Reviews: Germany

The Kent Camerta bows after concert, Schloss Aschach series

A successful display of musical splendor combined with a most interesting program was heard by enthusiastic concert goers at Gelchsheim Castle on June 3rd.  The ensemble Kent State Camerata, at home at Kent State University in the US state of Ohio, has been performing together since 1995.  These highly talented musicians with the unusual instrumentation of bassoon, viola, piano, mezzo soprano, and soprano have concertized in America, China, and Europe with great success.  Kent Camerata’s music-making was elegant and presented listeners a wide spectrum of music from the 18th through the 20th century.

In the first half of the concert the ensemble performed works of composers well-known to European audiences, such as Mozart, Haydn, Brahms, and Dvorak.  The second half resounded with less well-known composers, such as Domenik Argento and John Jacob Niles.

The sparkling and refined soprano of Amanda-Joyce Abbott was particularly to be heard in her solo pieces, Spring (Domenic Argento), Reward (John Jacob Niles), and Love Went A-Riding (Frank Bridge).  Also, the mezzo soprano Mary Sue Hyatt revealed her captivating, well-trained voice with her solo piece Quatre Poemes by Charles Martin Loeffler, which she performed with great passion and sensitivity.  In their duets one could hear how well the voices of the two singers harmonized in perfect homogeneity.

As an accompanist Janet Meyer Thompson was a support and inspiration for her musical colleagues, while as a soloist she was sovereign and convincing in her interpretation of Capriccio in G Minor by Johannes Brahms.  The violist Katharine Gerson DeBolt brought a special, colorful sound to the ensemble, particularly in combination with the bassoon.  Her solo piece, Brahms Sonata in E-flat Major, showed her fine capabilities as a soloist.  David DeBold on bassoon was discreet and sensitive as an accompanist.  His two solos, Valsas para Fagote solo by Francisco Mignone and Fantasie Brillante by Casmir Theophile Lalliet, were virtuoso works and were played with an unbelievably beautiful sound and precise technique.

After an encore composed by Larry Kass for Kent Camerata entitled It’s Time to Say Goodbye, the audience thanked the musicians in the beautiful concert hall of the castle with hearty applause.

Margit Classen
Gelchsheim Blatt