Pianist Perahia stuns
Rackham with genius
By GERARD PAPE
There aren't enough musical cliches
of a superlative sort to describe Murray
Perahia's classical piano concert last
Monday night at Rackham Auditorium.
Loren Bass and Ellen Sandweiss appear in a scene from Federico Garcia
Lorca's "Blood Wedding", which plays Nov. 1-4 in the Trueblood Theater in the
Frieze building.
Lewis'
un orthodoxy
fuses jazz factions
By BILL BARBOUR
How does one evaluate a musician who challenges the very perameters
of music? Suffice it to say, it isn't easy. In making such a judgment, not only
is it necessary to rely on absolutes such as sound production and progression
of harmonic ideas, but to extrapolate from those absolutes to determine
what the musician is trying to say when he transgresses the boundaries of
one's previous musical experience. George Lewis, trombonist and musician
extraordinaire, transgressed those boundaries successfully in the first of
Eclipse Jazz's Bright Momements concerts Friday night. His statement was
clear: music is music, and all music must be creative.
Lewis took the stage before a small but enthusiastic audience at the
Residential College auditorium shortly after 8:30. The first piece,
"Miniatures," was one he composed in 1976. This complex atonal work was
divided into eight movements, of which he played six. The first of these
seemed to have flexibility as its theme, alternating between squealing high
notes and trills in the low register of his trombone. Each succeeding
movement had its own distinct character: a scherzo-march that borrowed
from many different spheres of music, a ponderous movement centered in
the trombone's pedal range, a short transitional one, a slow and somber
section using extreme high and low range, and, finally, a dazzling display of
technical virtuosity in which Lewis plays runs more common to
saxophonists than to trombonists.4
THROUGHOUT THE work, the performer displayed a myriad of
techniques for producing unconventional sounds on his instrument, such as
singing and playing at the same time and coughing into his horn. The ost
humorous of these weas an effect whereby Lewis would speak somethi g in-
to his trombone and then play a series of notes that approximated the pitch
changes in his voice. This never failed to elicit a chuckle from the audience.
The second piece of the concert, a three movement work, showed
Lewis's musicianship in a different light. In each movement, he added .
elements to the trombone that were not endemic to it. The first movement
-was performed on trombone with a bassoon reed attached. The resultant
sound, further muted by a hand-held cup over the instrument's bell, was,
eerie-but pleasing. The performer further enhancedthe section by playing
multi-phonics (the sounding of two or more notes at the same time) note
possible on the orthodox version of his horn. The second movement fused
electronic instruments with his acoustical instrument. Eeriness pervaded
this movement, too; the performer often simulated jungle and space noises
by turning a few dials on his electronic equipment. Neither of these sections
could top the third movement, though, where Lewis bowed the bell on his
trombone with a violin bow, moving his hand up and down the bell to vary the
pitch. The strangely pleasing sound he produced, in addition to the novelty of
what he was doing, was the highlight of the show.
Lewis closed the concert with his version of "Lush Life," a song com-
posed by Billy Strayhorn. He took great liberties with the tune, using long
improvisational sections and subtle harmonic alterations extensively, but in
the end his interpretation is fine, one that the composer would have been
proud of.
The Ann Arbor Film Cooperative present at Aud A
Wednesday. November 1. BUNUEL
ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE,
(Luis Bunuel, 1954) 7 only-AUD A
The 18th-century of an inventive exile becomes, in Bunuel's terms, a pattern of loneliness-love lost and
self-mockery. To Defoe's classic story, Bunuel added dreams and a questioning Friday. DON O'HERLIHY
JUAN FERNANDEZ.
THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALD DE LA CRUZ
(Luis Bunuel, 1955) 9 only-AUD A
One of Bunuel's favorite themes-obsession-is the subject of this highly personal film. The object of
obsession is a music box, given to young Archibaldo, which can cause the death of any person its
owner wishes dead. Laced with black humor, ARCHIBALDO is Bunuel at'his sardonic best. "One of the
most delectable of all Bunuel's films."-John Russell Taylor.
Tomorrow: Siegel's THE SHOOTIST & John Ford's THE SEARCHERS
Murray Perahia
pianist
Rackham Auditorium
Sonata No. 17 in D
major, K 576.....................Mozart
Four Impromptus, Op. 90.............Schubert
Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13............Schumann
Perahia is so clearly head and
shoulders above the other pianists who
have performed locally recently that
it's difficult to consider them in the
same league. Yes, even Vladimir
Horowitz, sacred cow of classical
pianists, should look towards Perahia
as his 31-year-old heir apparent.
I CONSIDER Mozart's piano sonatas
to be the equivalent of musical fodder
for the bovine masses. We are told that
Mozart was a genius; therefore,
everything he ever wrote was great.
Right? Wrong!
Murray Perahia is such a genius that
when he performs a work, it becomes
the equivalent of a musical character
sketch of the composer. He displayed
such clarity and absolute balance bet-
ween the right and left hands that he ac-
tually made the Sonata No. 17
palatable. His rendition almost shook
the Mozart piano sonata of its banality.
With the four Schubert impromptus,
Perahia's performance reached a peak.
The first impromptu's subtle contrasts,
gradual builds, and ominous left hand
themes made it the most dramatic of
the four pieces. The impromptus, as in-
terpreted by Perahia, also give some
notion of what Schubert might have
been like as a person. Frequently, there
a
were long, tranquil, extremely
beautiful passages. One got the im-
pression of a quietly contemplative
mood, interrupted by a darkly colored,
more violent passage. However, the
quiet mood prevailed.
THIS PICTURE of Schubert
emerges:. a person most comfortable
with dreamily contemplating the
beauty of the world, even though his
vision is sometimes rudely disrupted by
some sad or violent thoughts.
The personality of Schumann, as
revealed by Perahia's performance of
the Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13, is a
much more disturbed one than that of
Schubert. The changes in Schumann's
music are much more abrupt. There is
less integration of the feelings in one
mood with those of another. Perahia's
Schumann sketch included some of his
most powerful playing.
At the end of the Etudes, Perahia ap-
peared exhausted. Despite thunderous
applause, there was no encore.
The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, November 1, 1978-Page 5
MANN THEATRES Wed. Matinees
Fx( . TWIN All seats $1.50
MAKE VILlAGE sIOPPINCTER
769-1300- until 4:30
F1 h1ar SHOW
" d n 1 nE sTIMES
Sat-Sun-Wed
1:30
I ! 14:00
6:30
9:05
Man-Tues-
Thurs-Fri
6:30
9:05
PARAMOUNT PICTURES PRESENTS SHOW
TIMES
- Sat-Sun-Wed
1:00 6:15
2:45 8:00
4 30 9:45
Mon-Tues
Thurs-Fri
8:00
9:45
'R'
DAILY EARLY BIRD MATINEES -- Adults $1.25
DISCOUNT IS FOR SHOWS STARTING BEFORE 1:30
MON. tthu SAT. 10 A.M. tit1 I:3 P.M. SUN. & HOLS. 12 Noon til 1:30 P.M
EVENING ADMISSIONS AFTER 5:00, $3.50 ADULTS
Monday-Saturday 1:30-5:00, Admission $2.50 Adult and Students
Sundays and Holidays 1:30 to Close, $3.50 Adults, $2.50 Students
Sunday-Thursday Evenings Student & Senior Citizen Discounts
Children 12 And Under, Admissions $1.25
TICKET SALES
1. Tickets sold no sooner than 30 minutes
prior to showtipse,
2. No tickets sold later than 15 minutes
after showtime.
N-
L
ALA IN TANNER'S
1973
RETURN TO AFRICA
A rich political parable carrying overtones of science fiction, screwball
comedy and absurdist drama. A young couple decide to take up a Third World
existence in Algeria. They sell their possessions, pack what's left, throw a
farewell party and get a telegram delaying their departure. The film centers
on two weeks they spend in their empty apartment, living on catered food,
too embarrassed to leave, with only words for company.
FRI: JOE HILL & SACCO & VANZETTI
SAT: Marilyn Monroe In THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH
SUN: Julie Christie & Alan Blates in FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD
CINEMA II
TONITE AT
7&9
MLB3
$1.50
LOGO CONTEST!
Design logo for Cinema i(to'be used on our film schedule and posters)sand
WIN free admission for two at all our winter'films. DEADLINE Nov. 7th. Send
entries (as many as you want) to tOGO CONTEST, Cinema 11, c/o 909 Church
St., Apt. No. 2, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
I -.1
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