La Follia
From Venice to Versailles
Saturday, October 8, 1995

Warm Italian and cool French baroque collided in La Follia's opening autumn chamber concert at First English Lutheran Church. The instructive and well-considered program of "From Venice to Versailles" introduced 17th- and 18th-century composers through period instruments. For a crowd of more than 100 in the wood-beamed church, the Austin-based ensemble came together especially well in the bigger pieces, such as Francesco Turini's "Sonata a Due" and Jean-Philippe Rameau's Troisième Concert from "Pieces de Clavecin en Concert." Keith Womer's keyboards and Gwen Ashba's violoncello provided a dependable platform for flights of fancy from charismatic Mimi Mitchell and Laurie Young Stevens on violins and Dell Hollingsworth's bright recorder sound. The music was very complicated and, at times, musicians lost control of the sound. Altogether, this was a refreshingly unstuffy evening of intimate baroque music.

Michael Barnes
Austin American-Statesman
October 11, 1995