Page Twa THE Mi-HIGAN DAILY Wednesday, January 15, 1969 music- Gregg Smith Singers: Music as theatre ,, By R. A. PERRY The Living Theatre seeks to break bonds between the passive audience glued to their neat rows of seats and performing actors trapped behind the bars of footlights. Well, it seems as if the Gregg Smith Singers fash- ion themselves as a Living C h o r u s, and consequently, though their aims be apolitical, they eschew the cage of the. stage and scurry a r o u n d amongst the surprised and of- ten delighted audience. Their performance in Hill Aud. Sun- day afternoon, as much a thea- trical show as a musical concert, was a mixed bag of effects. Their ebullient conductor and ring-master, Gregg Smith, talk- ed a lot between numbers, in- troducing, each piece with a Mr. Wizard exegesis that ex- plained the choreography of his singers as much as the music- ology of the pieces. Although his enthusiasm was infectious (if palling after two and a half hours), certain of his preludes, such as a very un-Dylan Tho- mas-like reading of Vachel Lindsay's "General Booth En- ters Into Heaven," were regret- table. During one of these brief speeches, Smith commented that given the prevalence of record- ings today, concerts cannot avoid visual elements. To ithis professed end, he dispersed his 21 singers all over the stage and often into the audience. Smith's reasoning was not merely thea- trical, but also, presumably, to fulf-1 Charles Ives' prophecy that someday. music' woul~d emerge from all directions. In theory, Smith's plan 'would seemr fresh and exciting, but in prac- tice, problems. exist. Take Mendelssohn's lovely "Heilig," for Instance: when the dispersed singers in the bal- conies developed the opening 'chord one by one, the effect was quite exhilirating, but when they sang in unison, one's listening experience was ironically depen- dent upon that singer most proximate, and thus unison ef- fect was almostnentirely de- stroyed. In all, one ended up more concerned with guessing what would happ'en next than with the listening experience itself. Musically, the Gregg Smith Singers car be commended. Their vocal blend is pleasingly integrated, mellifluent, a n d pure; it shows no holes or im- balance across the spectrum from bass to soprano. Individ- ually, the singers exhibited di- More reviews Page 9 verse talent as soloists, ar- rangers, and instrumentalists. Especially fine was Priscilla Abraham, a native of the Phil- lipines, who sang two folk songs from her country that were ar- ranged by another member of the choir. In the first of these songs, a near vocalise over dirge-like chants from the males, the impression of Miss Abraham's warm and control- led alto voice was certainly not hindered by her good looks,. In the "Gloria" from Monte- verdi's gorgeous Vespers of 1610, soloist William Lee sang his filigreed aria with a most dis- pleasing vibrato, while the sec- ond tenor provided the echo ef- fect from, apparently, the sec- ond balcony's men's john. Cer- tainly Monteverdi's m u s i c speaks most evocatively on its own and needssnot such ex- aggerated stresses. The concert opened, rather perversely, with the "Carols of Death" by William Schuman, pieces that were studies in subtle colorism and microtonal harmonies. Two Ives works fol- lowed, the razzmatazz jugger- naut sound of "General Booth Enters Into Heaven" and the quieter, but no less an experi- ment in chord changes, "Psalm 90." If somewhat loose, the per- formances were controlled and convincing. Three contemporary works were programmed. In one bit of fun and games, entitled "Elec- tion, 1968," the tri-part choir took the roles of radical left, conservative right, and platitu- dinous center. The "left" had the best lines, which included: "All Yankees are pinks and grow Grass in kitchen sinks," and the Final Warning, "All bathtubs are unsafe." Like the conventions they attempted to satirize, the musical (?) expe- rience balanced humor with tedious cacaphony. These con- temporary works were preluded by Smith's misleading remark that "Style dbesn't really exist at all today." Two bits of earlier Americana, an anonymous round entitled "Catch" and Billings' (he was a contemporary of Washington) "Consonance," were sung with rhythmic - vigor. Three closing folksongs in pretentious ar- rangements ,including a "Cop- las" that Theo Bikel does better any day, did not reveal any great precision on the choir's part. There are'too few small, ac- complished choirs today - the era of Sanford Cape's and Na- dia Boulanger's ensembles is gone-and the Gregg Smith Singers have a secure role, es- pecially in new music, which they perform with commendable enthusiasm and vocal control. In concert, however, while expe- rimentation can only be praised, they should reconsider some of the rigamarole that ultimately detracts from -the music at hand. I For those of you UNION-LEAGUE who misse MICH IGRAS MASS MEETING You can still sign up for committees in the MICHIGRAS Office 3rd floor League _ I i I 1 1 i' COMMU N ICATE WITH A CHILD Learn from him and let him learn from you. Seek him out by calling the U of M tutorial project 663- 8607 P.M.'s or 769-4758 late eves. or by stopping in 2547 SAB 1-5 oool, -068"Oftaft" K UNIVERSITY r .. | tv MUSICAL SOCIETY LiHELD OVER! Program Information 2-6264 5th Big Week Shows at :00-3:00-5:00-7:10& 9:15 ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES ITIS VE SEENTI YEAR. presents Special Concert ARTUR RUBINSTEIN 1 T 9 moll World Renowned Pianist in recital r.) .1 COME TO Student Book Service The most complete supply of . NEW and USED TEXTS and PAPERBACKS, is at the Student Book Service -Saturday Review and visit RENEE BARB KUNDUS bad cops and there are good cops--and then thera's Eulittt. WED.', JAN. 22,8:30 in Hill Auditorium PROGRAM Two Impromptus, Op. 90 ..Schubert "Appassionata" Sonata..........Beethoven O Prole do Bebe (Bay-s Family). Villa-Lobos Ballade in G Minor, Op. 23 Nocturne in F-sharp major, Op. 48 . Chopin Scherzo in C-sharp minor, Op. 39 Tickets: $7.00-6.50-6.00-5.00-3.50-2.50 HAGUE PH*ILHARMONIC.* .v I . I Mad Marvin Invites You to Trip with him and his friends Sina colossal laugh program Thurs., Fri., Sat., Sun.-11 :00 P.M. Vth Forum-separate admission WILLEM VAN OTTERLOO Conductor I I STEVII MCCLEEN ASL" TIU EE t_:su6EsTO FOR WOTRE iuoDIxESi TECHICOOPFROM WARNER BROS.-SEVEN ARTS (W q FRI., JAN. 24, 8:30 PROGRAM Symphonische Etude . . . ... .Andricsecn Symphony in D-major ("Prague") "Mozart Syphony No. 6 in A-major......Bruckner Tickes: $6.00, 5.50, 4.00, 3.00, 2.00 fI THE COMEDY GREATS-Program 1 W. C. FIELDS-"California Bound" MARX BROS.-"Incredible Jewel Robbery"-pantorine LAUREL AND HARDY,-"Big Business"-one of their really great ones with one of the wildest comic destruction scenes ever filled. "It will drive you mad." "THE GREAT CHASE"-Uproarious! 60 years of great movie chases. Featuring: Douglas Fairbanks, William S. Hart, Perils of Pauline, 30 minutes of Buster Keaton's greatest comedy epic THE GENERAL. "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY"-Highly creative, experimental French comedy-Aca- demy Award Oberhausen Film Festival, 1963. PLUS-Continuing BUCK ROGERS space serial and BETTY BOOP cartoon. GO MAIZE ,1 :'' rlh - ._. ._. __ ., .. Hours: 9:00 to 4:30, Mom :0C 0- , I UWhen in? Southern California visit Universal City Studios An unsurpassed cast in one of the great plays of the ages! CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER ORSON WELLES - LILLI PALMER and RICHARD JOHNSON F in OEDIPUS THZ KING --+ i i with CYRIL CUSACK ; ROGER LIVESEY