| Fall Festival at the Slover Library |
ReviewsAmbrosia Plays Again In a life of more than a decade the Ambrosia String Players have performed as both a trio and quartet, offering the community music that ranges from Haydn to Hailstork and Tchaikovsky to Glazunov, Shastokovich and Borodin. In this concert they featured local composer John Dixon along with Beethoven and Brahms. The color photography of the players on the cover of the program show, in left to right order: Rebecca Gilmore (cello), Mayu Cipriano (second violin), Simon Lapointe (first violin) and Beverly Kane Baker (viola). Ms. Baker grew-up in Hampton, Ms. Gilmore in Charlotte, North Carolina, Ms. Cipriano in Tokyo and Mr. Lapointe in Quebec, Canada. All are current members of the Virginia Symphony. Trio Serenade in D Major, Op. 8 (1795-1797) by Ludwig von Beethoven followed. The five movements begin and end with a march as we were told by Ms. Gilmore who pointed out that all three instruments are featured as the piece unfolds. The Menuetto movement (II) begins as a fast-paced dance with brief pauses that allow the music to breathe. It becomes increasingly more carefree through its pizzicato end. The Adagio (III) in D minor was stately and took us to a deeper emotional place, ending in a hymn-like tune. Allegretto alla polacca (IV) has a repetition of cadence on three beats to the bar in short rhythmic motifs. Often led by the cello, the perky tempo and crisp playing made one feel like dancing. V is a theme with variations. Only one is truly Beethoven’s artistry while the others are modeled on Haydn and Mozart. All are played moderately slowly with the cello often predominant. All the players faces lighted-up with a wide smile as they reached a satisfying end. At age 40 a mature Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) wrote his String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51. The bright, lively, dramatic melody of the first movement is passed around by turn to all four players. The piece is so musically rich and intense that it makes demands on the listeners’ concentration that the earlier pieces did not. The second movement had an edge, as if the composer is struggling to find a perfect end phrase. The Quasi Menuetto, moderato movement slowly unfolded with brief, chirpy phrase punctuation. The ending was soft, even gentle. The finale’s rhythm was very fast. In his introduction violinist Lapointe had the quartet play a three-note figure that recurs, taking on a powerful grandeur before Brahms ends this brilliant piece. The encore for this most enthusiastic audience was Eleanor Rigby on this, the 50th anniversary of the Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. The work was arranged for Ambrosia by Mr. Lapointe with the viola part played by Ms. Baker, prominent. Her deeper tone added richness to a familiar tune. 
Built on a theme of an Autumn festival exploring the wide-world of music, Ambrosia Quartet offered nine selections in a compact, one-hour program. Lori Sharp of the Slover Library greeted the audience of 50 or so and Christy Havens, Director of Education and Community Engagement of the Virginia Symphony, introduced the quartet as “four friends from the symphony who joined forces in 2002 to explore their collaborative passion for chamber music.” Visit www.ambrosiaquartet.com. High-up in the Slover Library overlooking the downtown Norfolk skyline, the 6th floor glass space (the Community Room) was a thrilling setting. In this excellent, tall acoustic space, isolated from city noise, the 6:30 concert let us see clouds and pale blue sky that transitioned to pink clouds and deep blue as twilight came on, all the while being treated to a soundtrack of engaging music. The Largo from Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony with the African American inspired theme Going Home was a beautiful, nostalgic and warmly enfolding opening. Autumn arranged by Lynn Latham for string quartet from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons featured violinist Simon Lapointe. We were encouraged to keep in mind that the slow middle section is all about drunkards at a fall festival! The very rhythmic Native American Spirit by Sara Bongo was followed by a string trio (no viola) in a Mickey McGuire Irish Folksong with its sad, introspective tune of our Irish ancestors. Rebecca Gilmore Phillips acted as emcee for the evening and asked how many of us had tried lumpia (Filipino eggrolls) as she introduced the Phillipino National Anthem with its grand, full sound and Los Dos Phillipinos for two violins. Mayu Kuroda Ciprianu joined Mr. Lapointe in the traditional songs arranged by Aleksey Igudesman. Plucked strings gave an asian flavor to the Spanish rhythms. The world festival of music continued with a visit to Russian composer Alexander Glazunov in his “alla spagnola” movement from Five Novelettes. Ms. Gilmore Phillips’s plucked cello was soon joined by the violins and Beverly Kane Baker on viola in this lively take on Spanish rhythms. A recent arrangement, Four Asian Folksongs (2011) by Bud Caputo, offered lots of plucked strings, creating a vague sense of music from China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam that wafted through a lovely fabric of sound. A string quartet arrangement of the American hymn Blessed Assurance may have the consolation found in many African American spirituals but the music was written by Phoebe P. Knapp in 1873 to a text by the prolific, blind hymn writer Fanny J. Crosby. Dusk had descended and the lights of the city shone brightly as a jazzy arrangement by Bert Ligon of Cole Porter’s Night and Day wrapped-up this festival for string quartet on this first day of fall. Ambrosia's Facebook Page Back to Top
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After a brief introduction of the evening’s program by Dr. Martin Sunderland, Director of Parish Music at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, the composer of the first two short pieces, John Dixon, spoke. He pointed out that “his advantage over Beethoven and Brahms” is that he gets to be here to talk about his pieces. High Five, so called because it is in 5/4 time, was written for his children who used to spin around on the piano stool when he played it and called it “the dizzy song.” The sprightly piece was delightful and gave us our first experience of the warm, lively acoustics of the sanctuary. Canzona (2004), originally written for organ and more recently arranged for string quartet, was a somber, Bach-like tune with some modern accidentals. The quartet played with a polished cohesion. Throughout the program it was clear that this was a well-rehearsed, totally committed group of musicians who enjoyed what they were playing and invited us to share their joy.