was released in January, as well as also celebrating its own 20th anniversary this year
“2025 marks the quincentenary of Palestrina’s birth and is a good time to celebrate him as the peak of the stile antico – that late flowering of perfected polyphony which Monteverdi would eventually contrast with the stile moderno of the early Baroque. And speaking of anniversaries, 2025 is also the year in which the vocal consort Stile Antico – which I would suggest is at the peak of modern Renaissance polyphony performance – celebrates its 20th anniversary. So I meet up with three of the group’s singers, soprano Kate Ashby and tenors Andrew Griffiths and Jonathan Hanley, to discuss all things ‘stile antico’.
This year the group is looking forward to giving a large gala concert in May, at London’s Wigmore Hall, as part of the anniversary celebrations. It will be a showcase of some of Stile Antico’s favourite music, including some of the new music that has been written for it.
Needless to say, I have had a sneak preview of the new album, and it is glorious. I think back to those carpet swatches, overwhelmed by choice, and spare a thought for Palestrina’s resilience – before slipping on my headphones once more to take a deep dive into his elegant and sumptuous music.”
Click here to read the full article on Gramophone (subscribers only)