The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, October 4, 1977-Page5
Maria loves Ludwig
and shows it (again)
By MARK JOHANNSON
Beethoven: 32 Piano Sonatas, Part VIi
Rackhem Auditorium
Maria Meirelies, pianist
Program:
Sonataop. 14, no. 2,inG
Sonata op. 31, no.2, in D (Tempest)
Sonata op. 106, in B-flat (Hammerklavier)
Well, the young lady is still at it (playing the piano) and shows no signs,
of slowing (until Tuesday). Maria Meirelles continued her musical mara-
thon Saturday, playing the seventh of eight recitals of the 32 Beethoven piano
sonatps. A native of Rio de Janeio, .Meirelles has been making history since
early September by being the first person in Ann Arbor to perform the entire
set of sonatas, to be completed.
Saturday night's crowd in Rackham Auditorium was larger. than previ-
ous ones, demonstrating Meirelles' rising popularity. Of all her recitals thus
far, Meirelles communicated with her audience best on Saturday; on her en-
.tIance, she dominated the stage and made the audience feel that she was in
control of the proceedings. Some of this feeling undoubtedly came from the
two and a half minute wait for her appearance after the lights were dimmed.
Meirelles began the evening with the Sonata in G, op. 14, no. 2.
Beethoven composed this work very early, and it clearly reflects the earlier
classical influences of Mozart and Haydn. Meirelles played classically,
without too much emotion, and the musical ideas were expressed in a very
straight forward manner. Her tone in the Allegro was very warm and
pleasant and she used good dynamic control. In the Andante, the texture was
kept clean and open,land the hands were very precise. Here the melody was
pleasing, repeated with varied accompaniments. Good phrasing was used in
the Scherzo, and the ornaments wEe all played solidly. Meirelles kept good
tempo control throughout, and performed this simple, charming piece
almost perfectly.
The Sonata op. 31, no. 2, in d (Tempest) was next. Meirelles' interpre-
tation was beautiful. In the Largo, the mysterious, bell-like chords seemed to
hang in the air. Even with all of the notes in the Allegro, every one could be
heard. Her tone in the Adagio was clean, full, and mellow, and the sense of
tension and release was stirring, with her use of excellent phrasing and
pedaling. The Allegretto was superb. Meirelles played with fervor and
authority, and the few tempo problems were minor.
After intermission, we heard the night's magnum opus, the Sonata in B-
flat, op. 106 (Hammerklavier). This is a good example of a late work of
Beethoven, and the developments are complex and long. In the Allegro, the
-melody was kept well above the accompaniment, and the attacks were solid
and forceful - no slapping the keys. All the dynamic varieties that make the
movement were used effectively. The difficult rhythms of the Scherzo were
played precisely and the crescendos and diminuendos were outstanding.
Meirelles gave an exquisite interpretation of the Adagio, and used a beauti-
ful pianissimo. Her attacks and releases on the chords were good, and the
right hand octave melody rang clearly and solidly. The Fuga was played
aggressively yet with clean, precise counterpoint. During this movement
and the Allegro, it was easy to tell when Meirelles meant business about
giving the keys a good smite; she simply placed her left foot directly un
der the bench and started stamping her high heels along with the chords like
a possessed caballo - well, not exactly, but it was distracting and power-
fully comic. Later, I was unable to find the clompings in my Tovey-Craxton
edition, so I do not know if the rhythms were correct. Perhaps they should be
left out altogether. Anyway, I was probably the only one to notice; she took
five bows,
Meirelles wraps up everything tonight at 8 p.m. in Rackham and if you
have not heard her yet, this is a must. Admission is complimentary.
Gothic selections sink DS
0
By PAT GALLAGHER
The Detroit Symphony should per-
haps find better channels to express
their musicianship through. Their
downfall Saturday night seemed
seated in their choice of pieces rather
than in their playing abilities. The
audience filling Ford Auditorium
with eager anticipation received only
glimpses of the orchestra's potential.
Led honestly by Macal, the group
flawlessly turned out, at best, unin-
spiring music.
First on the program was Sym-
phony No. 91, which I have absolutely
nothing to say about, mostly due to
the fact that I missed it. All of it.
Actually, I was in the lobby during
half the symphony waiting almost
until the second piece so as not to
disturb the audience with my late
arrival. Approximately 179 others
shared my fate. We all had a
receivable excuse.
Saturday night was the worst night
since the beginning of insurance
company calendars to endeavor
reaching Detroit on time for any kind
of event. On the way to Ford
Auditorium, I-94 turned into a one-
lane obstacle course with just enough
room for a Mercury Comet and
maybe the head of a wind-loving
basset-hound. After reaching I-75 to
find it also detoured, we realized it
was going to be one of those nights,
but at length we were seated and
prepared for Rachmaninoff's Piano
Concerto No. 1.
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Ford Auditorium
October 1, 1977
Haydn ..........Symphony No. 91
Rachmaninoff.............Piano Concerto No. 1
Brahms ...... ....symphony No. 4
Zdenek Macal, conductor
Byron Janis, pianist
Rachmaninoff wrote this piece
during a time of great turmoil in
Russia's history and also in his life.
The most descriptiveword Ircan find
for it is "turbulent." Perhaps if
someone were undergoing a digres-
sion of four different selves during a
period of twenty-five minutes, the
music could be more appreciated.
Rachmaninoff himself disdained non
melodic approaches to composition,
but' this must have been composed
after mulling over the shortcomings
of his first works. The piece was not
performed badly, except for the
sense of remoteness one got between
conductor and pianist. Macal,
though, is an excellent manipulator
of his orchestra, as you can watch his
emotions effectively control the sym-
phony.
Macal and the orchestra were at
their best during parts of Brahms
Fourth Symphony. The first move-
ment was much too rigid, similar
expression lining up pianissimo-
allegro-pianissimo etc., somewhat
like the same idea being shouted,
then whispered, then shouted into
your ears.
Yes, the second and third move-
ments were thoroughly enjoyable
and no, I am not a total pessimist.
The second movement provided what
I waited for: minor, yet beautiful
theme variations, perfect harmonies
and level changes. The formerly
fidgety musicians now anticipated
more, gave more. The second's
momentun carried to a climax in the
third. Macal was at union with the
orchestra, the crowd sat up straight,
and time quadrupled in speed. Ener-
gy once dissipated from the stage
now flowed through everything.
Sadly, the fourth was anti-climac-
tic. It waited out the two previous
successes. There was nothing Macal
could do, yet he tried and tried
futilely, to maintain the excitement.
The concert ended far short of its
high points.
After the concert, a violinist and I
talked of the concert, and he heart-
fully said; "You know, I've been
playing Brahms for thirty years now,
and when we played it tonight, I
thought: oh no, not again, but if I
hear it on the radio somewhere, I
listen and realize that it's some
really beautiful music".
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Ensemble gives colorful show
By JEFFREY QUICK
Friday night's Wind Ensemble-Sym-
phony Band concert was a diverting
evening of music. But to my ears the
opening work of the Wind Ensemble's
half, Divertissement D'Ete by Jacques
Casterede (b.i926), tried too hard. A
colorful but vapid work, it invoked the
ghost of Leroy Anderson in the first
movement (The Beach), and movie
music in the second (Deep Sea Fish-
ing). The performance was crisp, vig-
orous, and suitably flashy, though at
times the first movement threatened to
become a tuba concerto.
'Music with Sculpture by Toshiro
Mayuzumi (b.1929) is a more substan-
tial work, showing great skill in the
handling of color and complex har-
mony. The title refers to elements of
line, texture, and color common to both
music and sculpture, and was the bas,
for this mixed-media presentation in-
volving slides of contemporary sculp-
ture. This dissonant yet peaceful work
frustrated me; such a sensitive, deli-
cate performance should not be obliter-
ated by a hundred coughs.
.Jacques Ibert's Cello Concerto (1925)
is everything that Fren h music should
be that the Casterede wasn't. Ten winds
keep a friendly rivalry with the cello
through three movements, becoming
dominant at the very end. Prof. Jerome
Jelinek's performance left nothing to be
desired. The big moments, such as the
second movement's interrupted caden-
za, were strong and full, but Jelinek
also knows when and how to fill an ac-
companimental function. The wind
playing was slightly less convincing
than in the previous works, as the
lighter texture allowed some individual
indelicacies to come through, yet it was
a generally fine performance.
The Symphony Band's half began
with a transcription of Tschesnokoff's
Salvation is Created. This is a fine piece
of Russian choral music, but I doubt its
suitability for band. Sloppy initial at-
tacks did not improve matters. But I
forgave all responsible after the
rousing performance of Holst's Ham-
'mersmith, Op. 52 which followed.
Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band
HUI Auditoriu0
Friday, September 30,1977
Program:
Casterede ................ Divertissement D' ete
Mayuzumi ..............Music with sculpture
Ibert....... Concerto Pour Violoncelle et Orchestre
Tschesnokoff...............Salvation Is Created
Hoist .................Hammersmnith, op. 52
Turina ....................... Five Miniatures
Ives .................."Country Band" March
Jerome Jelinek, guest soloist
H. Robert Reynolds, conductor
The work is a conflict between the
opening introverted music for low brass
and the vulgar extroversion of later
woodwind material, representing the
paradox within Hoist's own character.
Solos for piccolo and clarinet were well
played by Gina Christianson and
Robert Spring. The piece was prefaced
by a demonstration of the principal
themes by conductor H. Robert
Reynolds. This was also done for the
Ives, and while some may have found it
helpful, I felt it disturbed the flow of the
concert.
Two more transcriptions followed.
First heard were the Five Miniatures
(1930) of Joaquin Turina, scored from
the piano originals by John Krance.
These evocations of Spanish village life
were colorfully scored and played, but
too short. The concert concluded with
an evocation of American village life,
Sinclair's arrangement of Ives' "Coun-
try Band" March, music which Ives
later used in the second movement of
Three Places in New England. This
spoof of performance practice in the
sticks was very enthusiastically blown
through. Rollo, Ives' archetypical
sissy, would have hated it. I loved it.
EXTRA, EXTRA
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Barney Flaherty, 10, became the first
newspaper boy on September 4, 1883,
when he answered an advertisement in
the New York Sun, requesting vendors
for their paper.
A
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NEWS FROM THE
MAJOR EVENTS OFFICE
The Major Events Office is proud to
present Waylon Jennings, in concert, on
Saturday, October 29 at 8:00 p.m. in Crisler '
Arena. Waylon, a leader of the so-called
"outlaw" contingent of country music, packs
halls with a variety of fans who favor
everything from his traditional country to
straight-laced rock.
Jennings, who has produced an astound-
ing total of thirty-three albums, has at-
tained phenomenal success with his 'latest'
release, "01' Waylon." His exciting mixture
of pop, folk & country-rock has blown
away the boundaries of country music. The
hit single, "Luckenbach, Texas" has crossed-
over to both the top-forty and easy-listen-
ing stations.
Waylon's rebellious style comes as much
from his nature as it does from his music. "
You won't find Waylon with country-slick
hair and a star-spangled suit. He's proud of.
it, too . . . "I got my first guitar when I
was fourteen. Now I'm over thirty and still
wearin' jeans." Although Jennings has pub-
licly expressed his disdain for awards and
honors, the Country Music Awards people
adamantly insisted he be nominated in no
less than seven categories for the October
presentations. And then there's television
... you'll never see Waylong on TV. He
considers the medium a joke.
Even his albums don't contain the real
man. You must see Waylong Jennings in
concert, to get a three-hour slice of his
life. Fortunately, for us, the Nashville rebel
is on his way to Ann Arbor. Tickets are $7
and $6, and will go on sale this Friday,
October 7, at the Michigan Union. For more
information, please call 763-2071.
Snapshots: "Rick W a k e m an's Criminal