Quartetto Gelato Flight

Rodeo and Juliet Suite - A. Copland, P. Tchaikovsky, S. Prokofiev, N. Rota, arr Charles Cozens; Summer (Four Seasons) - A. Vivaldi. arr. M. Pulkki; Brahms' Polka - J. Brahms, arr. C. Maier; Intermezzo in A - J. Brahms, arr. Eun-Chul Oh
Passacaglia - Handel 'Halvorsen; Song Of the Birds - P. Casals, arr. M. Guida, D Zubek; Caprice no. 24 - N. Paganini, arr. T. Popovic; Sicilienne - G. Faure, arr Starkey; Gypsy Rhapsody V. Gridin, arr. D Varela

Colin Maier – oboe, English horn, musical saw, Konstantin 'Tino' Popović – violin, vocals, Matti Pulkki – accordion.
Dobrochna Zubek – cello.

For more information, go to QuartettoGelato.ca

It's Saturday, time to put your feet up, and here is a delightful disc to do just that. What a treat this album is. Quartetto Gelato's new disc, Flight, is full of virtuosic fizz, humour and all those earworm tunes that will undoubtedly cheer you up.

I am beginning to enjoy crossover albums, and this one is no exception — I have played it again and again since it arrived in my inbox. It is the group's eleventh album, and I am sorry to have missed the other ten.

So what makes this so enjoyable? It's the concept, the textures of the instrumentation, the arrangements. Take the Rodeo and Juliet Suite, which plays a neat trick with its title: arranger Charles Cozens threads together the star-crossed themes of Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Nino Rota across three movements, with more than a hint of Copland's cowboys cantering through. Somewhere in there Tino Popović turns crooner too, delivering a beautifully low jazz vocal against the strings. A purist might raise an eyebrow at Shakespeare mixing with rodeo, but nobody complains about mixing flavours in a gelato, and this quartet plainly feels the same way about genres.

Bear in mind this is just four musicians. Colin Maier takes on oboe, English horn and musical saw, while Matti Pulkki's accordion takes centre stage in a gorgeous arrangement of Vivaldi's Summer, set against Popović's violin. Clever, mischievous and virtuosic, but glorious fun throughout — the spirit of each piece survives the makeover intact, and there is real excitement in the dynamics and the flourishes.

Brahms' Polka, stitching together five of his best-known themes into the polka he never got round to writing himself, is pure unadulterated fun — lots of shouted "heys" and four minutes of sheer frivolity. Time for a breather follows with the Intermezzo in A, a different and altogether more textural side of the quartet, which shines again in Handel's Passacaglia, where Zubek's cello and Popović's violin duet with real virtuosity. Casals' Song of the Birds is beautifully atmospheric, Dobrochna Zubek's cello taking the lead alongside Maier's musical saw. Paganini's famous Caprice No 24 gets a thorough workover, Fauré's gorgeous Sicilienne is given the Gelato treatment too, and Viktor Gridin's Gypsy Rhapsody closes things out with Pulkki's accordion showcased to the full.

This first-class album has everything on it, and by the time it finishes, even with the breathers, you will be worn out. But hey — take flight to the freezer, fetch yourself a gelato, sit down, and enjoy the pleasure.