Italian Saxophone Quartet Perform Eclectic Program at 222

Who knew that a sax quartet was a set chamber musical group? Not me. But, not only is the Italian Saxophone Quartet (ISQ) the longest contemporary performing group of more than four decades, ISQ is highly honored in the world of chamber music having won numerous awards including first place at the prestigious Premio Ancona Competition. My expectations for unique sounding classical compositions and I was not disappointed. In fact, my favorite pieces for the evening of this sold out performance were Bach's "G String from Orchestral Suite 3" and Rossini's "Allegro from Sonata 4 #3". The harmonies were lush offering a rich orchestral sound that also contained a percussive ornamentation coming from the alto and tenor saxophones. The soprano and baritone sax were clearly distinguished layered above and within the deeper stentorian levels. I had anticipated some jazz compositions having an all sax quartet would lend itself to jazz. The only somewhat jazzy composition led off the night with a fun number by Scott Joplin played by the four musicians strolling through the nightclub seating arrangements. This lent a festive Mardi Gras feel.  The program continued with more surprises including a medley of cinematic  scores that were arranged by Michele Paolino on baritone sax. While most of the scores were unfamiliar, the theme from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" struck a very haunting chord. Federico Mondelci on soprano sax was the senior member of the group and the jovial spokesperson for the group albeit his thick Italian accent made him difficult to understand at times. Julian Brodski on alto sax was the youngest member and described by Mondelci as "being loved by all the women."  Brodski had wavy auburn hair jauntily covering one eye and donned hot pink socks that stood out amongst the otherwise similarly clad members. Silvio Rossomando on tenor sax was the only one not to perform a solo but he was the only member to perform on every composition on the program. The second half of the evening contained works by classical, 20th C composers: Giovani, Piazolla and Rota.  Mondelci announced that the group was going to perform two works that they'd never perform.  This required music to be read on stands set up with iPads and foot controlled mouses.  First were selections from Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" and the other selection was an unnamed surprise Mondelci was sure we'd recognize.  Indeed, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" was a delightful number.  The four musician's left the stage the way they entered by playing their way through the crowd who sent them off to a rousing standing ovation.