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The Michigan Daily

Wednesday, April 1, 1981

Page 5

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Clips'fromTheFoxandtheHound'
and other upcoming Disney studio
productions will be featured in
Disney on Film,' a presentation on
the studio's past, present, and future
this Friday at 7:A0 in Aud. A., Angell
,.," Hall. Studio animators Eric Larson
and John Musker, and special effec-
ts expert Harrison Ellenshaw, will
be on hand for discussion, and a 50-
minute film of behind-the-scenes in-
yterviews and information will be
screened. The event is co-sponsored
by Cinema Guild and the Ann Arbor
~ " %, ..." ,Film Co-op and admission is free.

Left on hold with
Human Switchboard

By KEN FELDMAN
Most bands abhor the term "new
wave". For one thing, it is annoyingly
vague - what do Public Image Limited
and Blondie have in common? For
another thing, the term "new wave" is
as embarrassingly dated today as the
term "psychedelic" was in 1975.
Human Switchboard would probably
not like to be called "new wave," but
based on their Monday night perfor-
mance at Second Chance, they embody
the term in its worst sense.
TO BEGIN with, head honcho Bob
Pfeiffer is dying to sound like Lou
(papa-to-the-new-wave) Reed and the
fact that he succeeds only makes things
worse. Not only were his exhortations
impossible to understand, but the words
(when they were audible) were almost
comic in their attempts at anger and
outrage. "Who's Landing in My
Hanger," the Switchboards' new song,
boasted such insights as "the girl I've
been inside of all night/says I haven't
been with her."
Musically, the group was basically a
garage band with pretensions. The
songs were full of rhythmic surprises and
tempo changes, but they sounded com-
pletely disjointed. While this was par-
tially due to the absence of a sense of
taste in the composer (Pfeiffer is
credited with all the songwriting), it
wasmostly the result of inept
musicianship.
AS I MENTIONED earlier, Pfeiffer is

a terrible guitarist. But even he
couldn't rival drummer Ron Metz's
level of annoyance. Metz is purely a
basher, but the context of Human Swit-
chboard requires him to be both "avan-
t-garde" and "intense." Consequently,
he stayed on his cymbols for almost the
entire set. While bassist Kevin Hunt
was o.k., he couldn't save the plodding
rhythm section.
Organist Myrna Marcarian was
dying to sound like Patti (yawn) Smith,
and she too succeeded miserably. Her
style displayed every "new wave"'
mannerism one could imagine, and she
seemed totally ill at ease with the
crowd.
THE ATMOSPHERE in general
seemed positively deadly. At one point,
during the silence between songs, Myr-
na observed "This is a great club" with
all the enthusiasm of Niagra of Destroy
all Monsters. Pfeiffer's stage presence

was similarly zombielike, consisting of
remarks on the order of "Here's a new
song it goes something like this."
The Switchboard's performance
seemed even more disappointing when
contrasted with the performances of
'the two warm-up bands, Ragnar
Kavaran and Hoi Poli. Ragnar
Kavaran, especially, has the sort of pop
sensibility that makes this kind of
rhythmic variation work without
becoming overbearing. Human Swit-
coard could learn a few things from
them.

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The Gewandhaus Orchestra
of Leipzig: Just like the
days of Bach and Mah/er

By LAURIE ANDERSON
--The Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leip-
zig is the oldest orchestra in Germany,
and indisputably one of the world's
finest. Founded in 1743, the orchestra
has an impressive history: previous
conductors include J. S. Bach, Felix
Mendelssohn, Gustav Mahler, and
Bruno Walther.
Kurt Masur, the current conductor
and music director, chose a diverse
program of music for the orchestra's
performance at Hill Auditorium Sun-
day night, including the Serenata Not-
turna on D by Mozart, the Symphony
No. 1 by Shostakovich and the Sym-
phony No. 7 by Beethoven.
THE CONCERT began with a rather
weak and disappointing rendition of the
Mozart composition. The Serenato Not-
turna is structured much like a concer-
to grosso with several soloists accom
panied by a small chamber orchestra..
Unfortunately, it is a flat, colorless, and

repetitive composition. What saved the
piece was the soloists' excellent playing
and especially the first violinist's
warm, lyrical solo passages.
The pace of the concert picked up
dramatically with the orchestra's stun-
ning performance of the Symphony No.
1 by Shostakovich. ALthough it is an
early work, the symphony is filled with
all of the typical Shostakovich charac-
teristics: brassy, militaristic themes,
strong percussion, driving rhythms,
and solo passages spotlighting in-
dividual instruments.
Although the horns had problems
with balance throughout the piece,
playing too overpoweringly in one in-
stance and inaudibly in the next, some
of the loveliest moments in the sym-
phony were provided by these solo in-
struments, especially the sparkling
piano passages, the haunting English
horn and trumpet solos, and the
vigorous snare drum flourishes.

MASUR'S STAGE presence was par-
ticularly lively as he conducted the
Shostakovich. He shouted directions to
the orchestra, pointed accusingly at
certain players, leaped into the air at
powerful moments, and all the while
conducting without the aid of a score.
The last half of the concert consisted
of the good-humored Symphony No. 7
by Beethoven. Masur 's approach to the
symphony was enjoyable because he
seems to constantly remember that
Beethoven's music is close to the 18th
century tradition; thus, the music un-
der Masur's direction was lyricalnand
dramatic, but with restraint, never
becoming too sentimental or romantic.
Masur lost some of his composure in
the last movement and began at much
too fast a tempo, giving the movement
a frenzied, uncontrolled sound. Again in
this pieces there were problems with
balance in the brass, but the rich,
dynamic 4oies of the string section
compensated for any rough sounds
from the other instruments.
After the audience's enthusiastic
reception of the Beethoven symphony,
the orchestra encored with an energetic
performance of Beethoven's "Egmont"
overture, bringing this concert of or-
chestral masterpieces to a fitting con-
clusion.

"IM A COL LEG E
RINOTO IT.
It's been tough. A lot of work. But you'll make it.
And nothing tells the world "I made it" better than
a Jostens College ring on your finger. It's your
lifelong symbol of achievement and your constant
reminder of your total college experience. See the
great selection of Jostens rings, available in 10K gold,
14K gold and Lustrium. From $82.O
5 all gold tings.
WED D.FRI .,April1, 2& 3
A RE (VAN - A OKTRE 11:00-4:00
THE RING PEOPLE.

One Performance Only
April 61981 8 p.m.

Looking for the intellectual side of life?
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FALL HOUSING
In
RESIDENCE HALLS
(Baits, Oxford, Cambridge and Fletcher only)
Applications will be available to all students
(Including those who lost in the drawing)
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1,1981
THE HOUSING INFORMATION OFFICE
1011STIUDENT ACTIVIIES BUILDING
A drawing will be used to
establish priority for assignment.
Annlv anytime between

His appearance is correct, his manner confident.

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