Hilary Finch - The Times
JOHN TAVENER’s music is an uneasy pact between time and eternity. Compelled to exist in time, it strains and aspires to timelessness. When, in its very making, it approaches the latter — or at least the illusion of it — then a small miracle occurs. [...] To celebrate 60 mortal, finite years of Tavener as man and musician, the English Chamber Orchestra and Ralf Gothóni joined forces with Polyphony and Stephen Layton for an affectionate birthday tribute.
[...] Tavener at his very best, singing through the soul of the human voice. An irresistible song-cycle called Butterfly Dreams, written last year for the Brighton Chamber Choir, was given its London premiere by Polyphony. Several of the songs are tiny haikus, time brushed by the wing-tip of sound. Layton’s ability to revere and sanctify every consonant, every syllable, within the utmost simplicity of utterance, ensured a performance of near-perfection for both this and for the 1982 classic, The Lamb.
Sarah Connolly, replacing an indisposed Susan Graham, tackled the Supernatural Songs of 2002, with the ECO’s strings, pow-wow drum and Hindu temple bowl, serenely focusing and nuancing their sweetly variegated responses to the poetry of W. B. Yeats. And Polyphony’s concluding performance of Birthday Sleep, a setting from 1999 of the Welsh poet Vernon Watkins, solemnly sealed the celebration.
Tim Ashley - The Guardian
The performances, from the choral group Polyphony and the English Chamber Orchestra with pianist Ralf Gothoni, were all exemplary, while Sarah Connolly negotiated the deceptively tricky vocal line of Supernatural Songs with great sensuality and spiritual sincerity.