The stiff labels don’t make Maurice Steger sound that exciting, you know? But listen to this guy play—which is precisely what the rapt audience at Rackham Auditorium did Saturday evening, when Steger appeared with the Canadian chamber ensemble Les Violons du Roy, conducted by Bernard Labadie, in a University Musical Society concert—and it’s a whole other story.

Who knew recorder virtuosity could be that thrilling? But Steger, a man of elfin charm who virtually dances with his instrument and offers blissed- out smiles between extended licks that would wind a marathon runner, is a phenom. Musical in the extreme, witty, clearly having the time of his life, and bending a column of air to his will to make his instrument sing, trill, dip and soar like some sweet unreal bird.

ANN ARBOR.COM, CONCERT REVIEW – US Tour with LES VIOLONS DU ROY, 2012