The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, November 7, 1978-Page 7


'4

EUIVTHMEJM

Milstein as

fine as ever

By OWEN GLEIBERMAN
For violinists this fall, it's been old
ge over youth hands down. A few
reeks ago we had the Ann Arbor
remiere of Eugene Fodor, the fiddling
onderboy from the mountains of
Nathan Milstein, riounieu
George Pludermacher, pianist
Hilt Auditoriums
onata in A major...............Geminiani
haconne, from Partita No.2...........Bach
onata in C minor, Op. 30, No. 2........ Beethoven
wo Caprices.. ... ...........Paganini
itroduction and Rondo Capriccioso .... Saint-saens
lnsolation...................Liszt
aalse-Scherzo, Op. 34............Tchaikovsky
Presented by the
UnirersigvMusical &wiety
olorado, who offered some of the most
loddingly insensitive musicianship
aginable from a performer touted as
e seventies' answer to Jascha Heifitz.

This past Sunday, however, Nathan
Milstein made Fodor's already forget-
table performance even more incon-
sequential.
Milstein is over seventy years old,
and decades have passed since he
established himself as one of the incon-
testable violin masters. Sunday's con-
cert at Hill Auditorium held an element
of cold-blooded fascination for me;
would we encounter the Milstein of old,
or a former genius whose musicianship
now only poked through a barrage of
technical problems?
I NEEDN'T have worried, for this
was not one of those dreary affairs in
which the audience quietly laments that
a performer no longer has it. Aside
from a few very minor gaffes, Milstein
displayed a passion, control of nuance,
and penchant for adventurous inter-
pretation worthy of any performer in

his prime. Rather than challenge him-
self with seeing how many ricochet
notes he could fit into a single
bowstroke, Milstein proved that if he is
worthy of the title "virtuoso" - and I
believe he is - it is not only for his

Kottke still doing his own thing,
and doing it better than .most

By STEVE HOOK
To call Leo Kottke low-key is a bit of
n understatement. Throughout his
areer, which is nearly a decade old, he
as devoutly refused to become a
ommercial draw. Preferring small
ightclub audiences to large concert
all crowds, playing a variety of ob-
cure and totally unmarketable folk
nd classical compositions, Kottke
efuses to tailor his career to the
emands of mass appeal. He simply
refers his relatively small but loyal
ollowing.
"I'm as well known as I want to be,"
e 33-year-old Kottke explained
roudly as he relaxed between perfor-
nances. "A little bit is enough."
HE SEEMS arrogant, almost smug,
s he smiles in apparent satisfaction
ith this observation. His manager and
everal friends assembled quietly
round him smile also, obviously
haring his sentiment.- P
To be sure, the audiences at Second
.hance appreciated Kottke's genuine,
npretentious style, although they ap-
>eared slightly intimidated by his bub-
ling self-satisfaction.
As he wove his way through a diverse
issortment of his growing repertoire,
tottke boldly displayed his broad talen-
s. Switching between two custom-
hade Gibson and Martinx twelve
trings, and a Gibson classical six-
tring guitar, Kottke made full use of
e entire range of his instruments,
laying both baseandenelody at once in
nany of his pieces.
IN HIS second piece of the evening, a
ast-paced instrumental called
'Stealing," Kottke illustrated his
lomination of his instrument, as he
:ontrolled the complex chord
)rogressions with ease. As he perfor-
ned his other instrumentals, a
yeaceful, almost bored facial ex-
ression prevailed, strangely at odds
ith the vicious finger-work.
Kottke also sang many of his lyrical
ompositions from over the years. With
deep baritone voice, which he once
belled as sounding like "goose.....
n a muggy day," Kottke drew en-
husiastic applause for each song. The
inal number before his encore, called
'Louise", enchanted the audience with
t's poetic lyrics.
In addition to charming the audience
vith his lyrics, romantic and full of
magery, Kottke also provided mirth
md merriment by recounting his ex-
eriences as a child, moving around the
ountry from town to town ("We'd stay
n small motels, the kind where you'd
all off the bed......end into a space
ieater"). His gypsy-like lifestyle,
naintained almost from birth, is a
najor factor in Kottke's personality
nd unique musical style.
A SUPERB performance was cer-
ainly deserved by the Sunday night
udiences. Ticket prices of seven-fifty,
:oupled with long waits for each show,
nade the audiences justifiably anxious
nd impatient.
Yet Kottke, voted "Best Acoustic
luitarist" By Guitar Player Magazine
or the past four years, seemed to dispel
he growing anxiety of his audiences.
ith a pleasant smile, soft voice, and
ight-hearted mannerisms, he managed
o restore the enthusiasm and good
umor which was jeopardized by the
pre-concert hassles.
For those who saw Kottke Sunday
ight, who paid the high ticket costs,
who waited during the delays, and who
watched him leave after less than
rinety minutes, the opportunity to see
ioW it is done, first hand, by the best in
the business was worth the trip.
The Center For
Afroamerican and African
Studies
PRSE

proficiency, but because of his
dedication to conveying a work's
deepest and most beautiful emotions.
Milstein chose a diverse and extraor-
dinarily appealing program, and per-
formed the works with a rich, wonder-
fully ringing tone and smooth, clean
precision. In pieces like the Saint-Saens
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
and Liszt's Consolation, he proved to be
an artist of exceptional inventiveness
as well..
FOLLOWING THE opening piece, a
short, joyous sonata by Geminiani,
Milstein played the highlight of the af-
ternoon - the tour de force from Bach's
solo partitas and sonatas - the
Chaconne from Partita No. 2. Com-
prised of increasingly intricate
variations on a haunting four measure
theme, this exquisite piece depends
completely on the vision of a performer
to keep it from crumbling into a
fragmented juble of tenuously related
sections. Although Milstein played
much of the Chaconne with remarkable
raw power, it was his control and
overall consistency that made the piece
a dark, winding journey through an in-
finite array of moods and textures. He
struck the opening chords with an
almost crusing brute force, but the
later arpeggios were so smooth and
flowing that the effect was hypnotic.
The tone of the rest of the program
differed markedly from the Chaconne's
brooding intensity. Milstein has a
sweet, lyrical style, and the short Liszt
Consolation (a Milstein transcription of
a piece for solo piano) was a soaring,
rapturous paean to romanticism. The
Beethoven Sonata in C minor, Op. 30,
No. 2 was smooth, almost mellow, and
perhaps could have used a little more of
the fiery passion Milstein brought to the
Bach.
THE TWO Paganini caprices,
however, were the only genuinely weak
spots, as Milstein had some problems
with his intonation. For these dazzling
showpieces, a bit more Fodorish
showmanship might also have been or-
der. Milstein's surprisingly quick ren-
dition of the Saint-Saens Introduction
and Rondo, a certified warhorse of the
student repertoire, was a delight.
I was surprised that the packed
audience, generally so eager to give a
standing ovation and thereby assure it-
self that the concert was worth atten-
ding, did not stand for Milstein, and
brought him back for only two encores.
I could have gone on all afternoon.
Listening to the joy in Milstein's
playing, I believe he could have, too.

K


STUTTGART
ELSE KLINK, Artistic Director
with the ROMANIAN STATE ORCHESTRA
ION BACIU, Conductor
and SARAH BURTON, Speaker
in a performance of classical and
modern music, poetry, and prose
including the "Hebrides" Overture by
Mendelssohn and the "Unfinished" Sym-
phony by Schubert in its entirety.
at POWER CENTER
Wednesday, Nov. 8, 1978, at 8 PM
Tickets: $5, $4, $3 at Ticket Central
Michigan Union, 763-2072
Demonstration of eurythmy for the public
at the
Michigan Union Ballroom, noon, Wed., Nov. 8
A rare opportunity to see an art form and a company
critically acclaimed in major European cities.
Sponsored in Ann Arbor by the Anthroposophical Student
Association of the University of Michigan and the Rudolf Steiner
Institute of the Great Lakes Area.
TORNAY MANAGEMENT, INC.
1995 Broadway
New York,.NY 10023 -

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S.U.-E.U. MAPLE VILLAGE

Daily Photo by ANDY FREEBERG
Leo Kottke performed two shows Sunday night at Second Chance to an enthus-
iastic crowd.
PURL IC LECTURE
"In the Wake of
Camp David"
Speaker: Prof. Amnon Cohen
Chairman of Dept. of History of Muslim Countries at Hebrew
University, authority of the West Bank Issue
WED. NOV. 8-8:00 PM
1429 Hill Street
Sponsored by B'nai Brith Hillel Foundation
program in Judaic studies.
'MANN THEATRES Wed. Matinees
Fox GETWN All seats $1.50
MAPLE VILLAGE SHOPPING CENTER
769 1300 'until 4:30
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