Quartetto Gelato provides plenty of surprises
Saturday’s Sioux City Symphony Orchestra Concert was a lot like watching a great old movie on late night television: Occasionally, a “greatest classical hits” CD commercial turns up. While “Romeo and Juliet,” “Dreams of Love” and “Turandot” may have fit the evening’s “romance” theme, they detracted from the discoveries offered up by Quartetto Gelato, the guest artists.
The group provided plenty of surprises, including a touching medley of songs from such Italian films as “Cinema Paradiso,” “Amarcord” and “Il Postino.” The selections, though, were just the start to their night of fun.
“Whenever Peter De Sotto (tenor, violin, mandolin) released his natural, Italianate tenor- usually in Sicilian and Neapolitan folk Songs – I found tears springing to my eyes. It hardly seems fair that he’s also a violin wiz who tossed off a gypsy number at dizzying speed.”
Journal staff writer (Sioux City, IA)