R icTh§Mlc:imgan oly 'ernesdry, August 8 197 JrPe7 mcci: master at wr By GERARD PAPE What a pleasure to listen to such an artist as violinist Ruggiero Ricci, so clearly at the height of his powers, and so unquestionably ii control of his in- strument. Ricci is quite entirely vital and authentic. His playing shines, be it of Bartok or Bach. Given the violinist's manifest ex- cellence, I would like to spend a little time with some thoughts on what makes for an artist of his caliber. What creates the electricity in the perfor- Ruggiero Ricci Violinist Rackham Auditorium August" Sonata No.3in G major .................Bartok Partita in D minor ........................Bach Caprices, Nos. 13 through 24 ...........Paganini mance? Why is everyone who hears it so moved? What is responsible for the degree of involvement the audience feels that makes time seem to stand still? NOTE THE similarity between the experience of an all-involving concert with an all-involving personal project. In both situations, the body switches gears. Layers of emotional reaction that often lie dormant become aroused. Adrenalin flows. Yet it is not the kind of adrenalin flow that comes with an an- ticipated fight or flight situation. In those situations, the adrenalin flow is in preparation of deep involvement; in the personal project or involving concert situation, the arousal is the sign of deep involvement. A rich reciprocal resonance is set up between the project or concert and the self. The experience of the project or concert is enriched as well as the experience of the self. One is no longer aware of the horizontal passage of relatively uninvolving even- ts, but a rich vertical experience of an almost timeless moment is set up. In the experience of music, the quality of this vertical experience is what is known as timbre. Timbre differs from other musical parameters like tempo or pitch in that it is not the relationship of one note to another but the quality of an individual note. We get within a note in examining its timbre and experience it from the inside out. In so doing, we notice that an individual note is far more complex than we ever dreamed. Within the vibration of a single note, a whole universe of previously unatten- ded-to tones sound. They are known as overtones. You may wonder if all this isn't far afield from Ruggiero Ricci. The con- nection these thoughts have for me with Ricci's concert are as follows: First, we see the similarity between the ex- periences of an all-involving personal project and an all-involving coTcert such as Ricci's; second, we begin to see that this similarity may stem from the agreeable vibration both induce; the timeless moment that allows us to ex- perience something, for a change, from the inside out instead of with constant reference to important but ir- relevant outer events; finally, in music the critical dimension is timbre, Both violinist and violin naturally vibrate as a con- cert is performed; I would guess that there is a special way they vibrate when someone as great as Ricci plays. It is as if instrument, as well as performer, comes alive. and Ricci's command of timbre is ex- ceptional. One note seems as rich as ten by a lesser artist. Experience thus acquires depth. Emotion creates a vibrating inner space of rich experien- ce. We begin to notice things in the outer world and inner world we previously didn't. IT IS MY belief that the kind of response to a musical concert that I have outlined is due to some kind of sympathetic experience of what the ar- tist is involved with. The artist's creation sets up a sympathetic vibration in the observer. With Ricci, this is especially apt because of the in- strument he plays. Both violinist and violin naturally vibrate as a concert is performed; I would guess that there is a special way they vibrate when someone as great as Ricci plays. It is as if instrument, as well as performer, come alive. At the beginning of this concert, Ricci appeared to be nothing more than a short Italian man who could have passed as a maitre de or perhaps a Mafia don. In his hands was a string in- strument of which I was not pareticularly fond. I further noted that pieces by Paganini were to be included. Here was a composer whom I had previously experienced as shallow and superficial in his effects. I myself had my doubts as to whether I would enjoy the concert. I was feeling a bit tired and not at all sure that I had the energy to concentrate. By the end of the concert, I had seen a man and his violin resonate and produce sounds I had never before heard. A composer I never before liked had seemed quite profound. I heard people buzzing and excitedly humming in their after-concert talk and I mar- veled at how quickly the time had passed and how full of energy and op- timism I was. As each thought came to me, I became aware of many others that were "overtones" of the former - thoughts vertically present but unlikely to be experienced by me because, horizontally, I'd likely be "too busy." Let no one tell you that the experience I'm describing is a self-involved one; a good concert, like an involving personal project, leaves one full of optimism and energy for more fully experiencing others. When my projects are going well for me, I feel like being with other people; due to the high level of energy and involvement on Ricci's part, I felt more open to him. Even beyond the vibration of his violin, I felt open to the radiance of his smile. Barbra 'sself-indulgence By ALISON DONAHUE If there were as many laughs in The Main Event as there are times that Barbra Streisand gets the camera to focus on her scantily-clad rear end, it would be one block-busting comedy. However, in this shameless homage to self, Streisand seems more concerned with getting some part of her anatomy jiggling within the frame than she is in creating good comedy. Her character is Hilary Kramer, a perfume magnate suddenly left destitute (which means she has to trade in her Mercedes for a V.W. bug), when her financial advisor leaves town with her fortune. Hilary's only remaining asset is a former two-bit, boxer, Kid Natural (Ryan O'Neill). The Kid has had quite a comfortable existence as her tax shelter, but now he stands as her only potential means of support. Since he can make the best money through boxing, he has to go back to it. The Kid is not exactly et~cited by this prospect, as he scores better with women than he ever did against boxers, and he's afraid a flattened nose might turn off the ladies. However, he soon realizes that a mashed face is less a pupishment than what he would sustain were he to challenge Hilary, who pushes and prods him back into boxing with the same singlemindedness that made her successful in the perfume biz. UNDERSTANDABLY, this situation results in much bickering between the two. Hilary pushes The Kid into action largely by humiliating him, and she finds him most marketable when she does it in front of a big crowd (she pours ice down his pants during a break in one well-attended bout). The Kid gets a few; of his own licks in, but their fighting has no bitter edge. Theirs is a relationship like those couples in comedies of the 30's and 40's who would antagonize each other throughout the film, which we loved because we knew they'd be lovers by the end. Streisand (who directs along with hairdresser pal Jon Peters) and her writers Gail Parent and Andrew Smith have added a twist to this old formula; Hilary changes sex roles nearly as much as costumes. She's the tough businesswoman who plans a marketing strategy for The Kid. But she's also the fuzz-brain who prances around in short- shorts and doesn't have the sense to realize that if she insists The Kid look at her while she reads a fight manual to him during a sparring session, he will get hit. O'Neill's character also suffers from a lack of consistency. All through the film he plays the macho who wants to get every woman into bed, including his sponsor. Eventually he makes it with Hilary (she seduces him in a cute role reversal), and suddenly he wants to marry her and have kids. He's hurt because she doesn't want to settle down. This mixup of roles is supposed to be absurdly hilarious. Sometimes it suc- ceeds in being merely funny, but the film is ultimately unsatisfying because the characters never relate to each other on an equal level. Instead, script, camera, and lighting cater consistently to Streisand. WE SEE HER perfectly made up and carefully dressed throughout the film. Even when she's in her bathrobe, in a scene which exists to prove that yes, she too can look frumpy, Streisand calculates just how much skin to show. Her frizzy hairdo is so often rim lit that she hasan ever-present halo around her head, which she probably believes oc- curs naturally. O'Neill can't hold a candle to this artificial illumination; he is relegated to her shadow. In contrast to Streisand's calculated self presentation is one of the film's few really funny characters, The Kid's girlfriend, Donna Rochester (Patty D'Arbanville). Donna is sexy in a tough, casually thrown-together fashion; she looks like a 1950's sex kit- ten who just got out of bed. Donna pours herself into skin-tight leopard pan- tsuits, but her hair is always falling down in her face. She's also a chain smoker with a cough that would make Camille's sound like atickle. Donna is most appealing because she doesn't let Hilary dominate her the way everyone else in the movie does. When Donna finds that Hilary is going to a promotional party with The Kid, she warns Hilary to keep her relationship with him on a business level or "I'll send someone over to cut your tits off." Despite those threats, Hilary gets Don- na's boyfriend. Like I said, it's Streisand's picture. The Ann Arbor Film Cooperotive Presents at Aud A WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3 THE WILD CHILD (Francois Truffaut, 1970) 5:40 only-AUD A A boy who lives in the first twelve years of his in a forest is captured and an eighteenth-century rationalist philosopher (Truffaut, in a splendid perform- ance) tries to introduce him to civilization. A true story of a celebrated crisis in the Enlightenment. One of Truffauts very best. English narration, with English subtitles. EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF AND GOD AGAINST ALL (Werner Herzog, 1975) 7 & 10:20-AUD A A film concerned with madness and alienation, based on the legendary Kasper Houser story about a man who mysteriously appears in a German town with no memory 'or experience of life. The portrayal of Kasper by Bruno S., a psychotic with a similar case history, is as intense as it is unconventional, The most popular film of the t975 Cannes Film Festival. Subtitled. TOMORROW: THE LAST WALTZ