Press
The choruses, sung with gleaming precision by the Clarion forces, underscored how radical Handel’s writing can be. “Jealousy! Infernal pest” explodes from a wasp’s nest of dissonances that seem to catapult the music out of the world of Baroque harmony into something more elemental. In the chorus mourning Hercules’ death, too, the music gropes through harmonic turns that startle and destabilize.
– Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times
'Review: A Handel Flop Reveals Itself as a Work of Brilliance'
Some of the most arresting work came from the Clarion Choir. In the chorus at the opera's midpoint, an almost whispered explanation of "Jealousy! Infernal pest" was followed by subtle dissonances and then a complete change of character as the ethereal sopranos warned that "Trifles, light as floating air, strongest proofs to thee appear." Later, its soft intoning of "The world's avenger is no more" embodied the mourning and loss of hope after the death of Hercules.
– Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal
‘'Hercules' Review: Handel's Musical Myth at Carnegie Hall’
The Clarion Choir, under its Music Director Steven Fox, sang impeccably; its ensemble and tuning precise.
– Fred Cohn, Musical America
'David Lang’s The National Anthems at the Met'
Read Clarion's feature articles in The New York Times & BBC Music Magazine.
"It seems to have fallen to Steven Fox and his excellent choirs to tend to Rachmaninoff’s motley but treasurable body of choral works. The sacred ones, particularly – with their flowing yet restrained lyricism and none of the bombast or sentimentality often associated with the composer – represent the very best of Rachmaninoff…
Fox has since made specialties of Russian Orthodox music in general and Rachmaninoff in particular. He and Clarion have presented the Vespers often at New Year in New York and recorded it beautifully for Pentatone.”
– James Oestreich, The New York Times
'Illuminating Rachmaninoff's Vespers, a Pinnacle of Russian Sacred Rep'
""In Handel's Solomon, elegantly performed on Sunday by the English Concert and Clarion Choir under Harry Bicket, the chorus is the star... The Clarion Choir, directed by Steven Fox, was superb in the score’s many moods."
– Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times
'A Handel Oratorio Filled With Lyrical Grace'
"Since their formation under Fox in 2006, the Clarion Choir and Orchestra have been building their reputation as first-class performers of Russian repertoire throughout the US and Europe…"
– Charlotte Smith, BBC Music Magazine
'The Clarion Choir: East Meets West'
"The Clarion Choir has become my favorite NYC-area vocal ensemble not only because of their great skill but because of the vast range of repertoire they plumb and make their own. Under the leadership of Steven Fox the choir has recently performed Handel, Rachmaninoff, and brand-new music too."
– Jon Sobel, Blogcritics
"In sum: the interpretation [of Solomon] was exquisite, with the pre-eminence of the choir..."
– Eduardo Torrico, Scherzo (Spain)
"Singing Bach’s Mass in B Minor can be terrifying. You’re holding your own, and then, the page turns to reveal something that looks barely singable. You’re teetering like a novice downhill skiier on a slope with pathetically inadequate skills. No turning back. And that’s just a matter of vocal technique. Why is this monumental piece the way it is? That’s a lifelong quest that found a provisional answer from all-professional Clarion Choir and Orchestra under Steven Fox May 1 at the Park Avenue Christian Church…
The final “Amen”…had the most luminous homophonic vocal blends in the Clarion performance that I’ve heard in years."
– David Patrick Stearns, ArtsJournal
'Clarion’s Bach Mass in B Minor: Summit Achieved'
"From beginning to end of the afternoon, the drama depended upon Handel’s spectacular choral writing and the accomplished singing of The Clarion Choir. Here was God’s plenty: stirring fugues, grand double-choir accolades, and eight-part songs of praise; a gentle evocation of the cedar grove where Solomon and his queen were to have their afternoon “nap”; and a stormy, high-romantic picture of unnamed lovers caught in some scenario of “death and wild despair.” The Clarion Choir never faltered even in the fastest and wordiest of passages. Bravo to the choir’s artistic director, Steven Fox, who also joined the tenor section, for his scrupulous attention to detail and insight into the musical heart of these remarkable numbers."
– Nicholas Jones, San Francisco Classical Review
"Under Fox’s leadership, and with the benefit of excellent acoustics and top-notch recording and production, the Clarion Choir makes a crowning statement with this release."
– Jon Sobel, Blogcritics
"Clarion Choir Soars in Spiritual Rarity to Open Rachmaninoff 150 Year."
– David Wright, New York Classical Review
"The Clarion Choir’s concerts brought out Rachmaninoff’s revelatory fusion of old and new - or what was new in the 20th century. I suspect the composer would have been pleased with this performance, held just across town from his old digs on West End Avenue."
– Jon Sobel, Blogcritics
"It used to be that Russian choirs had the edge in recording material from that country, but New York's Clarion Choir has gotten the drop on them with a world premiere of music by Alexander Kastalsky. The sound, from New York's St. Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church, is all that could be desired."
– James Manheim, AllMusic
"The Clarion Choir, led by Artistic Director Steven Fox, provided episode after episode of luxuriant and richly hued singing...These artists conjured up a stirring air of triumphalism in the powerful showpieces that frame the piece and recur throughout... Elsewhere too the chorus rose nobly to the occasion. The first of the oratorio’s three acts ends with a sumptuously beautiful lullaby, as nightingales (that would be two flutes and a solo violin) and a murmuring assemblage of voices lull the royal couple to sleep; the chorus gave this piece a shimmery, quiet depth. When Handel asked for precisely etched counterpoint, the chorus obliged. When he wanted vigorous power, that too was in supply."
– Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
'Clarion Choir Shines in Berkeley Oratorio Performance'
"The New York-based Clarion Choir sang with exacting precision and admirable fervour... the Choir were again magnificent."
– Tim Ashley, The Guardian (UK)
“Levine’s east-to-west background put him in a unique position to write this piece, whose harmonies had less of a British Anglican tinge than some of his works. Levine inhabited the Russian liturgical manner as a first language – not a throwback but a look back – occasionally exercising the option to use more spare modern chords and to have ideas grow out of each other in a way that liturgical music from this world seem not to permit.
The all-professional Clarion Choir under Steven Fox of course played a key role here, being perhaps the best choir in New York and one that is able to summon the kind of vocal richness needed for this music with a linguistic authority that offered great clarity to those following on the text. In more chant-like moments, the vocal inflections highlighted the dips and turns that some more liturgical-based vocal groups might take for granted. And does this choir have some sort of volume knob that allows quick, seamless changes in dynamics?
Such effects were particularly heard in the concert’s all-Rachmaninoff first half. Smart programming there. The audience ears were warmed to the Russian choral sound and manner, but the music itself was not top-drawer Rachmaninoff and thus wasn’t going to make Levine suffer by comparison. In fact, one could ask if there’s a compelling reason to bring out the lightweight Six Choral Songs for Treble Voice Op. 15. Answer: The performances struck just the right balance of tidy ensemble and moderate tempos, allowing the music to reveal an unpretentious charm – and one that illuminated Rachmaninoff’s larger works in a way that Brahms’ similar Op 17 choral songs give one an entry point to his larger works.”
– David Patrick Stearns, ArtsJournal
'Russian liturgical choral music supports the Ukraine in an NYC Clarion Choir world premiere – without irony'
"Every time I've heard them, The Clarion Choir's timbre and precision impress with their consistency through loud and quiet passages alike. More generally, their jewel-like musicality is always at the highest level."
– Jon Sobel, Blogcritics
'Clarion Choir Sings Rachmaninoff and World Premiere of ‘Vigil for Peace’ by Alexander Levine'
"… the performers made their mark, most of all Bicket’s bright-toned American imports, the Clarion Choir... in a climactic chorus the Clarion singers left us with a stirring sense of Old Testament justice."
– Neil Fisher, The Times (UK)
'The superb 28-member Clarion Choir was a revelation: Full-voiced, with rhythmic precision and articulation as clear as the orchestra’s, the ensemble easily switched gears from the sensual languor of “Endless pleasure, endless love” to the moving, oratorical statement of the opera’s dark lesson: “Nature to each allots his proper sphere / But that forsaken we like meteors err: / Toss’d through the void, by some rude shock we’re broke, / And all our boasted fire is lost in smoke.” '
– Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal
''Semele' Review: A Delicious Mashup of Genres
“Who could fail to be knocked sideways by the balanced tones and glorious thrust of New York's Clarion Choir (so aptly named)”
– Geoff Brown, The Times (UK)
‘Review: Semele at the Barbican’
'Handel awards the chorus numbers of considerable profundity and musical complexity. Steven Fox’s stellar Clarion Choir—which included [Joseph] Beutel and [Brian] Giebler and other notable local singers—made a deep impact.'
– David Shengold, Opera News
‘NEW YORK CITY: Semele’
'...A Marvelous Semele...The English Concert, a superb period instrument orchestra whose annual spring visit to Carnegie is a must for Handel-lovers... were joined by the aptly named Clarion Choir (Steven Fox, artistic director) and six splendid soloists, all led by the conductor Harry Bicket...the choruses may be the glory of “Semele.” Act II — when it looks like Semele and Jupiter, in the form of a mortal man, are going to live in sensual bliss — ends with the sumptuous “Bless the glad earth.”'
– Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
‘Review: The English Concert Brings a Marvelous 'Semele'’
'The roles of the Priest (Act I) and Apollo (Act III) were taken confidently by Joseph Beutel and Brian Giebler respectively, members of the fabulous Clarion Choir whose intonation and diction were immaculate and who showed they could sing a fugue with light vigour as readily as they could conjure an expressive expanse of sustained and sensitive sound.'
– Claire Seymour, Opera Today
‘A superb Semele from the English Concert at the Barbican Hall’
“the glory of this evening performance was the superlative singing of the Clarion Choir. Their homogeneity, clarity and accuracy is something to marvel.”
– Rodrigo Maffei Libonati, I Hear Voices (Opera Blog)
‘Handel’s Semele, The English Concert (at the Barbican, London),'
“Choruses were delivered with clarity and purpose by the glorious Clarion Choir (under Steven Fox’s excellent direction and training), while arias, loving, sensual, playful, and invariably florid, were superbly handled by the soloists...Mr Bicket kept The English Concert and Clarion Choir closely around him, allowing him the tight ensemble work he craved. The audience went wild with approval often, and granted a huge ovation at the end.”
– Robert Levine, Bachtrack
‘“Endless pleasure” in Bicket's Semele at Carnegie Hall’
“The orchestra (The English Concert ) and the choir (The Clarion Choir) followed the precise gestures of the conductor Harry Bicket and weaved together the sound of this drama full of musicality and nuances.”
– Damien Dutilleul, Olyrix.com
‘Semele Inflames the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées'
“...the choir was excellent in each of its interventions: flexible ("Lucky omens" in Act I), playful ("Now Love that everlasting boy invites" in Act II) or, conversely, restrained and superb in the magnificent "O terror and astonishment" following the death of Semele (Act III).”
– Sébastien Gauthier, ConcertoNet
‘Review of George Frideric Handel's Semele at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris — April 3, 2019’
'The U.S. based Clarion Choir was a worthy partner to the English Concert with some impressive variations in vocal light and shade and admirable attention to dynamic markings and diction. The rests in “Cease, cease,” “Hail! Cadmus, hail,” and “Happy, happy” were as sharp as Lady Macbeth’s pugnale. The bellicose “Avert these omens, all ye pow’rs” was immaculately sung with crystal clear articulation prevailing over the pounding timpani. “How engaging, how endearing” was especially charming and the alla hornpipe “Now Love that everlasting boy invites” had suitably adolescent ardor. The fugal “Bless the glad earth” chorus which concludes Act II had power, precision and panache. The Purcellian “Oh terror and astonishment” chorus, when Semele turns to cinders, was suitably frightening with a subterranean pianissimo low F-natural from basses at “lost in smoke.” The final polyphonic fugal “Happy, happy” chorus with hallelujah-esque rowdy timpani and raspy trombe was a worthy conclusion to an absolutely outstanding choral performance.'
– Jonathan Sutherland, Opera Wire
‘Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paris 2019 Review: Semele'
‘[Die Zauberflöte] was a delight, on all fronts. Fox conducted surely, with tempos and casting that recalled René Jacobs’s Zauberflöte. The chorus sang well and the generously sized period orchestra played superbly. ...Everyone was charming and idiomatic and appealing, suggesting what one might have heard back in the day at the Theater auf der Wieden. ...A stylish, satisfying evening; may Clarion venture further into opera.’
- John Rockwell, Opera (UK)
‘Mozart's The Magic Flute: El Teatro at the Museo del Barrio, March 2017’
‘the now sixty-year old Clarion Orchestra in its current incarnation, produced a fine reading under Steven Fox’s baton...Fox’s players achieved Mozartian gravitas and levity as needed.’
- David Shengold, Opera News
‘Mozart's The Magic Flute'