"THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN"
Pere Estelrich i Massutí

Sant Felip Neri, Palma (12-30-2019)

The Ensemble Tramuntana, directed by Barry Sargent, possesses the ability to make us hear the most well-known Baroque works as if they were new; it achieves a sound balanced between purism and modernity thanks to the use of original period instruments.

Once again, with seven string players—seven "magnificents" of performance—the Ensemble delivered a lesson in musical wisdom, intelligence, and enviable technique. They did so through works from the Italian Baroque repertoire, featuring many of the period’s leading names: Scarlatti, Corelli and, above all, Vivaldi. With the latter, the group reached its peak through two great scores: the Concerto for Two Violins and Cello and the Variations on La Follia, perhaps the most sublime moment of the entire recital.

Corelli’s Concerto Grosso Fatto per la Notte di Natale was also a highlight; it can be performed with more instruments or the addition of a harpsichord, but certainly not with more musicality.
In short, the bar remained very high throughout the hour-long session, before a large and captivated audience that showed its appreciation with thunderous applause, prompting an encore of the final movement of the Vivaldian variations.

We cannot conclude this review without mentioning the group's instrumentalists: Cati Reus, Mayumi Sargent, and Marta Atcher on violins; Eura Fortuny on viola; Marc Alomar on cello; and Pablo Moreno on double bass. All of them directed by Barry Sargent from the first desk as violinist and concertmaster.

"NATALE"
Emili Gené Vila

Sant Felip Neri de Palma (30-12-2019)

In just two months: the Bunyola International Festival (with a significant presence of early music programs and performers), the Early Music Festival organized by the Palma City Council, concerts by the Orquestra Barroca Ars Musicae based in Bunyola, and this Ensemble Tramuntana, led by Barry Sargent. Who can offer more? The ensemble, created five years ago, presented two consecutive concerts to close the year with the intention of uniting two rising references: early music and an ecological consciousness that calls for a sustainable lifestyle, drawing on the iconic inspiration of the Serra de Tramuntana.

Only seven string musicians (the orchestra adapts to different formations depending on the repertoire) to tackle works with diverse titles (concerto grosso, trio sonata, sonata a quattro, symphony...) according to a nomenclature not yet standardized by neoclassical codification. Seven top-level musicians, seven soloists. And an exceptional violinist like Barry Sargent conducting the group. Sensitivity, elegance, and great style in the phrasing. Impeccable technique to achieve dizzying speeds (hats off to the cellist, on many occasions doubled by the double bassist in impossible passages) and exquisite melodic lines. What subtle endings.

The concert grew in interest and intensity as the works increased in quality and depth. The two best pieces, which closed the program, were the most famous: the well-known concerto fatto per la notte di Natale, appropriate for the occasion, and a version of La Follia by Vivaldi which, without reaching the striking virtuosity of the one composed by Corelli, was equally dazzling.

"FORCE 6 TRAMUNTANA"
Pere Estelrich i Massutí

Sant Francesc de Palma (10-08-2019)

The Ensemble Tramuntana, founded and conducted by American violinist Barry Sargent, is a highly versatile ensemble. They are equally capable of performing a repertoire featuring works by Mallorcan composer Baltasar Samper, baroque scores read in a purist style, or, as in this case, bringing Romanticism to the highest level. They always do so with a refinement and exquisiteness that earns them unconditional followers who track their steps with passion, like a seat neighbor who, during the concert in question, expressed: "I don't want to miss a single one of this orchestra's concerts."

The program offered by the six string instrumentalists last Saturday at the Sant Francesc cloister in Palma featured two transcendent works of 19th-century chamber music, pure Romanticism: Brahms' Sextet No. 2 and Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence—both masterpieces, full of contrast and strength. Yes, strength. If the performers do not possess this gift of interpretive strength, both compositions sound poor, hollow of emotional content. The power of both Brahms and Tchaikovsky resides in the emotional force they print into these two scores.

And the members of the ensemble, led by Barry, knew how to grasp this message, adding a solid character to all their interventions. How the fourth movement of Brahms' work sounded! With what strength they presented it to the audience. The Scherzo was unbeatable—playful, magical, excellent.

The same could be said for Tchaikovsky: the beauty of the first movement, the cantabile of the second, the spirit of the fourth... all without hesitation, without flaws. Presented with passion, with strength.

We cannot finish this review without mentioning the members of the group: besides Barry Sargent, his daughter Mayumi on violin, Eura Fortuny and Albert Romero on violas, and Pau Cardona and Grégoire Carpentier on cellos. To all of them, congratulations.