By Laura Stewart, Daytona Beach News Journal, March 20, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH -- Anyone who went to Wednesday's Camerata Ireland concert expecting Irish music was in for a surprise. The program, performed by Irish musicians and conducted by Belfast-born pianist Barry Douglas, was solidly serious, in the classical sense, and deeply satisfying.

The concert, presented by the Daytona Beach International Festival in the News-Journal Center, opened with Henryk Gorecki's velvety "Three Pieces in Olden Style for Strings" and soared with Douglas at the keyboard in a sublime performance of Beethoven's Concerto for Piano No. 2 in B flat major.  Then, with Jean Sibelius's moody "Romance for Strings in C major, Op. 42, the evening shifted to a more reflective level. It was just right for the orchestra's fresh, yet achingly autumnal rendition of Franz Schubert's youthful composition, the 1816 Symphony No. 5 in B flat major.

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Next, responding to a series of standing ovations, Douglas acknowledged the Irishness of the ensemble he founded in 1999 for just that reason -- to express Irish unity, by bringing together musicians from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. He left his small but very enthusiastic audience with a final treat: "Danny Boy."
It was beautifully played, and an enjoyable gesture, but hardly necessary. The concert's varied program, and the chamber orchestra's ability to express a wide variety of styles were more than enough -- especially with the superb solo by Douglas, who was a sensation in his solo with the London Symphony Orchestra at last summer's Florida International Festival.

The Beethoven concerto that followed Gorecki's elegant tone poems was revelatory. Rich and articulate, the piano and orchestra at first took turns, Douglas introducing the work with muscular, impassioned chords before falling briefly silent and conducting from the keyboard. His piano responded to the orchestra with nimble, eloquent notes, as a lively exchange developed between the two voices.   However exquisite the balance was between piano and orchestra, what made the evening memorable was its range. Camerata painted a sere, somber musical landscape in Sibelius's "Romance," then conveyed the tender joyousness of Schubert's Fifth Symphony, closing with light, lovely cadences that rose to stormy heights before their sunny, triumphant resolution.

There was no bombast in Camerata's nimble, very accomplished performance. Instead, Douglas and his orchestra gave their best, and it was very good: thoughtful, luminous music -- Irish and otherwise.