Ann Arbor
basks in Price 'S
The Michigan Daily-Friday, January 27, 1978-Page 5
brilliance
By STEPHEN PICKOVER
WHEN IT COMES TO TRULY
great artists, that small handful
of men and women who are the
unquestionable masters of their trade,
even superlatives fail to describe their
talent. Such is the case with soprano
Leontyne Price, a woman whose voice
should be on display at the Louvre. this
was her first recital in Ann Arbor,
though not her first visit to the
city-she previously performed with
the Philadelphia Orchestra in the May
Festivals of 1957, 1960, 1965 and 1971.
Price walked on stage wearing a
black sleeveless dress with a full length
black chiffon wrap trimmed in deep
Leontyne Price, Soprano
David Garvey, pianist
HilAuditorium
Sono unite a tormentarmi...............A. Scarlatti
Recitative and aria: "Troppomispiace...
Non mi dir"......... ............Motart
Five Songs .............................R. Strauss
Five Songs ..........................Rachmaninoff
Aria: "Pace, pace,-mio Dio"..................verdi
The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter..... Lee Hoiby
Night Song....................... Howard Swanson
Winter ..........................Dominick Argento
Three songs ............................ Ned Rorem
My Soul's Been Anchored in
the Lord......................Spiritual,
arr. Florence Price
Ride On, Jesus ................;. ......Spiritual,
arr. R. Nathaniel Dett
blue feathers and a single strand of
opera length pearls, with a few
diamonds here and there. The effect
was dazzling. She opened the program
with "Sons unite a tormentarmi" by
Scarlatti, a very baroque piece that
stayed mainly in her lower register.
She performed this well, not perfect,'
for what was to come later in the
program. She followed thiswith "Trop-
po mi spiace . . . Non mi dir" from
Mozart's Don Giovanni. She reeled off
the sixteenth notes as effortlessly as
falling dominoes and her longer high
notes were rich but restrained, so as not
to overpower.Y
T HEN CAME the meat of the first
part of the concert-songs Richard
Strauss sung in German and Sergei
Rachmaninoff, sung in Russian.
Strauss' "Wasserrose" was gorgeous,
the piano tinkling in the high register as
Price gave us a light, airy and peaceful
interpretation of the words "The water-
lily is the enchantress whose love binds
one forever, who brings all the dreams
of romance."
THIS WAS followed by the more quiet
"Morgen" which tapered off softly, into
nothingness, as she sang "Mute, we
shall look into each other's eyes, and
upon us will descend the great silence of
happiness." Contrasted to these two
numbers was "Cacilie," a passionate,
fiery piece sung with fervent warmth,
preparing us for the highly romantic
Rachmaninoff..
His "The Soldier's Wife" has all the
elements of a tear jerker: A war widow
left alone in a foreign country, and a
minor key. Here Price's ability to
dramatize and her voice like a carpet of
velvet make this piece a jewel. "The
Answer" was very pretty, like silk, and
"Daisies" was luxuriant-"O daisies
white, O starry maiden flowers, I love
you sot"
The first highlight came after the in-
termission with Verdi's powerful aria
from La Forza del Destino, "Pace,
pace, mio Dio." This is where Price ex-
cells, emoting immense energy and
force as the confused Leonora torn bet-
ween the love for her father and her
lover Alvaro, who was the innocent
cause of her father's death. Price can
wrench the heart from even the most
unfeeling person with not only her
voice, but her acting.
FOLLOWING this show stopper
came several works in English, the first
being "The River Merchant's Wife: A
Letter." This is a plaintiff song about a
young girl, who at 16 was left by her
lover. As his absence nears five mon-
ths, the song fades away. Girlish
sorrow, love and longing dominated
this piece, as Price's dynamics
caressed the audience with warmth.
"Winter" was the most humorous
number of the recital, making me think
all too much of the weather outside. At
first snowflakes wafted by, followed by
gusty winds, which were imitated by a
quick raising and lowering of pitch. The
mood changed in "The Silver Swan,"
where she cried "death, come close my
eyes," softly and beautifully. Returning
to a festive mood came Rorem's
"Alleluia," joyous romping piece Price
delivered with style and elan.
For the end of the program she chose
two spirituals-a change from the
classical and modern pieces to the
rhythmic gospel beats of the south. It
was not difficult to imagine a religious
gathering with Price leading the
congregation in the lyrics "Want to go
to heaven in the morning." Of course,
the applause was tumultuous, but I con-
fess that I was slightly disappointed in
that she hadn't done more numbers on
the line of "Pace, pace, mio Dio." Little
did I know that Price was saving the
juciest cuts for her three encores,
where she mesmerized the audience
and left them standing, shouting
"Bravo."
The first encore was the famous "Tu,
tu piccolo, iddio" from the end of
Madame Butterfly by Puccini. The
swift, heartfelt gazes at her child full of
maternal affection coupled with
realization that she must commit
suicide was superbly portrayed and
sung with technical perfection. As she
BULLETIN
Last night's scheduled
Herbie Hancock/Chick.
Corea concert, sponsored
by Eclipse Jazz, was can-
celled because of the
storm. Eclipse will an-
nounce the. date of the
rescheduled concert at 10
a.m. on Feb. 3. Refunds
will be given at the Union
box office beginning noon
Monday. All tickets,
-however, will be honored
for the rescheduled show.
walked off stage, my companion
queried with "Do you think she'll do
another?" I responded "maybe, but I
doubt it."
FOOLISH me-Price waltzed out
again, curtsied, said thank you and
proceeded to sing "Summertime" from
Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, in which
she had appeared as Bess before her
Metropolitan Opera debut. The lullaby
surely would have quelled any infant,
and the audience was certainly pleased
and excited by her choice.
She surprised and honored us by
giving a third encore, "Vissi d'Arte"
from Tosca, another precious bauble.
"What have I done to deserve this?"
never sounded better. An asset to her
program was her accompanist, David
Garvey. He played with feeling, and
complimented Price's voice at all
times. A marvelous triumph!
MICHAEL CURTIZ'S 1942
CASABLANCA
Probably the best film to come out of Hollywood during the war years.
CASABLANCA plays with the conflicts of love and loyalty. BOGART as Rick
runs a cafe in Nazi occupied Morocco. Bursting with intrigue as police,
con-men, and refugees struggle for survival and Rick struggles with the
memory of INGRID BERGMAN in Paris. Also starring CLAUDE RAINS and
PETER LORRE.
SAT.: 7% SOLUTION
CINEMA GUILD
TONIGHT AT
7:00 & 9:05
OLD ARCH. AUD.
Admission $1.50
CINEMA II
AUD. A ANGELL HALL
Friday, January 27
TEN FROM YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS,
SID CEASAR, IMOGENE COCA, CARL REINER and HOWARD MORRIS prove,
in these ten of the best skits from their 1950's television show, that American
television had comic geniuses long before Saturday Night Live. Richly
deserving rediscovery by a generation reared on video pablum, these
sketches remain among the most inventive and funniest elements of
American culture. In many hilarious ways, Ceasar, Coca, Reiner and Morris
were about the funniest people ever to stand in front of a television camera.
Not to be missed.
78 9 p.m. $1.50
Cinema 11 is now accepting new-member applications. Applications
forms are now available at all Cinema 11 film showings.
IWant The Inside Scoop?
THE U OF M's OFFICE OF MAJOR EVENTS PRESENTS:
WILLIE HELSOH1
SPECIAl GUEST
JRRY JfffT WMUMf
AND
W TH GUEST DON BOWMAN
Sunday February 5 Crisler Arena Ann Arbor 7:30 PM
Reserved Seats $7$6
Tickets available at the Michigan Union Box Office in Ann Arbor, (763-2071),
M-F 11:30-5:30
Sorry, no personal checks.
Tickets also available at all Hudsons, at Paul Webbs Record Store and the
Huckleberry Party Store in Ypsilanti. Or order by mail by sending self-addressed,
stamped envelope and money order only to: Willie Nelson, Michigan Union Box
Office, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Happenings .. .
(Continued from Page 7)
Two Jean-Luc Godard flicks. Be
prepared for an unpleasant, tedious
journey through the realm of intellec-
tual double-talk--DULL.
EVENTS
South Africa--The forum on South
African investments concentrates on
alternatives for stockholder action.
Timothy Smith, director of the
Interfaith. Center for Corporate Re-
sponsibility, speaks at MLB, Auditor-
ium 4 at 4 p.m. A panel discussion
follows at Rackham Amphitheater
beginning at 8 p.m.
thursday
February 2
CINEMA
P'Tangus Festival (Room 100, Hut-
chins Hall, 8:00 only) Three hours of
comedy classics, including Chaplin,
the Marx Brothers and Popeye.
Sounds inviting.
It Came From Outer Space (Angell
Aud A, 7:00, 8:40 and 10:20) Watch
this early, el cheapo Sci-Fi flick in
glorious 3-D!! Awful special effects,
ergo, a laugh a minute. ****
The Long Goodbye (Old A&D, 7:00
and 9:05) Altman's hommage-kiss-
off to the Hollywood Private Eye
genre is chock full of low-key humor
and typically Altmanesque social
observation. Most entertaining. ***%
EVENTS
Billards--Tournament champion
Jim Rempe shows his stuff at the
Pocket Billard Exhibition in the
Union Ballroom, 4 and 8 p.m.
Philharmonia Choirs--The Univer-
sity Philharmonia presents a concert
in Hill Auditorium at 8 p.m.
Music, Music, Music--The Univer-
sity of British Columbia Contempory
Performance Ensemble performs at
8 p.m. in the School of Music Recital
Hall..
South Africa--The forum on South
African investments concludes to-
night at 8 p.m. in Rackham Lecture
Hall.
Ark--Michael Cooney presents a
benefit concert for the Ark at 9 p.m.
Film reviews by Owen Gleiber-
man. Happenings column compiled
by Pauline Toole and Mark Parreni;
Join The Doily I
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TONIGHTI
t j; i
ti. /
.
' ~
.._ "
. ' ..
}
_. ; ,.
GARGOYLE FILMS PRESENT
A HORROR DOUBLE FEATURE
Invasrion of The 804 Snahers
7:00, 10:30
-PLUS-
Night of The LPng Dead
8:45 only .
Room 100 NHtchIns Hall (Law Quad)
Admission: $1.00 Double Feature $1.50
__
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