“Artistry is never in question”

“Poetically and musically, Briefly It Enters [Bolcom] is great stuff, neglected on disc…written for the technically adept…

“Nothing seems off limits in the [Jane] Kenyon cycle. Performances have a sure compass: Laura Choi Stuart projects a clean, clear soprano—particularly warm…articulate and meaningful. Tanya Blaich’s accompaniment…fluidly sustains concentration and continuity…infused with meaning.”

David Patrick Stearns, Gramophone

“The performances are exquisite and beautifully recorded (in the New England Conservatory’s famed Jordan Hall)
.…feels like a handcrafted object made by a highly experienced artisan…

“Everything one could wish in a recording has been thoughtfully accomplished here, not least the two booklets, which are printed in a comfortably large font and offer the full texts of the songs, plus ruminations by the singer, Laura Choi Stuart, and evocative photos of Stuart (a lyric soprano) and pianist Tanya Blaich visiting the home of the poet Jane Kenyon (1947-95).

“The songs, selected with care, reflect on varied aspects of human life, including personal relationships, social interactions, and group activities. The album’s title, “Rituals,” emphasizes continuities and recurrences, such as an impoverished family glimpsed on the sidewalk, an intimate moment between two people, or religious worshipers gathering to reflect on life’s joys and mysteries.

“A disc to treasure.”

Ralph P. Locke, The Arts Fuse

“Much to commend”

“Performances of heartfelt conviction”

“Despite the composers’ differences, their pieces combine into a fluid, full-album statement that covers great and small, from domestic and community rituals to issues of memory, love, and death.”

“The duo’s exceptionally satisfying art song collection is further distinguished by presenting the first commercial release of [Bolcom’s] Briefly It Enters in twenty-five years.

Ron Schepper, Textura

“…sublime”

“expressive singing and a charming balance of firm and cozy piano playing”

“nothing short of elegant”

Tom Haugen, Take Effect

“Laura Choi Stuart sings them idiomatically and clearly with excellent accompaniment by Tanya Blaich...They are sung with great clarity and accompanied by precise piano playing... The album was recorded in Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory in Boston. It’s very clean, clear and well balanced...There’s a pretty informative booklet...well sung, played and recorded.”

John Gilks, Operaramblings

“Recommended”

“Choi Stuart’s ravishing singing”

“Rituals is one of the most carefully argued song programmes I have encountered in a while.”

“There’s assurance powered by a sort of controlled fervour, in Choi Stuart’s delivery. She’s always highly musical and, crucially, her diction is flawless. Blaich is the most deft collaborator, never once making you question the coherence of Ives’s writing for piano.”

“Before you listen to a note, you’re aware that the beautiful packaging is making a point. The sung texts occupy one sleeve and the notes another… For a program this preoccupied with words, that division feels less like a design flourish than a statement of priorities…The texts are not an afterthought placed at the end of the programme notes. Their placement suggests you should look at them before doing anything else.”

“The album’s quiet triumph: a meditation on morality made almost entirely of the living.”

“Never sentimental and entirely devoid of the sort of misplaced nostalgia or poignancy it would be easy to fall into…pervaded by the power and the warmth of [poet Jane] Kenyon’s sensibility without being in any way mawkish…The Kenyon settings are themselves framed by two of Bolcom’s dazzling Cabaret Songs, set to texts by Arnold Weinstein…their juxtaposition with the Kenyon is a fascinating creative act in itself…Choi Stuart brings wryness and humour to Weinstein’s words, and Blaich balances Bolcom’s bluesy inflections to perfection. It’s not a crude upbeat ending but a wonderfully counterintuitive gesture that comes off triumphantly.”

“What a refreshing disc this is, unquestionably one of the best song recitals I’ve heard in a long time. It’s nice also to be able to report how much care Acis have taken with its presentation…exemplary packaging…beautiful photographs…add real contextual value.”

“Any lover of art song will want to hear this: a genre alive and well in the hands of these profoundly accomplished performers.”

Dominic Hartley, MusicWeb International