Quartetto Gelato offers various musical flavors

Thursday, April 11, 1996

Canadian group employs diversity in arrangements for revitalized
soundBy Rodney Tanaka

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The Canadian quartet Quartetto Gelato received some roadside
assistance with their career a couple of years ago.

The Canadian quartet performs their mix of classical favorites
and tangos and gypsy fiddling Saturday at Schoenberg Hall, but it
was one particular listener that gave them greater exposure.

"Hollywood producer Norman Jewison (was) having some car trouble
and while he was waiting for the auto club to come help him out he
listened to the radio," says quartet member Cynthia Steljes. "We
were being interviewed and the host played some of our music and
that afternoon Norman Jewison phoned our manager."

Jewison chose pieces from the quartet’s self-titled CD for the
film "Only You," starring Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey, Jr.

"’O Sole Mio’ is used so beautifully, when Marisa Tomei and her
friend arrive in Venice and the doors of the airport open and they
get into a gondola and it’s just panoramic views of Italy with us
playing ‘O Sole mio’ in the background with no dialogue," Steljes
says. "It’s the greatest music video you can imagine."

Fans who want their Quartetto Gelato include Jewison and music
critics, who give positive reviews to the quartet’s CD and concert
appearances. A critic from the Toronto Globe and Mail wrote that
"Their versatility would put a chameleon to shame … the
performances are that good." This versatility stems from the wide
range of instruments that each member plays.

Steljes plays oboe and French horn, Claudio Vena plays accordion
and violin, George Meanwell plays cello and guitar and Peter De
Sotto contributes violin playing and a powerful tenor voice. The
four friends initially combined their musical talents for
recreation rather than retail value.

"We realized that we could do types of music that otherwise we
wouldn’t get to play: gypsy, tangos, the operatic," Steljes says.
"It came about mostly from the friendship and then the love of the
same kind of music."

Each musician kept busy with their own projects, but their joint
outings continued to garner attention. Their first performances
took place at an inn, where they would play to a dinner crowd. Free
dinner and group recognition resulted from these performances. In
October 1992, the quartet performed at a regional conference in
Ontario.

"We got a standing ovation, and from that 15-minute performance
we got 70 dates for the next summer," Steljes says. "That’s when we
started thinking that we’ve got something bigger than we
realized."

They did not get so big that they lost their sense of humor.
Their name, Italian for "ice cream quartet," attests to the dual
aspects of the group’s focus.

"The quartetto part is the classical part and it’s sort of a
complement to groups that we admire," Steljes says. "Quartetto
Italiano was a very famous string quartet with a romantic
repertoire which we specialize in.

"Gelato is the fun part, the different flavors of music that we
play," Steljes says. "At first you think ‘Quartetto Gelato’ sounds
pretty classy and then you realize it means the ice cream quartet
so you know there’s going to be something different."

The quartet becomes the Baskin-Robbins of music with a wide
choice of styles and instruments. This range allows Vena, the
primary arranger, more colors to chose from.

"Not to get maudlin about the name, but the concert can be like
a meal," Steljes says. "Instead of having a whole meal of one type
of food you get such a big variety, and with the variety one piece
highlights the other."

The quartet serves up its dishes without reminders from a menu.
The lack of sheet music results in a deeper connection with each
other and the audience.

"We just feel that when we don’t have the music it is more like
a band in the popular sense and you don’t have any barriers between
you," Steljes says. "Every great string quartet is tuned in so
finely to each other that often with the music stands in front of
them the audience misses a bit of that and we want their experience
to be an intimate experience."

Quartetto Gelato offers such an experience to UCLA students on
Saturday. Steljes suggests that open and adventurous students will
enjoy trying something new.

"We want them to feel welcome, there’s not so much the formality
that can be associated with classical music," Steljes says. "It’s
not so much a concert but a show."

CONCERT: Quartetto Gelato, Saturday, April 13 at 8 p.m. at
UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall. Center Stage Lecture at 7 p.m. with UCLA
music faculty member John Hall. TIX: $29.50, $9 for students. For
more info, call (310) 825-2101

"It came about mostly from the friendship and then the love of
the same kind of music."

Cynthia Steljes

Member of Quartetto Gelato