New Recording!

Stylus Phantasticus
The wait is over!!

Violin virtuosa Tekla Cunningham takes center stage and leads Pacific MusicWorks’ dynamic continuo team in a journey through some of the wildest, most colorful, and most emotionally-charged instrumental music ever composed. The violin becomes the ‘diva’ in opera-like works by Farina, Fontana, Schmelzer, and Biber and more. Featuring an extravagant continuo orchestra of Baroque guitar, chittarone (Stephen Stubbs), Baroque harp (Maxine Eilander), harpsichord, organ (Henry Lebedinsky) and bass violin (William Skeen). This recording is published on the Reference Recordings label.

“Tekla Cunningham is a marvel on her Italian instrument, an endlessly songful bird.” - Fritz Balwit, Audiophile Audition

“Stellar Performances in the Stylus Phantasticus” -Aaron Keebaugh in Early Music America

“Lively and virtuosic…captures the daring mood and and the spirit of experimentation in this radical group of works…a triumph for Early Music.” -James Manheim, All Music

“The tunes show wit, compassion, virtuosity, lyricism, reflection, and an ever-changing spectrum of colors, phrasing, and articulation. Moreover, the performances are immaculate and committed. It makes for engaging and highly addictive listening.” -John J. Puccio, Classical Candor

“Tekla Cunningham not only impresses with a flawless technique, but also with her deep understanding of the rhetorical and gestural nature of this repertoire. This is one of the best demonstrations of the features of the stylus phantasticus that I have heard recently. She receives excellent support from the basso continuo section, which is a real driving force.”
-Johan van Veen Music Web International

Here’s a film of Fontana’s Sonata Prima imagined as a feast in the garden with Tekla Cunningham (baroque violin), Maxine Eilander (baroque harp), Henry Lebedinsky (harpsichord and organ), William Skeen (bass violin) and Stephen Stubbs (baroque guitar). Filmed in Seattle at the Olmstead-brothers designed Dunn Gardens.

Here’s Albertini’s Sonata Prima imagined as an allegory for our times. The sonata begins in the darkness with the violin alone. The joyful musical reunion at the beach - is it a dream? Is it real? What do you think?