THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Thursdov. Februarv 4. 1971
whti .uv, 1cvkrU~t ', 417 1 1%'' I
records
images
Beethoven
in
'70:
"YOU MUST S
OPEN .J
.SHOWS
11:W-3:101
5-P9 .M
V.v
EE THIS FILM!"
- Richard Schickel, Life
ACK NICHOLSON
rivg "ROTATE
5th Week
PIECE,
STATE Theatre COLORa
231 S. State
DIAL 662-6264
-Daily-Jim Judkis
University Baroque Trio:
Living up to expectations
By DONALD SOSIN
Perhaps the major difference
in the concert by the Festival,
Winds Tuesday, and the Univer-
sity Baroque Trio's performance
last night was one of expectation.
One attended the former with
hopes for some very professional
playing, considering the repu-
tations of the members.
The Baroque Trio's offering, on
the other hand, lived up to ex-
pectation, proving that a relaxed
atmosphere can be created with-
out sacrificing quality.
There is something about
baroque music which enables
one to play it or listen to it for
hoursand not become bored. It
has the simplicity of (pardon me)
Muzak without the latter's ter-
rible cloying and uttter mindless-
ness. There is definitely sub-
stance to it, but it is more like
wading than honest-to-goodness
scuba diving.
Thus, in the various works
presented, by Arne, Bach and
his well-known son, Carl Phillip
Emanuel, Leclair, and Telemann,
one was not interested in trying
to comprehend the depths of the
composers' souls. One could sim-
ply listen and enjoy.
The stars of the evening were
Florian Mueller, oboeist, and
Nelson Hauenstein, flutist. They
worked extremely well together
and almost /always were the
phrasing and dynamics of one
duplicated by the other, a con-
siderable improvement o v e r
their counterparts in the Festival
Winds. In matters of tone there
was no comparison. Kaplan's
strident sound may simply be a
result of his schooling, but what-
ever the case, it does not blend
well, and that is adprime consid-
eration. Mueller played sensitive-
ly, sometimes even b e i n g
drowned in his effort to play un-
der when the melody was not his.
A similar parallel can be
made between Hauenstein, and
the Festival Winds' flautist,
John Somer. The latter was quite
breathy, particularly in low reg-
isters, and seemed to share the
ensemble's inability to create
smooth phrases, Hauenstein was
more fluid, and executed the em-
bellishments in the Leclair Sona-
ta for Flute and Continuo with
grace.
As for the three trio sonatas
by Telemann, Arne, and C.P.E.
Bach, the first two modest
works in traditional slow-fast-
slow-fast form, were carried off
nicely, accompanied by the
other members of the Trio,
Charles Fisher and Lawrence
Hurst, on harpsichord and bass
respectively. Playing lavish ar-
peggios as Fisher does is a styl-
istic choice which I do not en-
tirely agree with, but this is a
matter of taste.
The Trio was joined by John
McCollum, tenor, and Edwin
Grzesnikowski, violin, for the
concluding work, Bach's Can-
tata No. 189, Meine Seele Rue-
hmt und Preist. The perform-
ance was not as polished as the was all the more enjoyable for
others-the violin -and oboe did its coming not so much through
not always mesh as well as the a casual attitude or off-the-
flute and oboe, nor was the ten- cuff remarks, as was the case
or line always as even as it with the Festival Winds, but
could have been. through the music itself, and as
Throughout the concert one such, was a more valid experi-
had a feeling of relaxation that ence for it.
No set grecipe for
'Sensory Soup'
M otre
By JOHN HARVITH
Last of two parts
One of the most notable Beet-
hoven releases of 1970 was a re-
issue of Toscanini's virtually de-
finitive 1936 recording of the
Seventh Symphony with the
New York Philharmonic (VIC
1502).
Eric Salzman, in a 1967 Tos-
canini Centenary article in
Stereo Review, evaluated the
Maestro's 1937 readings of Beet-
hoven's First, Fourth, and Sixth
Symphonies with the BBC Sym-
phony, then newly reissued on
Seraphim (IC-6015). Salzman
flatly stated that there was no
difference in interpretation be-
tween the 1937 recordings and
the ones Toscanini made in the
1950's with the NBC Symphony,
and went on to berate Toscanini
as a febrile, constricted inter-
preter while left-handedly prais-
ing him as a great orchestral
technician.
As a result, Salzman misled
his readers in two important re-
spects. First, Toscanini's inter-
pretive s t y I e was undergoing
drastic change between 1929 and
1954, as any perceptive listener
can readily glean from a spot-
check comparison of representa-
tive Toscanini recordings made
during this time span. Second,
Toscanini, even in his NBC
years (1937-54), was never a
tense, unyielding automoton, as
Salzman would have us believe.
The reader can confirm these
two assertions by successively
listening to this 1936 Toscanini-
N.Y. Philharmonic reading of
the Beethoven Seventh and the
Maestro's 1951 NBC Symphony
performance of it (included in
Victrola VIC-8000) with a me-
tronome. and score. He will then
discover that the 1936 Toscan-
ini engages in striking changes
of tempo within phrases as well
as between sections of a move-
ment. Thus, the first movement
introduction rapidly accelerates
from the slowly intoned opening
measure, despite Beethoven's
single tempo marking of poco
sostenuto,
Tempi in the 1951 rendition
are more rigidly maintained,
though the phrases still breathe
through subtly calculated tempo
fluctuations. However, the great-
er flexibility and rhythmic free-
dom of the earlier performance
yield a more serene allegretto, a
less forced trio section in the
scherzo, and a finale wherein
tension is carefully built to a
white-hot orgasmic fury by
means of painstakingly gauged
crescendi and a stunning faster
tempo for the final tutti state-
ment of the principal theme.
Notwithstanding the a b o v e-
mentioned tempo changes, Tos-
canini commands this unflag-
ging impetus throughout by ju-
dicious rhythmic punctuation,
maintenance of the utmost
transparency in orchestral tex-
ture, near-perfect instrumental
articulation, and clockwork pre-
cision in ensemble. Anyone who
still holds the misconceptio~n
that Toscanini served as t h e
machine-age p r o to t ype for
George Szell's frenetic, nervous
Beethoven readings had b e s t
lend this disc an ear.
It stands unchallenged in the
realm of Beethoven symphonic
recordings as the ideal synthe-
sis of texual accuracy and per-
sonal interpretive utterance.
lustration of the latter.
Just as Toscanini was the se-
minal force behind injecting
faithfulness to the score into the
interpretation of Beethoven's
orchestral works in this century,
Artur Schnabel assumed the role
of musical janitor, uncluttering
late Romantic mannerisms in
the interpretation of Beethov-
en's piano compositions.
This disc of the Fourth Con-
certo (VIC-1505) should go far
toward dismissing any claim of
constricted pianism on Schna-
bel's part, since it discloses no
trace of crabbed pedagogy or dry
intellectualism. Realizing the
inherent tension present in the
concerto's first movement due
to Beethoven's persistent avoi-
dance of tonic-rooted harmonic
resolution, Schnabel masterful-
ly funnels the listener's atten-
tion to this inner turmoil by in-
flecting the solo lines through
the subtlest of nuances, unleash-
ing liquid streams of sound with
controlled damper pedal wash-
es and coaxing forth pianistic
tones of ethereal refinement and
beauty. In contrast to Schnabel's
understatement of the soloist's
role vis 'a vis the orchestra, his
ultimately explosive account of
Beethoven's own cadenza re-
leases this movement's massive
accumulation of unrelieved ten-
sion, allowing it to conclude on
a high plane of fulfillment.
Schnabel's gradual usurpation
of power. from a ferociously
threatening orchestra in the fol-
lowing "andante con moto"
movement is capped by a cres-
cendo trill of incredibly expres-
sive anguish. In addition, the
spirited "rondo" is brought off
in delightfully supple fashion.
Stock's rapport with his soloist
is exemplary throughout, mak-
ing this one of the finest orches-
tral collaborations Schnabel has
been accorded in any of his con-
certo recordings.
As long-time connoisseurs of
the Schwann Catalog are doubt-
less aware, there are two other
Schnabel recordings of the Beet-
hoven Fourth extant (done in
1932 and 1946), though currently
out of print. For years now, cri-
tics have been hotly debating the
relative musical merits of this
trinity of discs, each having its
undeniable claim to greatness.
I must confess, after painstak-
ing side-by-side scrutiny of all
three readings, that for me, at
least, the present Victrola release
represents Schnabel's greatest
achievement with this music.
This carefully considered choice
rests on several grounds. First,
The Place to Meet
INTERESTING People
BACH CLUB
presents
David Lipson
performing & discussing some of
Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.
the obvious superiority of Stock's
orchestra over the flabby, ragged
sound of Sargent's 1932 accom-
paniment. and the satisfactory,
but not overly distinguished job
by Dobrowen's ensemble in 1946.
Second, Schnabel's total release
in the 1942 first movement ca-
denza is never even remotely ap-
proached in the flaccid accounts
of 1932 and 1946, despite the even
greater flow and control reveal-
ed elsewhere in the remarkableI
1946 reading (highly recommend-
ed for reissue by Seraphim). The
excessively delicate 1932 traver-
sal, moreover, has moments of
superficial loveliness which to-
tally destroy the underlying ten-
sion probed so memorably in the
later renditions. Neither does
Schnabel reproduce the inexor-
able drama of the 1942 slow
movement with Sargent or Do-
browen.
The 1942 Schnabel-S t o c k
"Emperor" Concerto (VIC-1511),
conversely, combines excellent
sonics with one of the finest
available readings of this much-
maligned work. Pianists usually
employ one of two interpretive
extremes in the Emperor: a no-
holds barred virtuoso exploita-
tion of the score's considerable
technical demands on the one
hand, versus an underplayed,
intelligent emphasis on the con-
certo's musical qualities, on the
other. Rudolf Serkin provides
the prime example of the for-
mer approach in his often taste-
less punching out of the notes,
while Gieseking's finely-etched
tonal embroidery is a perfect 11-
Schnabel's 1942 rendering of
the score is a sort of golden
mean between the two polari-
ties, and of his three disc ver-
sions (t h e others being with
Sargent in 1932 and Dobrowen
in 1946) by far the strongest in
terms of technical execution and
orchestral support.
I
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ALL TIMES
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482"ON . OO 't ME E H TED PARKING
mmommomommmom
By ANITA CRONE
Circuses are usually billed as
one, two, or three-ring, accord-
ing to the number of acts going
on at one time. It would be ex-
tremely difficult to classify the
Retinel Circus in such a manner.
No one knows how many "acts"
there will be until about half-
way into the performance. In the
Retinel Circus the performers
are the audience, and the audi-
ence is the performers.
TherRetinel Circus is a con-
glomeration of light shows, mu-
sic, various forms of the arts,
media, film, drama, light struc-
tures ad infinitum. It is also six
or less people who travel around
the country in a converted school
bus With lots of equipment and
open minds to "whatever peo-
ple in the area are in to," said
Ian, one of the Circus members.
The bus in which the Circus
travels happened to break down
in Ann Arbor, and so the Retinel
Circus will be presenting "Sen-
sory Soup" Sunday at 8:30 in the
Union Ballroom.
Essentially, the Circus brings
lights, instruments and the like
with them, but not enough to go
around. The people in the com-
munity come with whatever ideas
and props they have, and every-
one gets together and plays, or
works, or has a generally good
time. There are no real "acts"
per se. Instead, if someone wants
to play the guitar, he does, while
others watch, or make a light
show, or play instruments, while
still others paint or do whatever
else they want to.
According to Robert, another
member of the Circus, Sunday,
the people will try to build an in-
flatable structure where people
can get inside, while images will
be projected outside.
Results of other Retinel Circus
performances have been a radio
station in Rochdale, a suburb of
Toronto, art - type commune
houses, and 29 acres of land in
Maine on which the Circus hopes
to start a summer retreat for
people involved in all kinds of
art.
The Circus instigates-the peo-
ple continue.
The Retinel Circus is made up
of six people who have known
each other from 2 to 10 years.
The three members who are in
Ann Arbor come from South
America, Cleveland, and Pana-
ma. They came to Ann Arbor
from Toronto, They had heard
that Ann Arbor was the home of
the White Panthers, so they de-
cided that they would make a
side-trip here to see "what was
happening". They got here, and
as they were planning to leave
discovered that the bus would
need an engine overhaul. So they
stayed.
The performance in the Union
is free, as are most of the Circus'
events. "The only time we charge
is when we need the bread," ex-
plained Ian, and then it is usually
when we play with another
group." This was done in New
York last summer, when the Cir-
cus did three John Sinclair bene-
fits, one of them with Miles
Davis.
There will be an organizational
meeting tonight at 7:30 at 1309
Washtenaw, Apt. 3 to find out
what kinds of media arts people
in Ann Arbor are involved in.
The Circus, working in con-
junction with the Free University
for Sunday's performance will
"get a hall, lots of electricity, and
hope the people will bring the
energy to get it moving."
I
FINAL WEEK ! TONIGHT at 8:00!
SPECIAL STUDENT DISCOUNT!
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Lit
CA'
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K PRIOR TO BROAITWA!
The witty new version of Moliere's
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°t TEHNPORTER 'HARVEY,"PR1ATELIVFS' &'SHOWJ()1F'"
refreshments afterwards!
Thu., Feb. 4-8 p.m.
S. Quad -W. Lounge
"Magnificent !"
-Ann Arbor News
starring
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IDEWOIN) -Daily
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Postively no musical knowledge
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WHAT ARE CHABROL
Eriiu iAiur?7
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the ann arbor film co-operative
presents:
stanley kubrick's
2001:* a space odyssey
'I - f n- "
;,r,.. '_',"< ms. ;t . , -
7
with each
and "a cinnamon stick"
r;
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II
ww.w..
illl ppop-
111
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