Pianist used to be skeptical of historical instrument performances. No more! "When I'm at home, my day always begins with . It used to be on the piano, now it's on the clavichord, even before breakfast," he effuses. "I feel reborn. My ears, my mind, soul and spirit are cleansed." Arguably he has even gone beyond the common run of early music performances, for clavichord recordings are not terribly common even though, as 's annotator here points out, 's first biographer called the clavichord 's favorite instrument. delves deeply into the clavichord's intimate nature, imbuing the works here with a wonderful exploratory quality. Perhaps the final , works less well in this context; it is a more flamboyant work. However, until that point, the program has a cumulative effect, as if one is going into the rabbit hole with a master artist. has an odd opening choice: the programmatic , doesn't seem to fit with the abstract Inventions and Sinfonias that make up the main body of the program. Perhaps was trying to establish an intimate atmosphere where was playing music for a few friends. At any rate, there is much to consider here and much to savor; historical instruments have not fundamentally altered 's approach, but they have deepened it. It is unsurprising that this release landed on classical best-seller charts in early 2023. ~ James Manheim