Tekla Cunningham and Pacific MusicWorks’ Stylus Phantasticus recording gets a wonderful new review in Audiophile Audition from critic Fritz Balwit:
“The ensemble features both baroque guitar and chitarrone of the leader Stephen Stubbs and the rare and remarkable baroque harp of Maxine Eilander. Both together and separately these delicate instruments are very nicely captured. More than anything else on this recording they bathe the ear in a new sonority within the baroque style. Those instruments blend nicely with the lower range of the viol, expertly played by William Skeen. It is no small thing to capture the sound of the prominent violin of Tekla Cunningham. She plays 1746 Italian instrument which is full of character. … her feeling for the style can only be commended.… Tekla Cunningham is a marvel on her Italian instrument, an endlessly songful bird. … the ensemble delivers generously in this program of unusual Baroque specialties. It should be added that the liner notes are especially well done too; they enrich the world of the 17th century in terms of aesthetic and musical background with discussion of the little figures such as Schmelzer, Pandolfi Mealli and the obscure Jesuit theorist Kircher. This recording leaves the listener hoping for more from this ensemble. One would dearly like to hear them play the Music of the French Court, or the trio sonatas of Telemann or Buxtehude. One trusts Stephen Stubbs to bring his historical expertise to just about any program and one certainly welcomes the fine work by the folks at Reference Recordings.”
—Fritz Balwit, Audiophile Audition
See the full review on Audiophile Audition