Europe meets Africa when the newly minted Adamastor Consort presents the ensemble’s maiden concert as part of the 2026 Cape Town Baroque Festival at the end of this month, says BEVERLEY BROMMERT:
Named after the mythical Titan Adamastor referenced by Luis de Camões in Os Lusiadas and associated with the Cape of Good Hope (also aptly known as the Cape of Storms), the trio of notable musicians identifies strongly with the concept of cultural fusion and inclusivity.
Emile de Roubaix, Rosamund Roth and Ralitza Macheva will perform seldom-heard music from the medieval age, through the Renaissance, to early Baroque, on period instruments: nyckelharpa, viola da gamba and baroque violin respectively.
Roth proposed the name for the ensemble when the three exponents of early music founded their consort at the beginning of this year with a view to participating in the 2026 Baroque Festival.
Temperamentally and professionally compatible, they have developed an intriguing repertoire of works which she describes as “capturing the flavour of a bygone age, immersive music that is very beautiful and transports you to a special mental space on a journey which begins in chaos then progresses through contemplation, acceptance, and finally transcendence.” This explains the title of the concert, Meditatio Sonorum, a soundscape to be navigated towards a destination of serenity.
Chemistry between audience and musicians is essential, so an appropriate venue has been chosen to this end: the Sufi Temple in Newlands, “a place of spiritual healing”, Roth affirms.
Collective choice of works
The choice of works to be played has been a collective one, including composers diverse as Orlando Gibbons (“chaotic, densely polyphonic and a standout work”) and Hildegard von Bingen, whose compositions have an ethereal delicacy. More familiar names are those of Purcell and Byrd.
In another festival concert the versatile Roth will partner mezzo-soprano Lente Louw of Lutesong Consort: Consort of Two is an ambitious musical offering in which two performers reproduce the sound of a sizeable ensemble with just one voice and one instrument.
In Europe, it is becoming common practice to downsize the setting of compositions intended for multiple executants. “It was Lente’s idea to do this,” says Roth, who is clearly enthused by the concept. She elaborates, “We have had to adapt works devised for up to six voices – one soloist, a chorus of four, and a bass – to be performed by viola da gamba and mezzo-soprano.” She considers the viol has darker, richer overtones than the cello, a sound that borders on nasal, and it combines to good effect with the sweetness of a human mezzo voice. This twosome will engage in playful dialogue as they reinterpret works by the likes of Dowland, Hume and Rognoni, the virtuosic variations of the last-mentioned being one of Roth’s favourites (although she is quick to clarify that in general, her favourite piece is the one on which she is working at any given time).
Since the age of three, when she essayed the recorder, took up the violin at six, and later appropriated her brother’s cello as a teenager, she has been a lover and practitioner of music. The upcoming Baroque Festival will see her exchange the cello she plays in the CTPO for the dark, resonant beauty of the viola da gamba to celebrate period instruments, the dominant theme of this year’s event.
What: Adamastor Consort at the 2026 Cape Town Baroque Festival
When and where: 19 – 27 September 2026 in various venues
Info: www.ctbaroque.co.za/festival
Enquiries: info@ctbaroque.co.za
WS
