ARTS r Page.6 The Michigan Daily Friday, December 7, 1984 Records Toto-Dune/Orignal Motion Picture Soundtrack Director Nicholas Meyer once com- mented that the modern film score died when Mike Nichols commissioned Paul Simon to write the music for The Graduate. Meyer's viewpoint may be a bit prejudiced, his being a staunch traditionalist, but he did have a valid complaint-that most popular songwriters are ill equipped to meet the demands of scoring a film. The actual number of contemporary artists who have achieved a respectable degree of success is pretty small, with the excep- tions being Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, and most recently Mark Knop- fler. As a rule of thumb, with the exception of period pieces like Diner and American Graffiti, most soundtracks full of pop songs are nothing more than crass marketing ploys designed to get free radio advertising and rake in a lit- tle more money if any of the songs are a hit, hence atrocities like Flashdance and Footloose. When Dino De Laurentis announced that he'd signed popsters Toto to score his production of David Lynch's Dune, the decision seemed particularly sour because here was a project of such great potential for a serious composer to create something truly wonderful. The result, recently released as a single album by Polygram is, I must admit, not as wretched as I feared it could have been, though that's far from a commendation. It is not, thankfully, a rock score. Even though the album liner notes boldly declare that the music is written and performed by Toto, most of the ac- tual music here is something that the band tinkered up but then was arranged for an orchestra by one of the ban- dmember's brothers, Marty Paich, and performed by the Vienna Symphony. The result, not suprisingly, is a lame, transparent imitation of a film score, as colorless and unevocative a muddle of sound as the music to any B-movie. Despite the inherent density that an or- chestra gives any piece of music, and all the garish overaccenting with organs, harps, and choruses, this score lacks any presence and is so simplistic it fades from mind moments after you've heard it. Though it borrows enough from established heavyweights like Jerry Goldsmith and Bernard Herrman, there's not even a faint sliver of any scope and magnificence here. The snippets of dialogue lifted from the film and stuck in between musical tracks (shades of Queen's awful Flash Gordon soundtrack) for atmosphere ef- fect only add to the gamey cheapness. Toto itself is present on only a few cuts, some clinched bits of electronic noise and sustained synthesizer chords, and a flagrantly Top 40 oriented in- strumental theme that bears more than a slight resemblance to ,Vangelis's Chariots of Fire. There are, to endless relief, no songs on the record. The irritating thing is that there are so many legitimate film composers who could have been, should have been, tapped for this film but who were passed up due to an idiotic miscalculation to attract the teenybop- per market. When an Alex North score or even a John Williams clonescore could have done in comparison is a depressing thing to consider. Even a simple collection of the classical pieces Toto plunders unabashedly (and they rape everyone from Bach to Shostakovitch) would have worked better. As it is, the sole track of any interest is one bit of in- nocuous ambient noise by Brian Eno, that may indeed have been written for the film but sounds like it could just as easily have been gathering dust in his drawer. One can only assume that David Lyn- ch, (a true genius) quietly accepted all this as one of the concessions he had to make in order to get the job. Con- sidering that his films are charac- teristically short on music and rich with surreal sound effects montages, one can only hope he'll follow suit on this film and most of what's here on vinyl will not make it to celluloid. Cross your fingers. -Byron L. Bull Royal Philharmonic Orchestra -Lucia Lammermoor (Angel) Angel records recently released a new recording of Donizetti's Lucia di Lam- mermoor. Edita Gruberova is featured as the heroine Lucia, Alfreda Kraus plays the star-crossed lover Edgardo, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is under the supervision of Nicola Rescigno. The opera itself is a celebrated but of- ten . sadly neglected classic in perfor- mance and it is refreshing to see a renewed interest as evidenced by this bright and faithful to the text inter- pretation. Lucia di Lanmermoor along with the brilliantly comic Don Pasquale (1843) remain as Donizetti's most famous operas. Lucia, the forty-second of sixty- eight operas, was first performed in 1835 and stands as his best example of Italian Grand Romantic Opera. The libretto by Salvatore Cammarano is based on a novel by Sir Walter Scott; namely, "The Bride of Lammermoor." The opera has a curious penchant for being referred to in other literary The Vienna Choir Boys will perform Auditorium on Sunday afternoon. PAT METHENY .s. " " " Vienna Ch i bring histo GROUP with Lyle Mays Saturday Dec. 8 8 pm Hill Auditorium Tickets are on sale now at the Michigan Union Ticket Office & iTCKfT outlets WIVORLD 00000000000000"0000000000000000 ........* 0$~ ~f WITH THIS ENTIRE AD $1.00 OFF ADULT EVENING " ODFRPRH 0 F RTOO KT.GO OLFAUE HU1 0 3$ I ^ ^ l F A MISSIONC TICCU1PON GOOD FOR PURHASE OF ONE:I * U UF OR TWO TICKETS. GOOD ALL FEATURES THRU 12/13/84. .0 A EXCEPT TUESDAY * FROM THE CREATOR OF****** From Bill Forsyth, the Director/Writer ACADEMY AWARD WINNING * of "Local Hero"and"Gregory's Girl." "FANNY AND ALEXANDER" 0i * Alan Bird is "- getting nothing he A T RT E: 0 wants this Christmas.EA 0 PGi i\ A UNIVERSAL RELEASE >. (R) " FRI.& SAT. AT 11:15 P.M. FRI. MON. 1:00, 7:20, 9:20 FRI. & SAT. 11 P.M. FRI., MON. 1, 7, 9 0 SAT., SUN. 1:20, 3:20, 5:20, 7:20, 9:20 SAT, SUN. 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00. eeeeeee00 00@00 0 00 0 000 0 @.0eeeees eee ees 0 By Neil Gallan ter S chool: Six or seven hours a day, recess, lunch break, after school activities, sports, T.V., homework, etc. This is the scenario in which most of us lived our childhoods. It is the norm, and also it is a pleasant way to grow up as well. In Europe, however, there is a group of young boys who do not exactly lead this same type of life during their youth. They are the Vienna Choir Boys and for nearly five centuries the group has enchanted millions with their charm and excellent music making. popular Christmas selections at Hill oir Boys ry to Hill ~ To be considered for mesiin the group, young boys must atten a special preparatory school where they receive a thorough education wth special attention paid to music theory and singing, and while away on tour the boys are accompanied by their chdir- master, a tutor, and a nurse who are responsible for their care and welfare. The time lost on their concert tours is more than made up for, as there is a intense program of teaching and stud in classes that usually do not exceed ten students, and while they are not on tour these brilliant young boys live in and at- tend a private boarding school in Austria, the choir's home base. From the above view, we can cer- tainly see the choirboys' childhoods tend to be quite different than those of ours. However, no matter how dif- ferent their lives may be, the group leads a very rewarding life. We in Ann Arbor will have the oppor- tunity to hear this finely polished en- semble in concert at 4 p.m. Sunday af- ternoon at Hill Auditorium. Assuredly their appearance here will be as fine tuned and developed as their illustrious history. The group has made numerous films, recordings, television appearan- ces and tours, and they have visited America no fewer than 39 times since their first U.S. tour in 1932. Othe honorable appearances include thei being received by many heads of state, and performing for Pope Pius XI, XII, and Paul VI. On Sunday, the group will perform the music of Palestrina, Schubert, Sch umann. A special treat will be selec- tions from Benjamin Britten's well known "Ceremony of Carols", which is always popular at Christmas time. The concert also will feature a miniature operetta by Offenbach, and the aft noon would not or could not be completW without the various Polkas and Waltzes by Johann Strauss that they will also perform. In order to be able to hear the "boys" chant and sing their way into your hear- ts, and warm you up on what will probably be a very cold Sunday after- noon, you may visit Burton Tower where tickets are sold, or call the University Musical Society at 665-3717, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. 4:30 p.m., or Saturday from 9 a.m .tiT noon. 1-SHIRT 'PRINTINe Ann Arbor's fastest! From 10-800 T-shirts screenprint- ed within 24 hours of order.