Lento Religioso

BBC Music Magazine 5 out of 5

(…) It’s something of a gamble to build an entire release around a programme showcasing a sequence of intense rather slow late-Romantic works. Yet the danger of emotional overkill is triumphantly surmounted here not only by Candida Thompson and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta’s imaginative playing, but also by the superb sound quality and the judiciously chosen order in which the seven pieces are presented. (…)

Erik Levi

Present Arts

(…) There are moments of great depth and sadness (…) caught magically by the strings of the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, directed from the violin by Candida Thompson, and it is the atmosphere of loss and regret that pervades not just the music but this year of pestilence and political thuggery, for which the album serves as some sort of elegy. (…) The selection of works is finely curated.

SM - Source

HRAudio / NativeDSD 5 out of 5

I do not think that the Amsterdam Sinfonietta had anything else in mind than producing an album of “several romantic works, each with a very specific expressive power of its own”. A selection of genuine and adaptations for string ensemble. But in the face of actual global Covid-19 health developments, it may come across quite differently, reinforcing feelings of distress and desolation. However, as many, or possibly all of us know, music can do wonders. In this specific case, the magic of ‘its expressive power’ reaches way beyond suffering. It not only brings soothing consolation to people having lost family in hard-hit areas but surprisingly it also has an uplifting effect on the mind.

Adrian Quanjer - Source

Luister 7.1428571428571 out of 5

Dat Amsterdam Sinfonietta een meer dan uitstekend ensemble is met dito repertoire, staat als een paal boven water. (…)

Audio Review 6.25 out of 5

(…) This is clearly a deeply felt example of what in the 1960s might have been a concept album called ‘Music to Relax To’. And then there is the sound! (…) Clarity and definition are exemplary. (…) this is as good as digital sound gets. (…)

De Gelderlander 6.25 out of 5

Amsterdam Sinfonietta laat op nieuwste cd Lento Religioso in ruim vijf kwartier horen dat een rustig tempo niet saai maar juist heel intens kan zijn. (…) De musici weten met hun expressieve, uiterst sonore toon- en klankvorming de aandacht moeiteloos naar zich toe te trekken.

Maarten-Jan Dongelmans - Source