On the Road: Tempesta di Mare at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

“Sunday’s concert at the National Gallery of Art was a survey of 16th- and 17th-century Italian music, allowing Drew Minter and the accomplished musicians of Tempesta di Mare to showcase the style, ornamentation and improvisation of that era. Minter’s performance of Sigismondo d’India’s “Listen to the Nightingale” was a tour de force, the melody perfectly painting the text, which describes the bird’s song (“now full, now solemn, now subtle, now soft”). Richard Stone’s performance of Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger’s Toccata No. 1 on theorbo (a lute with a stupendously long neck) had the energy of a rock solo and the craft of a classical cadenza. A sonata by Dario Castello was a virtuoso vehicle for recorder player Gwyn Roberts. With her sparkling technique and sensitive attention to musicality, Roberts infused the piece with operatic drama.” Washington Post, June 27, 2006.