THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 10, 1996 TAG: 9610100044
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 98 lines
THE NAME is authoritative, evoking in six syllables the grand tradition of chamber-music ensembles. Precisely articulated, it rolls off the tongue.
Quartetto Gelato.
Translated, it unbuttons stuffed shirts.
Ice Cream Quartet.
``It's a name people would want to get their mouths around,'' said Claudio Vena, the group's accordionist - right, accordionist - and arranger. ``It certainly represents us. We're not stuffy. We present a lot of different ideas, passions and flavors.
``Don't get me wrong. Our approach to music-making is one of utmost seriousness. We don't take ourselves seriously.''
While that might not jibe with protocol, it gives the Toronto ensemble enough berth to put on a program that's as likely to incorporate Bach, Ravel and a Puccini aria as it is ``Danny Boy,'' ``O Sole Mio'' and a gypsy folk dance.
No one should go away hungry, then, when Quartetto Gelato opens the Hampton Arts Commission's 1996-97 ``Great Performer Series'' Saturday night at Ogden Hall, on the campus of Hampton University.
Vena, who also plays viola, Cynthia Steljes (oboe/English horn), husband Peter De Sotto (violin/tenor/mandolin) and George Meanwell (cello/guitar) met as students in 1978. Upon returning to Toronto a decade later, they ran into one another at recording sessions and dates with the Toronto Symphony.
At De Soto's urging, they started performing together. ``We liked each other as people and musicians - that's basically the humble beginnings of it,'' said Vena, recalling their first date, at a restaurant that held poetry readings and displayed work by starving artists.
``Besides a wonderful meal, it gave us the opportunity to play what we wanted. That was a big attraction. Something happened. We kept on getting together and it just blossomed. The group is really an extension of the idiosyncrasies of all four members.''
Quartetto Gelato was formed as an avocation in 1993. It became a vocation after the schedule jumped from 20 performances the first year to 70 the next.
``At that point, we tendered our resignations from our other jobs because we were going to be fired anyway,'' Vena said. ``You can only apply for so many leaves of absences.''
The quartet's self-titled debut disc was hailed by critics; the follow-up, ``Rustic Chivalry,'' was released last month. They've been described as ``New Classical,'' ``a more musical version of America's Kronos Quartet'' and ``part Peter Schickele, part Mozart in Brazil.''
Other writers have pointed to their ``humorous stage antics.'' When Schickele brought the music of P.D.Q. Bach to Norfolk years ago, he opened the concert by rappelling from the box seats at Chrysler Hall. Quartetto Gelato isn't quite that outrageous, Vena said, though Meanwell does have a dry wit and De Soto tends to get animated.
Everyone in the group, which plays without scores (i.e. from memory), enjoys talking with the audience, too, and at the end of a gypsy piece, they might stamp their feet and spin their instruments just because the spirit moves them.
``People are not used to a classical group doing anything but playing music,'' Vena said. ``We are who we are. We don't try to be anything else. One of the greatest comments we get is they love our interaction.
``In a standard string quartet, your ear is drawn to the first violinist. With us, everyone gets a chance to put it on the line and reveal what we want to express musically.''
That's apparent on the quartet's recordings as well. Arranged for violin, viola, cello, oboe and English horn, Puccini's prelude to ``La boheme'' is no less evocative. Midway through, De Soto sings the aria ``Che gelida manina'' in the tradition of the great Italian tenors. ``Danny Boy'' is a heart-tugger, the harmonic arrangement almost chorale-like in its simplicity.
``We all choose what we preform together, then it's usually me who does the arrangements for the group,'' Vena said. ``I look for the flavor of it. What is the essence? If you stripped away all the fancy stuff, what is the basic message?
``Then I go for the color. `Danny Boy' has a lot of four-part moving lines. I'm always thinking, `What is the passion? The fire? What colors do we have to paint with?' ''
Vena was home in Toronto last week, a brief break from a tour that will take Quartetto Gelato to Missouri, Virginia and Iowa. Dates are set with the Toronto and Windsor symphonies. They'll also be in the studio to record Christmas music.
After the first of the year, the quartet makes its first trip overseas.
``From all the reports we've gotten, everyone says, `You're gonna knock them dead,' '' Vena said. ``That's the great thing, because we're more rooted in the European tradition of chamber music. It's like the `Ed Sullivan Show.' That's what entertainment should be all the time, a whole bunch of flavors thrown at you.
``That way, you get the full spectrum. You get a whole meal. The wine complements the salad and the salad complements the main course.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by DENISE GRANT
Quartetto Gelato
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WANT TO GO?
Who: Quartetto Gelato, presented by the Hampton Arts Commission
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Ogden Hall, Hampton University
Tickets: $10-$17.50
Information: (757) 722-ARTS by CNB