provided to The Santiva Chronicle
Well-loved Haydn “The Lark” entranced audience with riveting performance by first violinist, Lucy Wang and second violinist, Hao Zhou. Punctuated by shorter pieces of composers Florence Price and Astor Piazzolla added variety to the selections. Moving and very exposed cameo appearance of violist, Aiden Kane was highighted in the sonorous and soothing tones Andante moderato of Prices’s SQ No. 1 in G major.
Egalitarian synergy in the group is evident in their name, Viano…a portmanteau, a linguistic play on words, using the initial letters of each instrument beginning with the letter “ V “in the quartet (2 violins ,viola violincello) to create a unified sound of almost one instrument, like a piano.
First and second violinists switched places for the Beethoven “Serioso”, with Hao Zhou fiercely and energetically executing the first violin part.
Scandinavian proclivity to periods of darkness and snippets of folk dance pizzicato were intensely evident in the Edvard Grieg SQ Op 27 in G minor. Virtuostic elements of numerous harmonics and doublestops punctuated this work.
Piece de resistance characterized by encore performance of a capella Swing Low Sweet Chariot medley seamlessly followed by instrumental quartet exhibiting range of jazzy virtuosity, especially by cellist, Tate Zawadiuk with hints and echoes of Dvorak New World Symphony.
Sanibel Music Festival celebrates its 37th year of providing world class chamber music to Southwest Florida area in March. Final concert of the season will be Opera Theater of Connecticut featuring Gilbert and Sullivan favorites at 7:30 p.m. March 23 at Peace Lutheran Church 15840 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers .
This was an amazing concert! How could we not be optimistic, sorely needed in these times, after seeing this fabulous ensemble?