Album: Nordic Choral Music (WDR Radio Choir)

Beautifully performed, often folk-inspired works by Mäntyjärvi, Nørgård, Sandström, Rautavaara and others, testament to choral music’s place at the heart of Nordic culture.

BBC Music Magazine, May 2021

Album: Sacred Treasures | Music from the Düben Collection

The Academy Chamber Choir of Uppsala and the Uppsala Consort under the direction of Stefan Parkman excel in music by Schütz, Tunder, Buxtehude, Vesi and Quagliati which in its vibrant beauty conveys the sensation of how all the horrors of the thirty-year war have faded away like morning stars.

Dagens Nyheter, 13.09.2020

Stefan Parkman & WDR Radio Choir in Neuss

Stefan Parkman and the WDR Radio Choir combined two of the greatest works of a cappella choral music of the 20th century into a completely convincing musical unit. In Frank Martin's Mass for two four-part choirs, five movements from Alfred Schnittke's Twelve verses of repentance for mixed choir were integrated in alternation [...]. Parkman brought the singing and artistic qualities of his choir to many climaxes.

Rheinische Post, Hansgeorg Marzinkowski, 07.10.2019

Serenade with Jazz with WDR Rundfunkchor and Big Band

The choir demonstrated that music without Big Band can be very alive. Hallelujah by Robert Sund hazarded a “Spiritual mortale”: the voices snapped in and out and the singers moved strenuously in twisted rhythms […]. Nils Lindberg has written several “night works” for A cappella being first performed, atmospherically dense and modern composed and committedly conducted by Stefan Parkman.

Kölnische Rundschau, Olaf Weiden, 20.06.2016

Messiah in Mozart version with WDR Radio Choir

Stefan Parkman focussed on the subtle and piano tones, virtuoso but loose lightness and elegance. The few dynamic peaks in the Halleluja and Amen, which Parkman took spectacularly slow in comparison to his otherwise rather speedy tempo turned out instead even more emphasised [...]. The WDR Choir and WDR Radio Symphony provided a flawless performance in terms of agility, beauty of tone and intonation.

Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, Markus Schwering, 15.12.2015

Nordic programme at Chorbiennale Aachen

The singers of the WDR Radio Choir captivated the audience with a selection 
of different songs of Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish composers. Homogeneous 
in all vocal ranges, perfect in intonation,  phrasing and articulation: The choir 
showed its best side especially with songs by Finn Toivo Kuula and the Swedish 
composers Hakan Parkman and David Wikander. Enthusiastic applause for a brilliant 
festival opener.

Aachener Zeitung, Pedro Obiera, 02.06.2015

Successful debut with WDR Radio Choir

Right from the start in his debut concert, Stefan Parkman as chief conductor of the WDR radio choir succeeded to set individual accents. He is able to regulate a differentiated and detailed sound shaping and to communicate his own obvious enthusiasm for the matter.

Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, 15.09.2014

The intonation of the choir remained untarnished even in the most delicate dissonances in Einojuhani Rautavaara's Suite de Lorca and Jan Sandström's In Flanders Fields. Ovation for a great concert concept.

Münstersche Zeitung, 16.09.2014

Sandström, Britten, Mäntyjärvi, J.S. Bach and Nystedt with NDR Radio Choir

Insistingly the chamber choir of the NDR repeats the "Veni" calls like an invocation in minimal music style. An unusual and gripping listening experience from the first to the last bar celebrated by the choir under his Swedish chorus master Stefan Parkman.

Nürnberger Zeitung, Peter Löw, 08.08.2013

Gripping performance with NDR Choir

Chorus master Stefan Parkman with the excellent NDR choir made a gripping performance. The singers condense Hear my prayer to a highly expressive invocation. … Stefan Parkman forms a mature, dark vocal sound. The singers are flexible enough though to lighten up the music score with bright colours. Benjamin Britten's Hymn to St. Cecilia lives on that colour and on the imploring intensity of Stefan Parkman's interpretation.

Fränkische Landeszeitung, Thomas Wirth, 08.08.2013

Edlund, Mäntyjärvi, Mendelssohn and Rautavaara with WDR Radio Choir

The audience could convince itself of the highest quality of the choir when the Rundfunkchor Köln literally lighted lights of heaven - "Himmelslichter". Psalms by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy were contrasted to Jaakko Mäntyjärvi's settings of the same texts, a Gloria by Lars Edlund and the first of Duineser Elegien by Rilke set to music by Einojuhani Rautavaara. Under Stefan Parkman's exceptionally suggestive direction the choir reacts in a most sensitive way and creates a sound with addictive potential, dragging the listener into a spiritual world of sounds.

Neue Ruhr Zeitung, Roland Dymke, 29.10.2012

Rodion Shchedrin: The sealed Angel – Rundfunkchor Berlin

The Rundfunkchor Berlin radiates even brighter in Rodion Shchedrin's orthodox liturgy The sealed Angel under Stefan Parkman. One cannot praise enough the results of the choir's work on musical substance, melodiousness and vocal power.

Tagesspiegel, 07/2012