Page Two

THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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Pag T w o T H E M IC HIG A N D AIL Y W ednesday, M arch 15, 1 197211 11 " - - -

Wednesday, March 15, 1972

.. .images

A gamut of

emotional tensions


III


ii

-Daily-David Margolick

Boston Players

By DONALD SOSIN
The Boston Symphony Cham-
ber Players gave an altogether
wonderful concert in Rackham
last night, sponsored by the
University Musical Society.
Two string trios formed the
central portion. The first was
Schoenberg's, written in 1946. It
is a highly complex twelve-tone
work, but is nonetheless expres-
sive in terms that hearken back
to the turnof the century and
the end of the romantic period.
The trio played with the ease
and assurance that comes from
performing the work often. One
missed in the first part, how-
ever, the precision of rhythmic
figures that is so characteris-
tically Schoenbergian.
Beethoven's Trio Op. 9, No. 3
followed; it contains vestiges of
earlier piano trios while fore-
shadowing the stringquartets to
come. The slow movement was
jammed somewhat by the wood-
winds warming up beneath the
stage, and it bothered the mu-
sicians enough for Joseph Silver"-
stein to rise and call down to
his colleagues, "This is a string
trio!" causing no end of amuse-
ment in the audience. The trio
-went on without fu'rther inter-
ruption, topping a typically ter-
rific Scherzo with a furious
Finale. The only hitch was in
balance: the viola frequently
Detroit Institute of Arts
MYTH OF JACKSON POLLACK
Illustrated Lecture
Brian O'Donerty, Program Directw
Visual Arts, Nat. Endow, of Arts
THURS.,'MARCH 16,8 .M.
Lecture Hall $1.50 (students 60c)

muffled the violin. Perhaps Sil-
verstein was being too cautious.
There was no need to be, as
Burton Fine and Jules Eskin
were clearly heard throughout.
The concert opened with an
innocuous Quartet for Bassoon
and Strings in B-flat by the
eighteenth-century c o m p o s e r
Franz Danzi. What differentiates
this work form chamber works
of Haydn or Mozart is its pre-
dictability. Nevertheless, it fell
gently on the ear and was given
a smooth reading by Sherman
Walt and the string players.
Heitor Villa-Lobos will not be
remembered for his Woodwind
Quartet (1928). One looks for the
Brazilian tunes that made him.
well-known, and finds little more
than studious patterns that oc-
casionally work well, but too of-
ten confirm the expectations of
those who left before the work
was played.
For more fine Boston musi-
cianship, the whole orchestra is
in Hill Auditorium tonight under
William Steinberg.

By SHERRY COTTIER
The five ink and pencil draw-
ings and three woodcuts of
Leonard Baskin currently on
display at the U-M Museum of
Art, reflect Mr. Baskin's histor-
ical perspective as well as his
ability to portray a whole gamut
of emotional tensions.
Son of a rabbi, and a former
student. of the rigorous Jewish
school known as the. Yeshiva,
Mr. Baskin's Jewish heritage is
also evident in the show.
Many of the prints, gifts 'of
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Stone and
the Stephen and Sybil Stone
Foundation, depict a recurring
theme. in Baskin's work : man
rediscovered through death, his-
tory, and the creative urge.
While Baskin has been ac-
cused of being a morbid cele-
brant of death, the only repre-
sentation of death in this col-
lection-is "Death Of The Laure-
ate." This print, cut in 1957, is
in sequence to another print of
two years earlier, "The Poet
Laureate." Both depict a rather
fat, particularly undistinguished
gentleman.
In "Death Of The Laureate"
the process of decay is pictured
through the intricate webb of
muscular lines and gapping
black holes. A hand, shriveled
but whole, lies across an other-
wise barren chest. The print
moved me to reflection but not
revulsion.
"Death Of The Laureate" il-
lustrates Baskin's statement,
"I've tried hard in my work to
make the ordinary person heroic
through the fact of his human-
ity-my figures are the fat guys
you see in the subway or on the
bus." The poet laureate is sure-
ly ordinary looking, and I began
to conjecture about the distinc-
tion of everyday man.
Subjects of Mr. Baskin's his-
torical perspective are Merlin,
the magician who reared Ar-
thur; Marat, of Marat Sade;
Haman, the -kings attendant
who plotted against the Jews in
the Book of Esther; and a fig-
ure of court.
"Haman," an ink and pencil
drawing of 1955, is another fat
man with recessed eyes. Yet he
is not totally disagreeable. The

thin lines covering his face em-
anate a feeling of human stress,
of distrust. My reaction to him
is uncertain, for he too is human.
"Marat" is a portrait of utter
anguish and introversion. As in
"Death Of The Laureate" the
lines illustrate body structure
while areas of dark, seemingly
turbulent ink, emphasize tor-
ment. We see a man growing
weaker, with only one eye open
to the world, but a man still
struggling.
Baskin celebrates man's cre-
ative power as well as "making
ing interconnections with men
of past time." He says, "I think
man, however debased, paunchy,
and victimized by a malignant
world is still glorious."
This glorification of man is
evident in the portrait "Merlin"
which stimulates our fairy tale
fancy of magical powers as well
as our sense of the past. De-
picted with owl on head and im-
prisoned in his hollow tree, Mer-
lin's eyes and the glare of the
owl are immediately affecting.
I couldn't help but imagine
what Arthur must have felt.
TONIGHT!
Showcase 3
}. STEAM-
BATH
ARENA THEATRE
Trueblood Box Office
opens at 2:00 P.M.
THRU SAT.
DIAL 665-6290
HELD OVER!
"Dustin Hoffman's finest per-
formance since 'Midnight Cow-
boy F'"
National Observer
"A brilliant feat of movie mak-
ing!"
Time Mogozine

"Dutch Artist," another re-
flection of man's creative urge,
shows one man in a state of
calm yet powerful reverie. This
ink and pencil drawing of 1962
pictures a man of detached per-
ception who suddenly appears to
be studying you while you study
him.
Reflecting Baskin's sense. of
Judaic tradition' is "Yom Kip-
pur," which derives its name
from the Jewish day of atone-
ment, a day of fasting. The man
in the picture is depicted with
mouth open and reflects suffer-
ing, but not anguish.
Juxtaposed beside "Marat,"
"Yom Kippur" is much less in-
tense. The areas of solid black
are absent and the ink takes on
more the nature of a wash. An
interesting study in the subtle-
ties of emotion.
WABX & U of D Presents I

Baskin has also been charac-
terized as portraying the -most
evil-looking creatures of nature,
as in his depiction of crows.
But he says, "Crows are hard-
ly ignoble, which is why they
interest me. Crows are bright,
cunning, noisy, indefatigable,
voracious, prodigal." The crow
in this particular collection is
quite stately. I was tempted to
think of a hooded abbot.
Baskin's subjects are interest-
ing and his use of black and
white admirable. The collection,
although small, is evocative.

DIAL 668-6416
TWO HIT
ENCORES

NOMINATED
FOR

**CENTENNIAL PERFORMANCE**
Gilbert and Sullivan's "lost" Opera
presented by the U of M Gilbert and Sullivan Society
Small Company
March 17-18,,8:00 P.M.
Residential College
Auditorium.

-ONE THIN-50c-KENNEDY-

6

ACADEMY
AWARDS
"Summer of '42"
BEST EDITING
BEST SCREENPLAY
BEST PHOTOGRAPHY
BEST SCORE
AND

LL-

_ - _ _ill

PILOT PROGRAM Presents
Kaneto Shindo's
THE ISLAND (1961)'y
7 and 9:30-Alice's Restaurant
Alice Lloyd Hall f
Wednesday, March 15-75c
The Island tells in simple, but poetic, terms
the story of one family's struggle 'for sur-
vival as the sole inhabitants of a small
island. A directional tour-de-force. The
Island contains no dialogue - the sound
track consists only of the natural sounds of
activity and the musical score.

B.B. KING
Plus Special Guest Star
James Cotton
BLUES BAND

JANE
FONDA

DONALD
SUTHERLAND

Extra Added Attraction
MUDDY WATERS
Fri., March 24, 8:30 p.m.
U of D Memorial Building
Tickets $5.50, $4.50, $3.50
Available at the U-D Box Office
and all J.L. Hudson ticket outlets.
FOR MAIL ORDERS: Send check
or money order with self stamped
envelope to: B.B. KING, U. OF D.
PERFORMING ARTS. 4001 West
McNichois, Detroit, Mich., 48221
THE UNPUBLTSHABLE NOVEL
IS NOWAMERICA'S
MOST CONTROVERS=AJILMfI
Thbe
AASTMANCELOR
RATED

kiute 914
JANE FONDA
BEST ACTRESS
BEST SCREENPLAY

N+i




Are You Interested in Preserving
Jewish Traditions 1
Temple Beth Emeth has openings in its Religious
School for 72-73 for elementary and secondary I
teachers. Ca11 Mrs. J. Gottleib, Assistant to Director,
662-8893.

THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC presents
Verdi's opera
FAL STAFF
(IN ENGLISH)
Two Performances Only: April 6 & 7-8 P.M.
Power Center for the Performing Arts
$3.50 and $2.50 ($1.00 tickets for U-M students with
ID cards, sold at the Box Office only, no mail orders)
Conductor JOSEF BLATT Stage Director: RALPH HERBERT
TICKET INFORMATION: 764-6118
MAIL ORDERS: Falstaff, School of Music, University of Mich-
igan,Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105. Please enclose self-addressed,
stamped envelope.
Box Office Opens April 3rd at 12:30 P.M.
1,.

DUETIN
HDFFMA ON
'1STR""AW
SHOWS AT R
1,3,5,7,9:05 F
"THE GODFATHER" is
now a movie
COMING MARCH 24th
thru
Clasfied

STEREO VISION

6:30 0 8:15 0 10

I

FiFTHPFor'um
?IWTH AVWNW AT LIBRTY
DOWNTOWN ANN ARBOR
LU INFORMATION 761.9700

I


Corner of State and Liberty
t
TATE
Program Information 662-6264


Shows at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 p.m.

STARTS THURSDAY
NOW After "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice,"
DYAN CANNON is at it AGAIN!
WITH "SUCH GOOD FRIENDS" A WIFE DOESN'T
NEED ANY ENEMIES!"
Shocking! Funny!
Very Bold!
Very Adult!
The Anatomy of
a Marriage

The U of M, Folklore Society presents

THE

NEW

LOST,

CITY

9/CH/

sGOcr FiDS

RAMBLERS

John Cohen, Tracy Schwartz, Mike

Seeger

MARCH 18

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iALW'~ .~ '

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