“Independent Presbyterian Church concluded its annual Religious Arts Festival with a fiery performance by Tempesta di Mare. Titled “Venice to Leipzig,” the program featured high Baroque selections by Bach, Telemann, and Vivaldi, and a couple of surprises from Johann Jacob Walther and Francesco Maria Veracini. Tempesta di Mare performed with precision and passion. The undisputed musical and spiritual force behind their success was recorder player and flutist Gwyn Roberts. Her intricate ornaments were textbook early music practice, but her passionate style perhaps broke with early music code. So much of the sheer joy of Tempesta di Mare is listening to Roberts’ beautiful, rich tone and brilliant passage work, and the manner in which those and every other weapon in her arsenal are put in musical service. Roberts had plenty of help from the four other members of the consort, and all of it on her par. Violinist Emlyn Ngai deserves high praise for his tender, nuanced performance of Walther’s Aria XIV. Lutenist Richard Stone and harpsichordist Adam Pearl turned in a light and breezy performance of Suite in A Major, a piece Bach adapted from a work by Sylvius Leopold Weiss. Stone and Pearl also deserve recognition for their artistry in realizing the continuo parts. Eve Miller anchored the ensemble and helped keep the composite sound light and athletic.” The Birmingham News, February, 2010.
