Page Six Friday, August 6, 1976 Arts & Entertainment THE MICHIGAN DAILY Jel inek-Gurt concert not quite a triumph By TOM GODELL WEDNESDAY evening in Rackham Auditorium the University's School of Music presented cellist Jerome Jelinek and pianist Joseph Gurt in a concert of cello sonatas by Beethoven, Pou- lenc, and Rachmaninov. The concert began in magnificent fashion with the introductory bars of Beethoven's Sonata in C major, op. 102, no. 1. This elegaic and noble music was given a sensitive and penetrating reading. The performers complemented one an- other perfectly-Jelinek's golden, yet subdued tone was matched by a soft and mellow piano sound. With the beginning of the Allegro, however, flaws began to show themselves. Beethoven's compositions thrive on fire, passion, and violent contrast. One example of this is the opposition set up between the slow introduction and the allegro. Gurt and Jelinek missed the point en- tirely, going on just as before-soft, slow, and ,subtle. And that's just not Beethoven. The finale, with the exception of the very last bars, tion. Here the use of pedal takes away from the crispness which the music of this composerI needs. Finally, the consistantly slow tempo did not help. All composers have their trademarks (it is, for example, impossible to mistake the music of Brahms or Mahler for that of any other com- poser), but the harmonic quirks which identify Poulenc become terribly trying, making his music sound overplayed at first hearing. Well, I suppose I shouldn't complain. From their per- formance, it was obvious that Jelinek and Gurt were as bored with the music as I was. THE SECOND HALF of the concert featured the Sonata in g Minor, op. 19, by Sergei Rach- maninov. While he is a far greater talent than Poulenc, his music inclines toward overlush melodies, endless layers of counterpoint, and flashy virtuosity. Whoever said, 'Romanticism began with gunpowder and ended with sleeping powder," must have had the music of Rach- maniov in mind. was better, if still too matter or tact e u. In spite of the fact that I do not enjoy this ALL OF THE FAULTS that marred the Bee- music, I was particularly impressed by the per- ALLvenpeo manHeFAUretamifedntheed-formance. Jelinek at last played up to his poten- thoven performance were amplified in the read- tial, providing a brilliant, crisp, and bright tone ing of Poulenc's Sonate (1948). Like Beethoven,tiahepr rarit, cisandighond Poulenc makes extensive use of contrast, pitting in the upper registers, while sounding rich and percussive attacks against lyric melodies. While full-oied in the lower. A cellist, to be success- percssie atacs aaint lricmeldie. Wile ful, must be able to make his instrument sing, this was not glossed over by the performers, a fndthutbhabentonseisyinum es -g lac ofspiit as ainull evden. Te rsuling and that had been conspicuously lacking all eve- lack of spirit was painfully evident. The resulting ning. At last, in the Rachmaninov, all of the sound was detached, distant, and cold. melodies sang out beautifully. True, the playing was rather cold and emotionless, but when con- Jelinek's tone contributed to this impression, trasted with the remainder of the evening, the sounding thin and colorless, as if he were play- conclusion was almost breath-taking. ing in another room with his mute on. Then, too, he had great difficulty fitting all of the notes This concert came as quite a surprise to me, into the rapid runs. In the upper register of the following so closely on the heels of the unforget- instrument his intonation became uncertain. This table performance by therAmerican Trio (in which Gurt and Jelinek were joined by violinist was mirrored by Gurt, who used altogether too Charles Avsharian) given earlier last month. I much pedal. This device adds body and color to suppose that demonstrates that 2 out of 3 just the piano's tone, but it must be used with modera- isn't good enough. Jeffrey Selbst I ~ Summer lag, P tej..Fledermaus, and Nashville W E NOTE with some dismay that summer has about had it This fact, distinctly regrettable in a climatic sense, should provoke nothing but joy for the arts-minded of you. The summer is traditionally everywhere the slowest season for culture and pursuits of the mind in general. And in Ann Arbor, the blight is worse. The only offerings, almost, are spontaneous-type, such as the Medieval Festival, or overblown, such as the various and sundry Art Fairs. What of orchestral music, drama, opera, and interesting cinema? It all goes by the wayside in the hotter months. For that reason alone we might hail the end of the summer, which is rapidly approach- ing on its little cat feet or whatever. Except for one thing. In the last gasp of the beautiful season, there is going to be the third local production in two years of Strauss' Die Fledermaus, which ranks as perhaps one of the more perfect of lilting, silly operettas. The first production I saw was a year ago November, when the newly-formed Comic Opera Guild chose this opera as its premiere presentation. The show was marked by wonderful sing- ing, though the acting was of a distinctly awful type. It was straight from the Metropolitan Opera's "stand and project" school of operasinging. This may make for better diaphragmatic control, but it makes lousy theater. On the whole, though, the production was rather good. Then the Michigan Opera Theater, the one that calls Music Hall Center in Detroit its home, did a production. That was a year ago February or so, and their show was marked by the coy and inventive acting. But as to singing, well . . . one of the minor roles was played by a state senator from northwest De- troit. The singing was from the Ted Mack Amateur Hour cast. The Music School's show ought to be something of a treat, though. I've attended almost every one of their operatic pre- sentations in the last few years (with the exception of Carmen this spring) and I have nothing but lavish praise for the way the opera department is run, and certainly for the way the shows are put together, combining grace, taste, and professionalism. It is with particular delight that I recall the production of the Marriage of Figaro, though the recent La Boheme takes a close second in the overall sweepstakes. It is also true, as some have said, that the Music School's summer productions are necessarily inferior to those during the regular year. This is probably true, but a word of caution to those who would bandy about such nonsense: That is not the point. The School does the best with its available resources at any given time, and that's about all that can be asked of anybody. I've never been disappointed, except when I found that I couldn't get tickets to Carmen. The operas tend to sell out fast. Fledermaus opens Thursday, running through Sunday (Aug. 12-15). And after that, we'll have to wait until the fall. SPEAKING OF which, as long as we're on the subject of Good Taste (for a change), it seems to me that the film groups about campus, of which there are and have at various times been hundreds, have taken a distinct turn for the better this sum- mer. This isn't to say that their usual offerings aren't worth see- ing, especially at bargain rates, but this summer they managed to show one film that I consider simply collosal, and it's showing (by the way) tonight. I speak of Robert Altman's magnum opus, Nashville. I don't believe I was ever quite so immediately impressed with a film as I was the first time I saw it. In Nashville Altman has been able to create what in a way may be the most perfect Art-a film that works busily on both the conscious level and (strongly) on the unconscious as well. Its texture is so rich and so varied that one cannot help but gasp through innumerable sittings. Films really are like classical music in that sense. Tschai- kovsky is easy listening, but becomes boring because of its obnoxious lack of complication. There it is, on the surface, and nothing more to say. One tires rapidly of listening to it. Rich- ard Strauss, on the other hand, is so rich and varied in his works, each of them (though particularly that most delightful of all operas ever written - Der Rosenkavalier) that one could con- ceivably hear his music uninterruptedly, for days. Similarly, one cannot watch fatuous garbage like Kubrick is fond of making more than once, and I find that I can't even gO that long. Yet a film like Cabaret, or Nashville, manages to hold my attention through any number of sittings, precisely because it says different things to me every time I see it. It reveals itself slowly, and maybe in twelve sittings one can understand it bet- ter than in one - yet with Art (and this may be a working defi- nition-gadzooks!) the whole cannot be explained in toto. There is always that final leap to be made; if it can't, if the piece defies absolute explanation, it may be Art. Eureka. Veterminedi Susan Flanery and Joanne Nail race down the road in the soon-to-be-released film, "Gum- ball Rally", which also stars Michael Sarrazin.