Macal breathes life into the DSO
By DAVID VICTOR
and CINDY RHODES
The 1977-78 season of the Detroit Sym-
phony Orchestra opened Friday and
Saturday nights, under guest-conductor
Zdenek Macal.
Detroit will not see its new music di-
rector, Anatl Dorati, at the podium of
the DSO until November 2. Attending a
Saturday opening has its benefits - the
less society atmosphere, with fashion-
watching, afterglows, and the like, the
more serious attention can be paid to
the music.
The DSO presented a concert of
Dvorak, Roussel, and Tschaikovsky.
Dvorak's Carnival Overture is the
second and most famous of a trilogy of
overtures, written in 1891, and meant to
Music scoolpof
play potpourri poorly
Faculty Chamber Concert
Rackham Auditorium
Sept. 25,1977
Browne
Schumann
Schubert
Jazz Repertory Co.
2 Introductions, 3 Cadenzas, 6 Maps
Liederkreis
Fantasie in F min. for piano duet
Chicago in the 1920s
By JEFFREY QUICK
Sunday's Faculty Chamber Concert was superlative - to those who
came late and took a long intermission.
The program began with 2 Introductions, 3 Cadenzas, and 6 Maps for
clarinet, oboe, bassoon, viola, trumpet, and harpsichord, a work by Uni-
versity theory professor Richard Browne. Written in 1964, the piece is a relic
of the composer's days at Yale, when post-Webern pointillism was as in-
violate as the Holy Trinity. The eleven movements, each lasting less than a
minute, are arranged in arch form, those equidistant from the center using
the same material. The "6 maps" of the title are recompositions of a set of
pitches, in which, to quote Browne's ludicrously pretentious program notes,
"my favorite noises recur." The description is accurate; the work is dates,
ugly, and lacks forward direction. Why did the performers bother?
The question was banished from my mind by a magical performance of
Schumann's Liederkreis, Op. 39, (Leonard Johnson, tenor and Eugene
Bossart, piano). These twelve songs from 1840, Schumann's "year of song,"
are settings of poems by Joseph von Eichendorff dealing with such romantic
matters as knights, nostalgia, and love. Both performers were sensitive to
the work's dreamlike qualities. Johnson, unlike some of the faculty, still has
an intact voice, and negotiated the soft passages nearly perfectly, though his
tone occasionally became rough at the ends of long phrases. Bossart's ac-
companiment ranged from robust to delicate, was full of dynamic nuence,
and never overpowered the voice.
After hearing such sensitive pianism, I was shocked by the wooden per-
formance by Louis and Julie Nagel of Schubert's Fantaisie in F minor,
D.940, for piano 4-hands. A plodding, metronomic rhythm killed most of the
fantasy in the piece, and what musicality remained was stifled by Julie
Nagel's lack of imagination in the use of dynamics. The repetitive minor-
third opening theme should sound like the increasingly labored breathing of
one becoming either angry or amourous. This time it sounded more like a
snore. To be fair, matters did improve near the end, but the interpretation
never exceededmediocrity.
Far livelier was the performance by James Dapogny's Jazz Repertory
Ensemble of 1920's Chicago jazz. This set was partially intended as a plug for
the group's new School of Music recording, the proceeds from which are to
benefit the school's scholarshipfund. I have not yet heard the album, but if it
is as good as this performance was, it is a "must" buy. Every appearance of
the Ensemble finds it more comfortable with the old commercial
arrangements, more energetic and uninhibited. The group sound has been
changed since last year by the replacement of Randy -Evend tn, tuba an i -
bass, by Paul Klinger, bass sax, which gives a fuller sound to the reed sec-
tion and is more useful as a solo instrument. The four tunes ranged in style ,,,
from the Dixieland of Jelly-Roll Morton's Kansas City Stomp to the tonal in-
stability of The Chant's opening trumpet duet, (and this in ohly seven years.)
Also heard were a fiery Too Bad by Elmer Schoebel, including a trio of
soprano saxes, and Willie the Weeper, a song about the life of a drug addict.
With very little persuasion from the audience the Ensemble brought the con-
cert to a close with an encore, Morton's Milenburg Joys. I danced out of
Rackham.
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portray Nature, Life, and Love. A
bright composition filled with Dvorak'.
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
September 24, 1977
Ford Auditorium, Detroit
Dvorak Carnival Overture
Roussel Bacchus et Arane Suite no. 2
Tschaikovsky Symphony no. s
native Bohemian nationalistic strains
at their best, the Overture provides a
particularly good choice for the opening
piece. Starting with a bright emphasis
on the brass, the piece quickly moves to
a quiet song of a flute backed by
strings. It then moves to an active
volley of winds against strings, alter-
nating back and forth in a rollicking
carnival feeling which builds to a for-
tissimo climax of the horns, rising
above.the strength of the full orchestra.
The second piece, the French neo-
classicist Roussel's.Bacchus et Ariane,
Suite No. 2, is the second of two orches-
tral suites drawn from his ballet of the
same name, which is his best-known
composition. The piece moves quickly
as it portrays the classical story of
Ariadne and Bacchus, who fall in love
after Ariadne has been abandoned by
the Athenian Theseus. The piece opens
with a quiet viola solo, which was ten-
derly performed by Nathan Gordon and
repeated briefly by the solo violin.
Moving rapidly into the representation,
of the awakening girl, the orchestra
bursts into a sudden frenzy which sud-
denly merges into a frantic search for
her lover, with an ascending solo clari-
net over a rush of pizzicato descending
strings.
Steadily building in intensity and
volume, it continues with the
aggressive dance of Bacchus until an
abrupt conversion of the orchestra to
the fragile tones of Ariadne's dance
played by the solo violin, repeated by
the solo clarinet and then a solo flute.
The two themes then combine as god
and maiden dance together in an emo-
tional outburst. The music then evolves
into the Bacchanale, accented with
tambourine, triangle and military
drums; which is probably the best sec-
tion of the'work. The music sweeps into
the powerful finale as Ariadne is crown-
ed with added percussion of cymbals
and tympanis.;
The last work performed at the con-
cert was Tchaikovsky's Fifth Sym-
phony in E minor. The Fifth demands a
great deal to keep it from growing tire-
some and dragged out. The DSO's per-
formance Saturday threatened not to
live up to the challenge in the first
movement. Fortunately, Macal was
able to save the piece in the second
movement. First hushing the orchestra
with one hand as the horns come in with
the famous theme of the Andante Can-
tibile, Macal rose into a superb han-
dling of the Fifth's most well-known
movement. Leading to a rising crescen-
do of the full ensemble, the section
would have been perfectly executed,
save for the blatting of an overly enthu-
siastic brass section. Throughout, Ma-
cal remained the embodiment, of a':
liquid, sweeping grandeur.
Macal's mastery was maintained:
throughout the third and fourth move=
ments. Continuing to control through -
the Andante maestoso and Allegro
vivace of the finale, Macal produced
the best rendition of the 4th movement
that we have heard. The finale is built
first with strings tinged by brass, then
with brass triumphant over the strings.
There is a sudden lowering of dynamics
for a recapitulation, and then the brass
bursts into a rapid rise for a lilting
march into the symphony's conclusion-
that remains ringing in one's ears.
The performances resulted in repeat
ed encores for maestro Macal. His ex
pressive gestures of arms and head
contrasted with his rigid posture, and
his emotional interpretations marked--
him worthy of his reputation, having td
his credit first prize in two international
conductors' competitions. In an inter-_
view granted to us by the young, mag '
netic-looking conductor, he said that he
was trying to provide a good variety olf
classical music in the three weeks he is
here.
First apologizing for his English, he:
said, "I chose to begin with the Car-
nival Overture, because it is so lively:
The second piece is not often played, es-
pecially in the United States, Tchaikov-
sky I picked because it is one that ev-
eryone knows." Macal was in Ann Ar-
bor earlier in the week to attend a con-
cert, which he thought to be "very, very
nice." In closing, Macal stated that he
- enjoyed working with the DSO, and was
looking forward to next week's per-
formance.
Brax ton and Brown
tootle, talk at .Quad
By PAUL SHAPIRO
and CONSTANCE ENNIS
Marion Brown and Jodi Braxton of-
fered a recital of jazz and poetry Friday
night in East Quad auditorium, both
demonstrating a strong individual pow-
her and craftsmanship for their art. The
performance began with a set of solo
saxophone by Brown, whose talents
have led him through associations with
Archie Shepp, John Coltrane, Sun Ra,
Anthony Braxton, and Chick Corea.
Brown opened with an im-
provisational piece that in a sense
really defined what jazz is about. His
speed, energy, texture, and melodic
phrasings were awe inspiring. His im-
provisation was direct from his heart
and soul.-
Following with a blues composition
by Clarence Williams entitled, Hurry
Sundown, See What Tomorrow Brings,
Brown took a traditional blues stan-
dard, twisted and turned the tempo,
and offered a totally original interpre-
tation of the work.
Describing Angel Eyes as a song
about how it feels to lose somebody,
Brown blew a jazz-drama, running up
and down scales, painting musical pic-
tures, and again his phrasings were ex-
cellent.
With the original composition And
ThenThey Danced, Brown and his gold-
en alto saxophone blew the house down.
Sweeping into upper register work that
defies description, he used a repeating
theme as a base for an energetic and
surging improvisational solo.
Brown completed his set with 'La
{
II
*-
:3
Placeta,' and original latin influenced
composition reminiscent of Sonny
Rollins' St. Thomas. Employing a thick
textural technique, Brown closed his
set demonstrating his explosive power
as a soloist.
The second set brought the demonic
presence and dynamic poetry of Jodi
Braxton. Accompanied by two conga
players and Brown alternating on flute
and saxophone, Braxton offered a
unique hour of poetry-drama.
By using her voice as an instrument
Braxton took poetry to its ultimate
form of expression, with images and
sounds becoming almost undistinguish-
able from each other. As she writes in
her new collection of poetry, Some-
times I Think Of Maryland, "The oral
tradition constitutes the source of my
artistic consciousness and personal
strength." Each of her words seemed
guided by both a musical and physical
force, with the immediacy of her poetry
rising to infinite mystical realms
Her interaction with Brown varied,
but was most excellent in one poem
relating to alover recently lost. Brown
stood in the corner of the dramatically
lit, smoke-filled stage blowing a sweet,
soft and soulful saxophone,, as Brax-
tons' images interacted with his horn.
The scene evoked a dream-liki jazz
fantasy.
In Hoo-Doo, a folk poem derived from
Afro-American slave music, Braxtons'
Staccato rhythmic patterns worked as
ritualistic chants, transe-like in nature.
Her imagery and voice texture h(d
great fluidity and strength.
Braxtons' poetry embodies the cul:
tural influences of her being both black
and a woman, and that is where her air
tistic strength is derived. A constantl
theme in her poetry is a spiritual and
cultural renewal, that is very political
in nature:
And I close my eyes to see
no longer growing up but older
a woman who bleeds with the moon
and waits for a child
to burden with this heritage.
The concert was the first in the
Eclipse Jazz 'Bright Moments' series
which promises to offer unique jazz prd
grams inexpensively to the Ann Arba
community.
by
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