Reviews

Concert Review of Candlelight Concert: The Secret Society of Notre Dame de Paris

One work, a new motet by Rose ensemble alto Linda Kachelmeier, made a telling statement. Its luscious counterpoint, deliberate dissonances and assertive vocal interaction, while thoroughly modern, aren't all that distant from 12th century Notre Dame. Composed in the mold of Gorecki, Pärt and other spiritually-inspired postmodernists, it revealed that vocal music may be coming full circle after 900 years.
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Alabama Entertainment

CD Review of Nā Mele Hawai'i

This pure singing of it will amaze you — it's gorgeous.
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American Record Guide

Concert Review of Slavic Wonders - Feasts and Saints in Early Russia, Poland & Bohemia

Though most in the audience did not recognize the names on the program [...], few people will forget the Rose Ensemble’s gripping and emotional interpretations of the music that portrayed God and his angels as vividly as that same culture’s gold-encrusted painted icons.
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Goldberg

Concert Review of Slavic Wonders - Feasts and Saints in Early Russia, Poland & Bohemia

The evening was notable for its air of informality and the infectious sense of enthusiasm exhibited by the performers — all of which turned what could have been a rather ascetic program into one that will linger in the memory as an especially intriguing exploration of music rarely encountered.
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Berkshire Eagle

Concert Review of Cantigas from the Land of Three Faiths

This program wasn't a performance. It was more like a resurrection. The Rose Ensemble breathes life into stark, ancient manuscripts . . . restores them as new creations.
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Ames Life & Times

Concert Preview/CD Review of Hawai'i Revealed

...a world-renowned vocal group that has spent the dozen years of its existence combining extraordinary scholarship, a sense of adventure, and breathtaking technique to explore a wide range of early music.
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Minneapolis City Pages

Album Review of Rosa das Rosas

Early music of Spain has been touched less than other countries by the trend back toward unaccompanied vocal music. The similarity of the medieval and the later songs is well exemplified in this program, as least in the Rose Ensemble’s interpretations.
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Fanfare Magazine

Concert Review of Bobby Previte's The Separation (Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY)

The Rose Ensemble is a splendid choir whose basic repertoire leans toward the Baroque and the Renaissance eras and their take on the splintered version of the Dufay masterpiece they were charged with presenting was most exemplary.
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The Buffalo News

Concert Review of Bobby Previte's The Separation (Walker Art Center, Minneapolis)

The majestic, soaring harmonies of the nine-member Rose Ensemble were a welcome counterpoint to the harmonically and rhythmically simplistic guitar riffs.
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Pioneer Press

CD Review of Rosa das Rosas

Engaging and educational, the rich variety on offer makes this satisfying.
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Gramophone

Review of December 21, 2006 concert, Christmas in Elizabethan England

If you imagine the counterpoint of the 16th century to be too simple for your modern ears, be assured that the 14 voices of the Rose Ensemble uncover unexpected wonders within the works. They paid profound respect to each composer represented, be it an unknown of the 15th century or a legend of the 16th like Thomas Tallis.
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Pioneer Press

CD Review of Rosa das Rosas

The villancicos on this disc are well performed and well recorded, offering polished renditions of rarely heard works.
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Choral Journal

Review of December 2, 2006 Cantiga!, Vocal and Instrumental Music from the Land of Three Faiths concert

The troupe's musicians...are a versatile group.
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The Eagle

Review of December 2, 2006 Cantiga!, Vocal and Instrumental Music from the Land of Three Faiths concert

The group is blazing new trails in seldom-heard byways of early music, far off the beaten path.
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WAMC Northeast Radio

Review of October 20, 2006 Rosa das Rosas concert in Duluth

Part of the delight the Rose Ensemble brings is its message that this program is aimed at everyone in the house.

With beautiful music and immediate audience rapport, the Rose Ensemble will find a responsive audience in Duluth whenever they visit.
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Duluth News Tribune

Review of June 12, 2006 concert in Neuss, Germany

...the joy of the performers could be felt as they were the bearers of rare musical jewels.

...the choir piece of Sergey Khvoshchinskiy...blended into the program like a valuable ikon that presents, on a gold background, ancient traditions in contemporary colors.
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Neuss-Grevenbroicher Zeitung

CD Review of Celebremos el Niño
by Michael Anthony

Delicate but lively, alternately sad and festive, the music is given subtle support by period instruments and sung with immaculate intonation and lively rhythms.
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Minneapolis Star Tribune

CD Review of Fire of the Soul
by David Vernier

Everything from the Russian diction to vocal timbre to the unusually vibrant sound on many of the open-spaced chords shows a concern for detail and for creating an idiomatic context respectful of the music's time and place.
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Classics Today
Concert Review of Visitatio Sepulchri: The Dublin Mystery Play
By William Randall Beard

"the Rose Ensemble's stellar performance of "Visitatio Sepulchri: The Dublin Mystery Play" was emotionally committed and moving enough to attract a broad audience."
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Minneapolis Star Tribune April 11, 2005
"...Which is why this recovering Lutheran is swept away by the Rose Ensemble. This twelve-member choral group, based in St. Paul, is devoted to early music - music that connects with ideas and aesthetics that have been tested over centuries of audience trials, but is being remade for people who live and who listen now."
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Rake Magazine Article April 2005
Concert Review of St. Martin of Tours
By Samuel Black

"As the thirteenth century envelops the evening, modern concerns regain a certain perspective. Even sharing music from the sixteenth century, as well as the twenty-first, does not diminish the aura."
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The McKnight Foundation's MNartists.org
December 7, 2004
Review of Cantiga! Cult of the Virgin
By Wilma Salisbury

"...the program was so flawlessly performed and smoothly structured by the ensemble from St. Paul, Minn., that the audience was mesmerized."
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The Cleveland Plain Dealer
October 13, 2004
Review of Cantiga! Cult of the Virgin
By Barbara Zuck

"...Jordan Sramek has brought these natural talents to a point of near-perfection in the careful performance and delivery of each selection, achieving a harmony that offers a spiritual dimension as well."
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The Columbus Dispatch
September 25, 2004
CD review of Fire of the Soul
By Laurence Vittes

"...the confident use of late-Renaissance gestures, complete with an ethereal soprano in the style of Allegri's Miserere, is ultimately convincing."
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Gramophone
CD review of Fire of the Soul
By KOOB

"With only 12 voices, often singing one to a part, they produce the kind of richness and volume of sound that you would normally expect from a much larger ensemble. They absolutely raise the roof in Zielenski's 12-part Magnificat, with its ringing multi-choir antiphony."
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American Record Guide
CD review of Fire of the Soul
By Craig Zeichner

"Two composers dominate Fire of the Soul: the Polish master Mikolaj Zieleski (fl. 1611) and the Russian Vasily Polikarpovich Titov (c. 1650-c.1715).  The balance of the program is rounded out with music by another Pole, Andrzej Rohaczewski (fl. c. 1620) and a gorgeous contemporary work by the ensemble from Sergey Khvoshchinsky (b. 1957), a Russian-born composer living in Minneapolis..."
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Early Music America Magazine, Spring 2004
CD review of Fire in the Soul
By Michael Anthony

"Fresh takes on evergreen holiday music"
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Minneapolis StarTribune
Concert Review of "Fire of the Soul CD-Release Concert"
The Rose Ensemble unfolded Fire of the Soul, a program that opened one musical blossom after another, each one startlingly fresh and vocally brilliant. For this, the responsive audience applauded and stood, whistled and whooped---all for 500-year-old music sung in Russian, Spanish, and Latin!
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McKnight Foundation's MNartists.org
Concert Review of Cantiga! The Cult of the Virgin
"As interesting as the texts are, the compulsion is often to close one's eyes and just bask in the sounds of the rich, resonant singing.""
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Minneapolis StarTribune
CD review of Road to Compostela
In a world full of amplification, ...demonstrates the power of quiet music, sung with quiet artistry.
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St. Paul Pioneer Press
CD Review of Road to Compostela
"...a souvenir every early music traveler should be happy to bring home."
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Classical 89.3 (WCAL)
CD Review of Slavic Holiday
"This group deserves to be known beyond the narrow boundaries of its home."
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Goldberg Magazine
Concert Review of Slavic Holiday
Part of the group's depth of sound comes from the great diversity in voices within the larger ensemble. A counter-tenor, a contralto, and the standard soprano, mezzo, alto, tenor, baritone and bass voices create a colorful palette.
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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Concert Review of The Road to Compostela
"With the stage strewn with rose petals, the musicians used the intimate Mediterranean-style venue skillfully, entering and exiting while singing in a processional, with the intermittent rumble of distant thunder adding an evocative counterpoint."
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South Florida Sun - Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
CD Review of Slavic Holiday
"The Rose Ensemble...handles this material with great skill and grace."
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Early Music America Magazine
Concert Review of Slavic Holiday
Rose Ensemble Celebrates Holidays in Harmony

"All went home amazed at the creativity of the legends and stunning technique of the ensemble."
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Duluth News-Tribune
CD Review of Lôbo Requiem/van Wilder motets
"...seemingly effortless, blended sound....persuasive, passionate, and a pleasure to hear."
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Early Music America Magazine
CD Review of Lôbo Requiem/van Wilder motets
"...the passion that these singers have for Renaissance music comes across..."
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Minneapolis StarTribune
Concert Review of It's About Time
Rose Ensemble's music blooms with human feeling

"...a world-class group with a distinctive take on its repertoire."
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Milwaukee Journal Sentinal
Concert Review of Lillies
Rose Ensemble Expertly Weaves Choral Tapestry

"...the Twin Cities' premier performance group of the unaccompanied Renaissance vocal repertory..."
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Minneapolis StarTribune
Concert Review of Tears of the Soul
"The Twin Cities music scene received a breath of fresh air Thursday from a group specializing in the ancient, The Rose Ensemble for Early Music."
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Minneapolis StarTribune
"Vocal music with grace and intelligence."
Minnesota Monthly
May 1999
"Gorgeous sound...stunning performance." Early Music Now! newsletter
July 1997
"Excellent tuning...effortless sound...always intimate."
David Bahrke,
Chorus Manager,
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
July 1997
"A sublime performance...I feel completely bathed." Louise Vahle,
Minnesota Public Radio
March 1997