Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • December 22, 2010 Ridgewood The All Seasons Chamber Players recently performed a selection of music from Ludwig van Beethoven to “Godfather” film composer Nino Rota. The concert was held at Ridgewood Library. David Lawrence, who studied at Yale and in Stuttgart, is the violinist and the spokesman for the group, which also features cellist E. Zoe Hassman, who holds two degrees from Juilliard; flutist Brenda Sakofsky, from Berkeley and Julliard; pianist and harpsichordist Jean Strickholm from the Eastman School of Music; and, for the Beethoven performance, pianist Adrienne Kim, who regularly plays at Lincoln Center. All five performers took the audience through a chronological circle with skill and devotion to the music. A trio of flute, cello, and piano by Ferdinand Ries in the classic mode was performed with elegance and precision. Romantic era pieces for cello and piano by the American composter Arthur Foote raised only one question: Why isn’t Foote better known? The performance of his work, reminiscent of Brahms and Dvorak, argued for more frequent exposure to Foote in the repertoire. The “Libertango” by Italian-Argentine-American composer Astor Piazolla featured Zoe Hassman’s spirited cello performance of the sort of tango music generally played on a small accordion. Her dexterity and energy in adapting what is generally a rather staid instrument to the tango style was impressive. The most surprising performance was a trio for flute, violin, and piano by Nino Rota. Perhaps best known for his film scores, Rota is widely remembered for the darkly romantic and tragic themes and variations in several “Godfather” films. Among history buffs, Rota is remembered for the dramatic music for “Waterloo,” a Napoleonic screen epic starring Rod Steiger, Christopher Plummer, and 15,000 Russian soldiers left over from the epic “War and Peace.” Rota’s music as performed in Ridgewood was energetic, quirky, and somewhat dissonant, but exciting, and not at all Concert offers classics from Beethoven to Rota to Tango Adrienne Kim, Robert Lawrence, Jean Strickholm, Brenda Sakofsky, and E. Zoe Hassman. like what the name Nino Rota would have led the listener to expect. The Beethoven “Archduke” trio, with Lawrence, Hassman, and Kim, was dramatic and touching. The perfor- mance ended with a standing ovation, many audience members stepped forward to express their gratitude for being able to hear performers of this quality in the heart of Northwest Bergen County.