ensemble ambrosius

"Ensemble Ambrosius is a group that concentrates in contemporary music, using mostly baroque instruments. Ambrosius was formed in 1995 and from the very beginning the music of american composer Frank Zappa (1940 - 1993) has been one or our main focusses.

The members of Ensemble Ambrosius have all gone through extensive studies of the performance practice of early music and have at some point studied in the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Finland.
I myself became interested in contemporary music and Zappa in high school - up until then i had only been involved with classical music. However, as I continued my classical studies, I met the multi-instrumentalist Jonte Knif, who shared my Zappa-enthusiasm. with harpsichordist Ere Lievonen we eventually performed 'Uncle Meat' with 2 harpsichords and a baroque cello in 1995. This occured at the final concert of an early music summer course where the obois, Jasu Moisio, was present in the audience. Soon after that Jasu joined us, and what was originally intended as a one-time musical joke led to the forming of Ensemble Ambrosius."

June 14, 2003, the Ensemble Ambrosius performed a Zappa set called "Baroque Zappa" at the Umeå Internationella Kammarmusik Festival. This festival took place from 2003/06/09 to 2003/06/15. A big part of the festival was dedicated to the music of Frank Zappa.

In 2007, the Ensemble Ambrosius contributed their version of Frank Zappa's 'The Idiot Bastard Son' to "20 Extraordinary Renditions", Andrew Greenaway's project that got released on Cordelia Records.
The info says: from their wondrous BIS Records 'The Zappa Album' CD, arranged by Olli Virtaperko.
Personnel: Topi Lehtipuu (lead vocal); Matti Vanhamäki (baroque violins 1 & 3); Tuomo Suni (baroque violin 2); Josu Moisio (baroque oboe); Jani Sunnarborg (obor da caccia); Jonte Knif (dulcimer); Ere Lievonen (organ); Tuukka Terho (archlute); Olli Virtaperko (baroque cello, vocal)

	ensemble ambrosius: the zappa album (2000, cd, austria, bis/northern lights label bis-nl-cd-5013) – all compositions by frank zappa
	various artists: 20 extraordinary renditions (2008, cd, uk, cordelia records) - all compositions by frank zappa

from: fabutab (kevbo59@home.com)
i stumbled upon this import cd in the classical dept. of my local tower records. it's called "the zappa album" by the ensemble ambrosius. i believe they're based in the netherlands. they are a 7 piece group that concentrates on contemporary music using mostly baroque instruments. that's right, harpsichords, bassoons, mandolines, etc. play an ecclectic selection of zappa. all instrumental, except for "the idiot bastard son" which is beautifully sung by tenor topi lehtipuu. it's good stuff, and i urge all who may be so inclined to check it out!
-kevbo

from: teemu antti-poika from helsinki suomi-finland
amazon review: 4 of 5 stars
ensemble ambrosius plays the music of frank zappa: a group of students of "old music" interpret fz on baroque instruments. baroque instruments are often played in a rather "loose" way, but here you'll hear them played in a tight zappaesque form. in fact, i would have wanted to hear more improvisation.
errors are few, but "don't you ever wash that thing" sounds a bit off key. overall impression is very good, this disc is probably going to spend a lot of time in my player.
the selection of material is very good (although rather obvious) and includes many fz classics. exceptions again: "sofa" is probably not the most interesting song fz ever wrote.

from: michael gula (mikegula@erols.com)
last month, some affzers were touting the above (said?) title as something really great. i don't buy just anything with the name zappa attached to it, so i waited to see if any of the hard-to-please affzers (you know who you are) would present their respective grouchy analyses. but the grouchy analyses were not forthcoming.
but my curiosity was sufficiently piqued, so i decided to do the practically unheard-of, and plunked down my own hardearned bucks to listen to this wonder.
and so i offer this phrase to the hard-to-please affzers (you know who you are): if you don't like this one, it's time to clean the shit outta your ears.
in itself, playing modern music on ancient instruments is daunting, but playing *zappa* on them increases the challenge manifold. i don't know how it happened, but the musicians on this cd rose to the challenge and succeeded -- certainly beyond wildest expectations. i could actually hear my own heart pounding as i listened to portions through headphones.
this disk is a triple triumph (1) in performance, (2) in transcribing, (3) in adaptation: in performance, the musicians navigate the tricky zappa melodic lines with aplomb and flair. in transcribing (since the liner notes say that sheet music wasn't used and i believe them), i can hear the work of guys who can really hear those subtle zappa melodic and harmonic nuances and write them down. no septupleted demisemiquavers in *this* alien orifice, no sirree bob! we got the realdeal! in adaptation, i can hear the musicians translating rock music thuds and crunches into equivalent effects on baroque instruments. reading this, you might be thinking that the resultant effect would be a succession of groaners. take my word: there are no groaners here.
i can recommend this one without reservation. in fact, you might even decide it would make an ideal holiday gift. if there is such a thing.
buy the goddamn thing.