Phantasm plays “like angels singing.” This was the verdict of BBC World Affairs correspondent John Simpson who presented Phantasm with a 2004 Gramophone Award for its recording of Viol Consorts by Gibbons (AV 0032). The ensemble continues to explore the rich sound world of the golden age of Elizabethan England with this release. Listening to the consorts of John Jenkins you could be forgiven for thinking they were written specially for Phantasm, each player from treble to bass viol performing virtuostic feats that are the equal of their colleagues, six voices blending together in extraordinarily sonorous counterpoint. Described in their day as “sublime discourses” and “divine raptures”, Jenkins’ consorts perfectly suit the modern-day mentality of Phantasm’s striking unity of ensemble, unmatched by any other viol ensemble playing today.
"...The recording was made in Merton College Chapel, but you would not know it. The recording engineers have caught the viols perfectly, giving them space and bloom without the unnecessary boom of the large acoustic. Other groups have recorded these pieces interspersed with Jenkins’ music for other forces, to provide the listener with some sort of aural relief. But with performances like these, such relief hardly seems necessary. Just put the disc in the CD player, pour yourself a glass of wine, lower the lights and sit back and revel in the brilliant conversation of a group of old friends, familiar enough to take liberties but always balanced and civilised." Robert Hugill
