Real People 11 July 2019

Known for her idiosyncratic performances of baroque repertoire and eccentric personal style, the German coloratura soprano Simone Kermes trained in her native Leipzig, with early successes including the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition. Bach has not, however, figured prominently in her career since then – Kermes gravitated towards Vivaldi, Handel and the Neapolitan composers who wrote for the great castrati, such as Riccardo Broschi, Alessandro Scarlatti and Porpora. (She has recorded several solo albums of such repertoire for Sony, including Dramma, and Colori d’Amore – reviewing the latter, BBC Music Magazine described her as ‘a remarkable artist, charming, fascinating and boldly risk-taking by turns’).

The concert recorded at the "Pop Session '77" festival in Sopot on July 26, 1977 is a real treat! After all, SBB is a trio (although in history, of course, the line-up has been expanded to include additional musicians, for example Sławek Piwowar), but SBB in… duo is not only a phenomenon, but an amazing challenge. This tape was found almost miraculously (hence, perhaps in the fragments of the recordings, the quality is slightly worse, but it is the only surviving recording of SBB as a duo).