Chestnut Hill Local
“Perhaps the most flawless work heard Sunday afternoon was C.P.E. Bach’s Rondo in D minor for solo harpsichord, part of Bella’s collection. It’s an imaginative yet fully structured score that’s effervescent in mood. It received a stellar performance by harpsichordist Adam Pearl. A fellow alumnus of the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore and a faculty member there, Pearl employed a gentle yet expressive rubato that manipulated the tempo through subtle shifts of faster and slower speeds. He placed the shorter motifs with the context of the larger phrases and shaped them with a supple give-and-take that gave them an appealing air of spontaneity.”
“The program’s most interesting work was Johann Went’s arrangement for flute, violin, viola and cello of the Overture and three arias from Mozart’s German-language opera, “Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail” (“The Abduction from the Seraglio”)… Flutist Gwyn Roberts, violinist Emlyn Ngai, violist Karina Schmitz and cellist Lisa Terry invested their playing with all the theatrical vitality of a staged production without sacrificing the intimacy of chamber music.”
“Of equal delight was Quantz’s Quartet in E minor featuring Roberts, Ngai, Schmitz on second violin, Richard Stone on lute and Pearl on harpsichord. Divided into three concise movements, it’s a forward-looking score in which harmonic progressions assume an equal footing with counterpoint. As a keyboard player, myself, I heard with appreciative satisfaction Pearl propel the music’s development from the harpsichord.”
Broad Street Review
“Tempesta di Mare’s concerts combine musicianship with impressive scholarship, and this program was a prime example. Tempesta’s co-director, Richard Stone, has visited the Sara Levy collection over the years and copied scores by hand. The opening number was a Bach organ piece for three voices that can be arranged for a number of instrumental combinations; Stone arranged it as an elegant dialogue between two violins, accompanied by his lute.”
“The finale was an interesting jump to a different musical and emotional world… Fanny’s musicales exposed Mozart to Bach, Handel, and counterpoint, but Fanny was interested in new music, too. Her collection included an instrumental transcription of tunes from Mozart’s opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, and the concert ended with a happy visit to the high-spirited theatrical music developing in Vienna, complete with a hymn to Bacchus.”
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