Rage Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Wednes~dav. Ap'ril lA10 96
Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY
* u* cau yt . v St w
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---ssrecords
Mleet Miss Grace Bumbry, Twice Over
1 _ .-
Canterbury Benefit
For HalfwayHH s
Shows at 1 -3-5-7-9p.m.
F ~
You'l1 -
By R. A. PERRY
Opera singers never had it so
good. The abundance of sum-
mer festivals here and abroad,,
the yearly rising of new Cul-
ture Centers in smaller towns,
and, of course, the lively state
of opera in major cities all
have provided even today's
large number of 'good singers
with a full schedule. Nothing
seems to please a singer more
than to relate how he had to
catch a jet flight immediately
after the final curtain in Paris,
learn a new role while in flight,
and sing the next day in New
York.
One can only be thankful for
the health' of, an 'art form, yet'
one wonders if some requisite
quieter pacing is not lost in all
thus exuberance, if the singers
really have time not only to
develop a role, but also to de-
velop their own character to
the .depth that it can truly
know and render profundity
and pathos when it is required.
A case in point is Grace
Bumbry, a thirty-one year old
handsome Negro mezzo-soprano
from St. Louis. Miss Bumbry's
fame has soared since her first
appearance in 1961 in Bay-
reuth; she has sung in Salz-
burg, Vienna, and Paris, at
Covent Garden and at La
Scala. This month Angel fea-
titres the singer on two records
which give some cause for
pause.
In a new recording of Gluck'3
beautiful and historically im-
portant opera, Orfeo ed Euri-
dice, Grace Bumbry takes on
the role of the grieving lover
Orfeo. This casting presents its
own problems. Originally the
role of Orfeo was to be sung by
a male contralto; today it may
be sung by baritone, tenor, or
alto.
Miss Bumbry's voice is of full
and rounded timbre,+ expertlyI
controlled and shaped, but it is
of a much lighter weight than,
desired, certainly lighter than
that' of Kathleen Ferrier cr
Maureen Forrester. It is diffi-
cult then to feel the appropriate
male sobriety and even to fully
perceive the separation of
voices when she . sings with
Anneliese Rothenberger, the
fine Euridice, of this recording.
If, however, Miss Bumbry'
were able to truly make us feel
her involvement and grief, a
certain suspension of disbelief
could have been effected. Su h
is not the case. Seldom does the
singer convince the listener
that her grief, is anything but
°an artful sham; seldom does
one feel in. her expressiveness
any depth which touches a
truth in the singer's own heart.
nrShe is better in the sunnier,
mnore lyrical passages, such as
"Che puro ciel," but her "Che
Faro," in which Kathleen Fer-
rier moved one so greatly, is
perfunctory, and thus ineffec-
tual.
Though the original 1762 Vi-
enna version is used, deleting
the later 1774 Paris additions,
Vaclav Neumann's direction is
very Romantic, lush, and easy.
The whole set is most lovely to
listen to, and superbly record-
ed, but by no means does it
convey the passion, grief, and
style of the work completely.
Grace Bumbry's recital of
songs by Schubert, Schumann,,
and 'Brahms, on another new
Angel disc, suffers some of the
same flaws. Again, ner voice is
gorgeous, but she needs Amore
years and slower mellowing to
meet those singers to whom ,he
must be compared. She takes
"Die Taubenpost," for instance,
at half the speed of Fischer-
Dieskau, thoroughly vitiating
the lilt and accent of this rus-
tic dance tune. "Gretchen am
Spinrade" does not convey the
psychological involvement that
either Christa Ludwig or Elis-
abeth Schumann bring to it.
The climax of the song - "the
pressure of his 4ands, and, ah,
his kiss"-has not the poignant
halt and start that it should.
In general, the more declama-
tory Schumann songs fare the
best.
Grace Bumbry possesses a
gorgeously rich voice of much
power, but one which also oc-
casionally lacks depth of ex-
pression. It is hoped that the
artist will not let the hurly-
burly of concertizing block her
ever slowly finding this reeved
quality.
+ !
Letters to Our Reviewers
Because of the highly con-
bustible possibilities of any aes-
thetic view, reviewers-for any
publication - manage to get
more venom (and, sometimes,
praise) thrown at them than
any other type of writer. So
we give you a chance. This is
the first installment in a reg-
ular Page 2 letters column,
specifically created to allow the
reader to add his flame to the
fire. All views are welcome.
-Ed.
Browbeating
To the Editor:
HOSE of us who still lave
openenough minds to appre-
ciate a movie review even though
we are not in complete concur-
rence with it object to the brow-
beating of Daniel Okrent.
I, for one, read all The Daily's
movie reviews. And if the opin-
ions' expressed happen to differ
from mine, I find it refreshing
and enlightening, not disgusting.
We here have recently had the
opportunity of viewing some ex-
ceptionally fine movies. And I
congratulate The Daily for its
fine reviews of movies such as
The Graduate, Closely Watched
Trains and Elvira Madigan.
I sincerely hope that Mr. Ok-
rent will not discontinue the fine
work he has been doing simply
because certain persons do not
enjoy reading reviews which com-
pliment a movie when compli-
ments are deserved.
-Kathleen Kohn
' Had Enough
To the Editor:
YOUR THEATRE critics have
got to go!!!
With each review of the shows
of the Professional Theatre Pro-
gram I've become more and more
outraged. It seems that the open-
ing night performance which the
critic reviews isterrible and the
second night when I go to see the
show, it and most of the actors are
fabulous.
For instance, "The Fantastiks"'
was "fair" opening. night and, in
my opinion, marvelous the next
evening. John Raitt and "On a
Clear Day" were boring and plot-
less to your critic, but the next
night when I saw the show it
was enchanting, delightful, and
more more than adequate talent-
wise. And just recently, "Roar
of the Greasepaint" suffered at
the hands of Mr. Simon, your crit-
ic, when he stated that "only the
music was entertaining." Tonight
it was one of the best all-around
musicals I have ever seen.
This is an outrage. It is next
to impossible that a company of
professionals can fluctuate that
gr'eatly from night to night. Mr.
Simon also says in his review of
"Roar . . ." that David C. Jones
"can't act and he can't sing." Any-
one who saw the show and knows
good acting and singing will dis-
agree. Even Edward Earle who
directed, choreographed, and star-
red in the show was "limited" ac-
cording to Mr. Simon. Anyone
capable of performing those three
jobs with the perfection that they
were done is not limited.
IT IS FOR these reasons, and
for the purpose of a more sophis-
ticated, qualified, and educated
review by which one can truly
judge a production before seeing
it, that I ask for the release of
these horrible critics and a replace-
ment who is qualified and will post
those qualifications after each of
his reviews. In this way perhaps
some degree of professionalism
will be brought into the rather un-
witty and distasteful theatre re-
view section of The Daily.
--RonaldJ. Duradon, '71
Precious?
To the Editor:
T WONDER if you will grant me
a few lines to comment on Jim
Peters' review of the "New Music
for Orchestra" concert of Wed-
nesday, March 27. I felt this re-
view to be highly unfair for the
following reasons.
First of all, Peters feels that
because the actual time of the
musical number same to about 35
minutes and that new music is
"seldom heard," the concert was
"precious."
Obviously, Peters has not kept
his eyes and ears open for new
music this year. With four Con-
posers' Forums, two concerts at
Ark, the "Contemporary Direct-
ions" series, the recent concert of
Stockhausen and Boulez, the'
Once Group's concerts a n d
George Cassioppo's radio program
on WUOM, anyone has a good
chance to hear new music.
The charge that the concert
was too short (therefore prec-
ious) damns anything in music
that is succinct and to the point,
as were all the pieces presented.
Brevity, 'in fact, may be desirable
in presenting a concert of this
nature where the music may be
unfamiliar.
As for the rest of the review,
it abounds in errors and mean-
ingless rhetoric. For instance,
anyone with two good ears and
some training in music would'
have been able to tell that Kurtz's
piece was not a 12-tone eomposit-
ion. (Peters was disappointed that
he could not make an association
between the 12 instruments and
the 12-tone technique).
IN DESCRIBING Hodkinson's
"Interplay" as a "bit of ferocity,"
Peters ignores the long, soft deli-
cate sections of the work. I fall
to remember a flute solo at the
end of the work, nor a "declara-
tive sentence" within it.
To describe Klausmeyer's or-
chestral work as containing "a
tired atonal section reminiscent
of Ravel's 'La Valse' " is especially
strange! This piece was the most
tonal work on the program and
bore no imagineable ressemblance
to "La Valse."
When describing the perform-
ance of Kurtz's "Conversations,"j
Peters. criticizes the conductor
(Hodkinson) as being an "expres-
sive metronome" rather than an,
"interpretor," at the same time
praising the musicians' plying
under him for their "precision
and control" - as if interpreta-
tion and 'accuracy, are mutually
exclusive!
One also wonders what "neutral
sounds" or "strings," "chroma-
tics from various instruments,"I
"the artful sound of new music"
are.
IN SHORT, Peters' review1
smacks of blatant ignorance of
new music and thus one must
place it, to use Peters' phrase, in
the realm of "air instead of mus-
ic."
--Robert Morris, Grad
SEE EUROPE FOR LESS!
For a buck and a quarter, stu- board fees from both students and
dents can buy an evening's enter- patients who can work.
tainment tonight and tomorrow Project organizers Danny So-
while helping to finance a halfway 'bel, '69, Sue Goss, '69, and Bob
house for mental patients. Winshall, '69, are seeking Uni-
The halfway house concept, or- versity accreditation for living in
iginally conceived for resocial- the halfway house and hope for
izing drug addicts and criminals, a psychology course to instruct
aims at reintegrating mental pa- students to better aid the patients.
tients isolated from society back An Outreach group will probably
into the community. also work at the house.
Tonight's program will feature~ --
the Charlie Chaplin classic, The
Kid, several short films by Kee-M or .R o i
Iw t n D w n y cl si a gutby Peter Griffith and blues by the S .L u sU i n i s , o i r
Tomorrow, The Charging Rhi Rips Country
noceros of Soul," will provide ; Continued from Page 1)
"acid rock," in contrast with the For the first time, incidents of;
more classical John Higgens arson were reported in Newark in
Quintet, also on the bill. the Negro area where last sum-
The benefit, at Canterbury mer's bitter riot claimed 26 lives.
House, will help pay for the pur- Five major fires and 13 smaller;
chase and operating expenses of blazes erupted {n the heavily Ne-
the house next fall. This includes gro Central Ward.
furnishing and running the house Authorities dispatched sound
for about six male and female' utho tearedsn
patients of varying ages and dia- trucks through the Newark streets,
gnostic categories and an equal broadcasting recordings of Dr.
number of students, as well as a
salaried house manager or couple. Meanwhile, the American In-
Modelled on the Harvard-Rad- surance Association estimated that
cliffe Welmet project, the house in some 90 cities struck by fire
will operate on the cooperative bombing and looting, the property
system and will maintain a regu- loss in the past six days was more
lar income based on room and than $30 million-and still rising.
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
FOLK MUSIC ASSOCIATION CONCERT
featuring
JIM & JEAN
and
THE MISTY WIZARDS
SATURDAY, APRIL 13 8:30 P.M.
COMMUNITY ARTS AUD. Adm.$2.00
WSU CAMPUS at door
As G
to
fL
l "autgh
all the
way
the
ineral.
4#9
SUGGESTED FOR MATURE AUDIENCES
GD IN COLOR FROM WARNER BROS.-SEVEN ARTS
Friday: PAUL NEWMAN as HARRY FRIGG
TONIGHT
A PLAC" E IN ,THE SUN,.
Directed by George Stevens, 1951
Based on Dreisbr's "An American Tragedy"
MONTGOMERY CLI FT
SHELLEY WINTERS
ELIZABETH RAYMOND
TAYLOR BURR
AND
TOP .HAT.
American Studies film of the week
"Musically divine""A swell flick!"
SHOWINGS: "Sun" (7:00), "Hat" (9:05)
Cal 662-8871 75c ARCH ITECTURE
2-87A 75C 'AUDITORIUM,
,i
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Al
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WEEK 375 No. MAPLE RD."769.1300
Mo.-Thurs.
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Friday-7:00-9:20-1 1 :20; Sat.-3:00-5:00-7:10-9:20-11:20
Sundy-- :00-3:00-5:00-7:10-9:20
10 Academy Award Nominations *
i
COLUMBIA PICTURES present%0
Stanley Kramer
productior
Spencer Sidney
TRACY POITER
Katharine
HEPBURN
guess
whops
COmina
:.: o ner
TECHNI06LOa-
Storts
FRIDAYY
1
-'4
ALL STUDENT TRIPS!
$397 to $1320
I
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i
Travel in a small, congenial group
with other U.S. college students.
Join tour in Europe or travel with
the group by ship or via TWA'.jet.
21 to 62-day trips In Europe-prices
include meals, hotels, sightseeing.
travel in Europe . . . trans-Atlantic
transportation is extra. Departures
from June 5 to July 31. Sample
trips:
* 21 days-Western Europe plus
Spain-$397
43 days--All of West. Europe-
$601
47 days-West. Europe plus Scan-
dinavia-$906
0 58 days-West. Europe plus Ber-
ln, Poland, Russia, Czechosio-
vakia, Spain--$1085
See your local travel agent or TWA
or write for free folder:
American Youth Abroad
1 University Station
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414
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C~ili'OUILI
THIS WEEK
THURSDAY and FRIDAY, April 11,12
TO HAVE' AND
TO HAVE ,NOT,'
Directed by Howard Hawkes, 1944
From the novel by Ernest Hemingway,
adapted by William Faulkner
HUMPHREY LAUREN
BOGART BACALL
SATURDAY and SUNDAY, April 13, 14
THE LAST MILLIONAIRE
Directed by Rene Clair, 1935
Delightful satire on a mythical kingdom
of human folly.
:
-
M
:
i
,R
f
i
s
and avoid getting waylaid by a
beautiful =mcountess!
' ,
1I
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NEWMAN.
CC"$TARRrII#
TOM -SERANDE - DA JONN -l4NEf I
Sueenpiey by PETER STONE and FRANK TAUFF - Story by FRANK TALOFF"-
Assooc e " P "d"c'PETER STONE . Produced by ALLECHESTER M Am AnCorp.Productios
There were five Generals inside ,
and one Private outside
The problem wastoget the five,
Generals inie . outside..
Z aefl e
iYTADS
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COLOR by DeLuxe . PANAVISION*
Wednesday is LADIES' DAY!
I
Ellen didn'tknow Who she was or what shetwas..
LAST 3 DAYS TO SEE
ACADEMY BONUS FEATURE
AWARD Academy Award Nominee
ROD STEGER
FAVORITE in his finest role
"BEST FOREIGN ' CAD'TAFFORDTO
FILM" ' . IT!" -New orker
"ONE OF THEMa
YEAR'S 10 {
BESTIFILMS"'
Crowther, Times. Gelmis, Newsday
Wolf, Cue , Winsten, Post SI
Morgenstern, Newsweek
Alpert & Knight, Saturday Review
u
A
c's
USKE
IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE
68= 69 CENTRAL COMMITTEE
KATE SIEGEL
General Chairman
ROB GORDON;
Ass't. Chairman,
ROGER WERTENBERGER
Orchestra Director
DOUG SPRIGG
Director
NANCIE FISHER
Choral Director
, 41
I',
SANDY DENNIS - KEIR DULLEA
ANNE HEYWOOD EMA
CLOSELY
WATCED
'TR AINSK'-
THE PAWNBOKER
"PAWNBROKER"-7 :00.
el 1 /179"rlC.I
,nA.lI[ LAICVIMuIC
Or-re, 7hAPPR AAAJ
AWRDV A RRLErIGN
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