'It was a Saturday to remember, with two concerts in town that individually would have been highlights of the classical season. That they happened on the same evening was extraordinary.
At 5:00 p.m. Early Music Now presented the British Baroque ensemble Passacaglia at Wisconsin Lutheran College. Chamber groups don't get any better than this. Whether in solos or playing together, the music of this ensemble of recorder, flute, viola da gamba, harpsichord and soprano was a lesson in clarity of intentions. The pieces were by Couperin, JFK Fisher, Van Eyck, Clerambault and Bach. Soprano Julia Gooding's rare gifts add up to a complete singer: a discreet and darkish timbre, evenness of tone, remarkable agility, mature musicianship, and a shapely sense of phrase. Her blazing performance of a Telemann cantata was spine-tingling.
Unusually, there was a premiere on an EMN concert, by local composer Geoffrey Gordon. His four-movement Stanza della Segnatura is an interpretation of Raphael's Vatican palace frescoes, with themes of theology, poetry, justice and philosophy. Throughout it revealed Gordon's elegant, deep intellect in a neo-Baroque palate. It is the best new piece heard in Milwaukee in recent years.'
Rick Walters, Shepherd Express, Milwuakee

'The British instrumental ensemble Passacaglia and soprano Julia Gooding brought virtuosity and splendid music making to Wisconsin Lutheran College's Schwan Hall on Saturday afternoon.
The group, which was presented by Early Music Now, consists of Dan Laurin (recorders), Annabel Knight (recorders and flute), Robin Bigwood (harpsichord), and Reiko Ichise (viola da gamba). Each a superb musician, they form a tight, sensitive ensemble that plays with great passion.
Passacaglia opened with Couperin's "Le Parnasse, ou L'Apotheose de Corelli," playing the seven musical vignettes like seasoned storytellers recounting a good yarn.
Gooding is also a master storyteller. She sings with a rich, colorful sound, reaching easily from whispers to soaring fortes. Ornaments convey musical meaning in her interpretations and are folded smoothly into the vocal lines.
A commanding performer, she brings drama and pathos to her deliveries without extraneous movement. The meaning is in the music and in her face. She sang Clerambault's cantata "Orphee" with a constant eye to the narrative thread, and gave a dramatic performance of Telemann's grim cantata "Ertrage nur das Joch der Maengel!"
Bigwood played J.K.F. Fischer's "Euterpe" suite for keyboard from "Musicalischer Parnassus," making perfect sense of the sometimes dense writing. He gave independence to individual lines, and unique character to each of the piece's six movements, using subtle rubato to create shape and momentum.
Laurin gave a stunning reading of J. Van Eyck's dizzying "Variations on Doen Daphne d'over schoone Maeght." He brought a warm, throaty sound and astonishing finger technique to the notey, fast variations, playing everything with a fascinating sense of musical line.
Geoffrey Gordon's "Stanza della Segnatura," a piece written for Passacaglia, is built of distinctly modern harmonic and melodic language.
Although the piece's thorny opening harmonies are a bit unsettling, at least when heard on period instruments in the midst of a baroque program, later sections, such as some compelling gamba lines in the fourth movement and some very interesting recorder passages, are quite compelling.
Gooding and the instrumentalists ended the concert with J.S. Bach's familiar aria, "Schafe koennen" (Sheep May Safely Graze). A fairly quick tempo and a light-handed interpretation gave the piece a lilting freshness.'
Elaine Schmidt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

'I fell in love with this disc at first hearing, seduced by Passacaglia's senusous mix of recorders, gamba, chamber organ and harpsichord, and the graceful suites and sonatas of Joseph Bodin de Boismortier. Linn's SACD sound helped seal the affair, which I think is destined to survive beyond the first flush of intimacy. There are so many good things to savour, not least the maturity and natural ease of the youthful Passacaglia players' chamber music-making.'
Andrew Stewart, Classic FM Magazine - 5/5 stars

'Passacaglia have done Boismortier a great service by releasing this CD. His sensitivity to commercial reality means that some of his music was aimed at the amateur market, and, in our own time, this has gained him an undeserved reputation for 'easiness'. Here they put the record straight with music of a very high quality, played with great taste and musicianship. Wise programme planning also means that the experience of listening to the CD is one of being led through a wide variety of musical pastures: this is a delight in itself.'
Mark Argent, Early Music News

'While the music of Frenchman Joseph Bodin de Boismortier... is littered with moments of charm and quaint magnetism, it is probably the exquisite playing of the early music group Passacaglia that makes this new release from Linn Records well worth the purchase.'
Kenneth Walton, The Scotsman - 4/4 stars

'The catalogue is not exactly overflowing with Boismortier recordings of this calibre, which is one more reason to welcome this splendid disc'
Brian Clark, Early Music Review

'The members of Passacaglia, in various combinations, play all with a sharp ear for balanced ensemble and for the wealth of little nuances contained within this ingenuous repertoire. But the greatest attraction in a well-thought out programme is a Suite in A major for solo harpsichord, which Robin Bigwood plays stylishly and with affection.'
Nicholas Anderson, BBC Music Magazine

Linn's hybrid SACD engineering contributes to the outstanding artistic success of this disc, although the major credits lie with youthful ensemble Passacaglia and, above all, Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, the early 18th-century French composer whose work has routinely been dismissed as second rate or even dull. Neither condition applies to the suites and sonatas presented in this programme, which are admirably compiled and affectionately played. Andrew Stewart, Music Week

'This is my disc of the month. From the opening phrase to the end of the disc I was enthralled. ... The four players really do play as one, and when they take solo status (as they have to, given Telemann's cunning use of all four instruments in various roles), they shine. ... I warmly recommend this CD to anyone interested in Telemann (which should be everyone by now!) or the recorder - you won't hear any better playing.'
Brian Clark, Early Music Review

'Annabel Knight and Louise Bradbury phrase with such unanimity that if they exchanged parts you would never know. Their dexterity is extremely impressive and the potential monotony of virtually unrelieved recorder tone is averted, so to speak, with flying colours. Robin Bigwood's harpsichord playing is admirable. Reiko Ichise['s] double-stopping is well-nigh faultless. Beautifully balanced ... [a] fine new recording.' Richard Lawrence, Early Music News