Kennedy Center Chamber Players

Charles T. Downey, Kennedy Center Chamber Players offer top-notch evening of Bach, Brahms
Washington Post, October 8, 2013

J. S. Bach, Gamba Sonatas, J. Savall, T. Koopman

The chemistry of a chamber music ensemble can be as elusive and mercurial as any relationship, or even more so. Many factors can contribute to making a performance excellent or not so much. Whatever those factors may have been, they all lined up for a top-notch concert by three members of the Kennedy Center Chamber Players on Sunday evening at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.

Cellist David Hardy and pianist Lambert Orkis showed two different musical facets in the first half. Bach’s Sonata in D for viola da gamba and continuo (BWV 1028), updated to cello and grand piano, was blithe and sweet, with only a few minor tempo inconsistencies between players in the fast movements. Orkis kept his foot off the sustaining pedal, adding some pleasing ornaments, and Hardy minimized his vibrato, both playing with consummate sensitivity. [Continue reading]

Kennedy Center Chamber Players
Music by Bach, Mendelssohn, Brahms
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater