Wednesday, July 31, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY .. , _. _ _._ r - . Beroff Precise By CHARLES SMITH Anyone who stil believes that French Impressionist and post-Impressionist mu- sic is the formless (and boring) stuff "about" fogs and misty pictures that it is often reputed to be should have heard Michel Beroff play last Monday night at Rackham. It is a relief to find a pianist who ac- tually thinks about the music he plays, and can project a piece of music as an intelligently planned and controlled mu- sical phenomenon. Yet despite Beroff's impeccable control and remarkable tech- nique, he maintained a sense of poise and relaxation throughout the music, get- ting some gorgeous sounds out of the piano, as well as projecting a great deal of excitement and affection for the music he played. The program consisted of mucic by Debussy, Ravel, and Messiaen, a reper- toire Beroff is obviously very much at home with. There is a strong temptation to the performer of this music to distort the musical sense of these pieces with extra-musical ideas, such as visual or literary imagery, or personal vagaries. The crucial challenge to the performer is to suppress such temptations, and subju- gate his personality to the demands of the music. The ideal "virtuouso" is one wh) would utilize his technique for musical ends, that is, what he "does" to the music in performing is motivated solely by a de- sire to-project something actually in the music. Beroff is already this sort of per- former. The whole first half of the program consisted of the first book of twelve De- bussy Preludes. Debussy's music pre- sents a paradox for the performer: the best way to project the illusion of vague- ness is through exact observation of the smallest details of rhythm and articula- tion as Debussy has so carefully marked them. Beroff has mastered this paradox and also understands the complexities and subtleties of the individual pieces. A simple example of the sort of musical projection he develops occurred in "Voil- es", where he gave the few pentatonic measures of the piece a different tone- coloring than the rest of the piece, which is built from a whole-tone scale. One might, however, quibble with in- dividual details of interpretation, while still admiring Beroff's overall control. Impressionism There was a rhythmic problem in "Des the first I've heard which n pas sur la niege", as he did not always vincing case for Messiaen's observe the rhythm in which the ostinatO the mystical-religious-Orienta figure occurs. When the cross-rhythms in garbage disappears as super the other voices necessitated the correct these pieces emerge as realt rhythm, it was there; other times it was es with beginnings, ends, a not. logic. Surprisingly enough, l The Children's Corner Suite by Debus- revealed to be not as bad sy are harder pieces than the Preludes as many people seem to th in many ways. "Dr. Gradus ad Parnas- Two of the Preludes for sum" was absolutely superb - the best the earliest of the Messiaen I've ever heard it or even imagined it. the most closely tied to Ds The "Serenade of the Doll" on the other numbers from the Vingsti hand was somewhat marred by an overly L'enfant-Jesus and one fror fast tempo. This was perhaps the only logue des oiseaux complete piece of the evening in which Beroff gram. Of these difficult and didn't sound completely at ease. pieces, perhaps the Prelude most interesting, but all Ravel's Sonatine is another difficult thoroughly enjoyable as play work to bring off in performance. Beroff of- managed well throughout, again project- It is excitnig to be given ing an interesting version of the work, about pieces by a good per although one might wonder why he min- a really good ear for what he imalized the important tempo change of a piece. I, for one, will fo the second movement. Beroff's career with great The progression of this well-planned and would be interested in program exposed the Impressionistic anyhting he would care to roots of Messiaen's music, which ap- continues to demonstratet peared last (with an encore by Messiaen such musical intelligence, 1 as well). This performance is perhaps one of the best pianists aro Page Five nade a con- work. All al-bird song fluous when music, piec- nd internal Messiaen is a composer ink. piano were pieces and ebussy. Two regards sur a the Cata- ed the pro- demanding s were the five were yed by Ber- nw ideas former with e wants from oll-m Michel anticipation li-tening to play. If he and develop he could be und. SRecordsinreview Johnny Rivers is a classic in the music business. His music has come full circle, not once but twice. Back in the summer of 64, we heard a new talent from the Whiskey A Go-Go in L.A., and his name was Johnny Rivers and he was playing the old time Chuck Berry Sound and sounding real good. After awhile we heard Johnny again, this time singing ballads like "Tracks of My Tears" and "Poor Side of Town". Still later he was getting into different areas with artists like Hendrix (actually Rivers' best period) doing songs like the classic "Summer Rain." Then, after another long absence he popped up last year, re- verting back to the old days wearing his boogie-woogie blues. Now Rivers is back with an album entitled Road (Atlantic SD 7301). Two things about this album caught my eye. First it was done by Johnny Rivers and despite his ever-changing mood, I like him. Second, I saw singing background vocals, Linda Ronstadt, who I think is one of the best female vocalists around. The production is slick and material is good. Nice renditions of "Geronimo's Cadillac" and "Six Days on the Road." But most notable is a Rivers composition "Artists and Poets" dedicated to and about Jim Croce, Bobby Darin, Gram Parsons, all late and great. -CHUCK BLOOM Uriah Heep can still drive a high-energy rock and roll tune. And they are out to prove it on their new release Wonderworld (Warner Bros. 2800), their best effort yet. The emphasis in their music is on the vocals of David Byron, who sounds very much like ex-Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillian. The instruments take a primary back-up to Byron, with the almost standard beats. But the haunting voice takes off with poetic lyrics, and make the songs come together. This is good in the character- istic driving songs like "Suicidal Man" and "Something or Noth- ing", but is often breathtaking in the exceptionally mellow songs like "Shadows on the Wind." The songs seem to center -around the processes of experienc- ing, sometimes even taking on a preaching tone to urge us to partake of life with lyrics like "Life has shown us we all have our love, why don't we use it?" Other times the lyrics take on an image producing poetic turn, highly visual ,as they do in "Dreams" a spacey love song. Uriah Heep seems ready to fill the vacuum created by the demise of Deep Purple, with their additional touch of mellow songs that Deep Purple never utilized. This album should give Heep the recognition that has avoided them. -VIKI BANKEY Terry Melcher is Doris Day's little boy. Terry Melcher (Reprise MS2185) is a much talked about and hyped up album. Those are its good points. Terry Melcher is a cynical, over-packaged, under-achieved album. Melcher, in conjunction with -Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys, has put out his first (and hopefully last) solo effort after years of producing for groups like the Byrds and the Associa- tion. Many critics have stated that this album isn't for every- body. I totally agree. Unfortunately it could have been a good production as Melcher assembled some of the finer studio musicians in the land (such as Jm Keltner, Sneaky Pete, Ry Cooder, Mike Deasy, and Clarence White) and even Mama is around to sing a little backround. But too much time is spent with trying to put everything, even Lloyd Price's oldie Stagger Lee, into a country vein. Melcher is no Buck Owens, Eddy Arnold or even Merle Haggard, but he and Warner Brothers would make you believe that he is. With vinyl at a premium, Melcher should leave the pressing of such precious hot wax to those who make better use of it, and just be Mama's boy. -CHUCK BLOOM "Landscape with Towel" Elizabeth Hansell: Bland beds, bedding By BOB SCHETTER The paintings of Elizabeth Hansell, a Detroit artist, are now on display at the N o r t h Campus Commons Gallery. In the "New Realism" tradition, these paintings of bed and bed- ding should affect feelings of heightened sensuality and de- cadence, but in truth appear bland to the eye and ludicrous to the intellect. New Realism is that tech- nique by which the artist inten- sifies the effect of commonplace subjects, such as a tourist or an elevator, by making them bigger than life or by isolating them for inspection. The Real- ists use the gamut of artistic tools and materials, but the use of bronze, wood and metals is played down in favor of plastics and fibers which give a more life-like effect. Of special note is the air brush, which has be- come a mainstay of some Real- ists, and which gives a photo- graphic effect to paintings. Hansell falls between t w o schools of the New Realists: those that intersperse artistic decision with their realism, as in the painted nudes of Phillip Pearlstein and the photographic realists such as Richard Mc- lean and Alfred Leslie. She combines heightened real- ism with her own concepts of what makes bedding appealing. But a mishandling of these con- cepts and compositional matters cause the paintings to fail. The most blatant example of poor compositional judgment is "Landscape with Towel." It de- picts a very sensuous and tos- sled bed - complete with silk linens. But the lived in luxury is destroyed when a gaudy tow- el is placed lengthwise across the bed. Even if the towel is meant to ridicule the luxury of the setting, its painted stiffness causes a false perspective and detracts from the picture. The clarity of the paintings is further damaged by shadow. Whereas in the works of Pearl- stein shadow has its place and enlivens the painting, in Han- sell's work it muddies the per- spective and draws attention to lines and areas which shsaoldn't be integral parts of the paint- ings. In "Single Bed" the edge of the bed is hard to discern be- cause a fold of sheeting is sta- ticized through shadow and tails to follow the contour of the bed. Finally, perspective is mis- handled. There are angles where there should not be ang- les, and distortions which through the perceived plane of the paintings out of kilter. One may argue that these distortions are deliberate, but one must realize that these paintings are purportedly realistic and nust follow "natural" laws of om- position. Should "Virgin" ook like an organic blob slithering atop a sea of sheeting, or a pillow on a bed? A saving grace is the play- fulness of the paintings. The artist leaves to the imagina- tion what will, has or is takisg place on these beds. The exhibit runs through Aug- ust 15th and should not spoil your lunch at the Commons un- less you look at the prices.