Duo Kermani-Gentili – kymiakermani.com

Duo Kermani-Gentili is comprised of award-winning artists who share excitement for high-level collaboration and innovative programming. Kymia Kermani and Alba Gentili-Tedeschi met in Berlin in 2012 and initially chose the name “Ensemble End of Time” as a homage to Messiaen’s quartet from the end of time.

Their CD “Ode an die Rhapsodie”, which was released by the Leipzig label GENUIN in November 2018, presents four world premiere recordings with works by George Gershwin, Lucien Excoffier, Irlando Danieli and Siegfried Borris.

‘INVOCATON’, their latest album with eight world premiere recordings by female european composers has been released on Salto Records September 2022 and was presented during two record release concerts in the Laeiszhalle Hamburg and Konzerthaus Berlin alongside an extensive brochure with background information about the lives of these artists. Susanne Stelzenbach dedicated a new composition to the duo and several videos were produced about the project. This project was generously supported by the Ensemble Neustart Kultur programme of the Deutscher Musikrat and the Dwight & Ursula Mamlok Stiftung.

Regular concert activity takes Duo Kermani-Gentili all over Europe, including the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Great Britain, Norway, Austria and Germany. Their concert at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam was broadcast live on Dutch Radio 4.

“The strength of the applause is enormous. And this increases even more – after "Rhapsody in Blue" by Gershwin. Two equal instrumentalists, who play with great freedom and fine timbres in expression, present thisclassic in their very own way.”
Oranienburger Generalanzeiger, 3. April 2017

“It takes courage to collect so many unknown pieces on a debut CD. But the result speaks for itself: with great virtuosity and dedication, the Duo Kermani-Gentili shows what treasures you can come across when you go in search of them with open ears.”
Ulrike Jährling, Kulturradio RBB

“One can only congratulate the two young women on this CD. On the one hand, because it finally is not standard repertoire for clarinet and piano, which the two have recorded there, but interesting and well-made contemporary pieces, which you can also hear if you are not a fan of noisy contemporary clarinet literature.

On the other hand, you can listen to the two wonderfully. Each of them has a large soloistic presence, but in interaction they know intuitively when who has to hold back, or when they have to go certain ways together. And that in a completely unpretentious way.”
Ulrike Klobes, Deutschlandradio

“Picturesque and poetic The sophisticated program invites to a conscious listening and makes you want to learn more about the role of women composers in music history. Alba Gentili’s knowledgeable booklet text offers a place to start.”Antje Rößler, Klassisch Heute, 06.11.2022”
Antje Rößler, Klassike Heute

“This album is a fine, and thus very successful, sampling of what ‘female composing’ (a terrible term) has to offer in an era that falls roughly between the mid-nineteenth century and the first decade of this century. Let yourself be surprised!” Aart van der Wal, Opus Klassiek, october 2022”
Aart van de Wal, Opus Klassiek

“This is not a CD that can be left running in the background, but one that calls for conscious listening. The pieces, which are only between one and three minutes long, amaze in their entirety by the enormous versatility of the interpretations. The impressions of rarely heard music range from soft interplay to a small power struggle. Among other things, the short sequence “Rückblick” (“Looking Back”) as a remembrance of the Kristallnacht in 1938 arouses curiosity. The music with only two instruments captures the contradictions of that time, shows hope, turbulence and defeat, stimulates reflection, but also creates optimism again. Composer Ursula Mamlok thus took up a theme that is probably difficult to present musically, but found a convincing image for all those who are also familiar with the historic contexts. …” Rolf Reißmann, Badische Zeitung, 13.09.2022”
Rolf Reißmann, Badische Zeitung