“Stunning and supercharged music...
performed with visceral passion.”
~ clevelandclassical.com
Press
The Other Side of the Story: Untold Perspectives on Familiar Tales -- March, 2019
"Curating thoughtfully-programmed, politically-inspired concerts has become a calling card for the innovative, Cleveland-based ensemble Burning River Baroque."
Mike Telin, clevelandclassical.com
Destructive Desires -- August and October, 2018
"Some see their art as an important refuge, something that’s both pure and purifying. Others feel art should dig into the noise, perhaps as a way to understand it more deeply. The latter mindset informs the most recent program from Burning River Baroque."
Jarrett Hoffman, clevelandclassical.com
Suppressed Voices: Music of the Banished – March
20–24, 2018
"Paula Maust is an unflappable harpsichordist who plays with vibrancy, elegance, and studied restraint…. Rauschenfels’ ability to express three emotions during one held note was staggering. Her ability to turn notation on a page into fully realized human emotion was a feat of the imagination."
David Kulma, clevelandclassical.com
At a Crossroad – August 9–11, 2017
Musical duo to examine love, relationships, sexism — by way of Baroque
Yellow Springs News
Burning River Baroque letting listeners choose their own adventure
with 'At a Crossroad'
The Plain Dealer
photo by Moments by Jackie
Forces of Good and Evil: Seasonal Works by
Musical Saints and Sinners – December 26, 2016
"[Burning River Baroque] offered a dazzling program. Malina is a very articulate soprano, capable of sustained passages as well as incredibly florid runs and vowels to extend the emotion of a musical line.
Paula was always supportive of Malina, seated at an instrument she
had never seen or touched prior to the performance itself."
Sam Black
Twisted Fate: Famed and Forgotten Female
Composers – September 20, 2016
"[Burning River Baroque] gives each work, regardless of fame, its particular brand of beguiling inventiveness and compelling passion."
Nicholas Jones, clevelandclassical.com
A Voice in the Wilderness – October 17, 2014
"...the three musicians collaborated in a winning performance."
Daniel Hathaway, clevelandclassical.com
Obsession and Unrequited Love – October 3, 2014
"...a group that offers exciting and varied early music with a sense of high drama and appeal."
"All three together performed Corelli's La Folia with breathtaking variety and flexibility."
“Though on a small scale, the impact of these musical dramas [was] explosive, delivered as they were here with high energy, skill, and conviction.”
Nicholas Jones, clevelandclassical.com
Desperation and Desire – July 22, 2014
"Do not miss soprano Malina Rauschenfels’ searing emotional portrayals of some of Purcell’s finest music. Together with the superb musicianship of the three instrumentalists, Burning River Baroque
left an indelible imprint on my psyche. Rauschenfels’ multidimensional communication— remarkable singing, but also physically engaged acting—brought out every nuance of this sensitive musical language
in “Desperation & Desire.”
Liane Curtis, Boston Musical Intelligencer
photo by Tom Hughey
Obsession and Unrequited Love – June 1, 2014
"What we also forget is that the music and art of that period was meant to be inordinately decorative and hyper-expressive, pushing as it did against the cool, rational conventions of the Renaissance. To be reminded of those values, all you need to do is to check out a performance by the enterprising — and surprising — musicians of Burning River Baroque."
"[The] audience was treated to some stunning and supercharged music by Nicolo Porpora, Domenico Scarlatti, Giovanni Bononcini and Francesco Maria Veracini performed with visceral passion by violinist Peter Lekx, soprano and cellist Malina Rauschenfels, cellist Matt Zucker and harpsichordist Paula Maust."
"Burning River Baroque exhumed an hour's worth of unusual "Baroque" repertoire on Sunday afternoon and brought it to vibrant life."
Daniel Hathaway, clevelandclassical.com
Desperation and Desire – September 27, 2013
"The hour-long program was beautifully integrated, one piece picking up from the next almost without pause. The players used the long aisle of the sanctuary to great effect, several times bringing the music in from the back. This is courageous in such a small ensemble, requiring the music to be memorized and adding an extra dimension of coordination to the rehearsals. The payoff is enormous: it breaks the wall between audience and performers and brings the music up close and personal, as Purcell would have intended."
Nicholas Jones, clevelandclassical.com
photo by Alex Belisle