.
ARTS
Tuesday, October 29, 1985
The Michigan Daily
Page 7
Maazelconducts Munich
U Ii
l jfe Epresents
AN EVENING WITH
By Rebecca Chung
F OUNDED IN 1893, the Munich
Philharmonic, while managing to
1-"maintain a world-renowned
*reputation in spite of two world wars,
/has attracted Mahler, Richard
Strauss, Szell, Solti, and Kempe to its
podium. Lorin Maazel, who will be
conducting tonight's performance, is
touted as "one of the world's most
sought-after conductors," having
over 6,000 concerts and 500 opera per-
formances under his belt as well as
numerous awards and honors to his
credit.
Tonight's performance will give
both maestro and musician ample
opportunities to display their
abilities. The program, consisting of
Romantic and 20th century works,
will test the Philharmonic's ability to
create the emotional, nearly visual
impact these pieces require. If
Munich and Maazel pay careful atten-
tion to tone color, dynamics, and ex-
pression, this should be a wonderful
concert.
The performance will open with
Carl Maria von Weber's overture to
Oberon. This composition was based
on Weber's opera of the same title. It
depicts the story of Oberon and his
fairy queen Titania as they struggle
through a lover's spat. The overture
- more than a medley of the catchier
tunes in the opera - is an attempt to
present the mood and situation in
miniature, somewhat-but-not-really a
tone poem.
The second piece, Paul Hindemith's
Symphony: Mathis der Maler, is like
Oberon,derived from an opera
previously written, by the composer.
Records
The Pontiac Brothers -
*Poll Hut
(Frontier)
Loaded with soul and wholly un-
pretentious, this debut effort from the
Pontiac Brothers offers the same sen-
se of urgency and reckless abandon
that was epitomized by the early
Rolling Stones. Unfortunately, the
~wonderful spirit possessed by the
and is not enough to salvage tunes
at are often melodically and in-
strumentally amateurish.
Doll Hut opens with its finest track,
"Work With Me," a rockabilly romp
which boasts a delightful bouncing
chorus, set to a classic '60s chord
progression. Here, the voice of lead
singer Matt Simon sounds
remarkably like that of Mick Jagger,
complete with over-exaggerated
vowel pronunciations.
But this initially pleasant vocal
tyle is soon transformed into an an-
noying growl on such raunchy tunes
as "Keep the Promise" and "New
Pusher Blues." Worst of all is the
album's final track, "While I Sleep,"
on which Simon alternates between
his snarling tone and meek, wavering
moan. The song is further marred by
an obnoxious stop-and-go tempo
change and the guitarists' use of
heavy distortion.
Furthermore, the album's melodies
are often weak and highly
amateurish, particularly on upbeat
tunes like the driving "It's Alright At
Home" and "New Pusher Blues."
This lack of melodic quality is
coupled with equally ploor instrumen-
tation. Specifically, guitarists Jon
Wahl and Ward Dotson layer their in-
struments with piles of distortion, and
the solos of the latter consist largely
of awkward cliches from the
Wychedelic era.
Other than "Work With Me," the
only song that succeeds in avoiding
these problems is "Straight and
Narrow," a rolling blues-rock jam,
highlighted by Dotson's wailing slide
guitar. These two tracks display an
exciting slapdash technique that
could have made Doll Hut a truly af-
fecting rock'n'roll record. But this
potent, soulful style is sadly over-
shadowed by songs that suffer from
'weak melodies and noisy instrumen-
tation, making the Pontiac Brothers'
first recorded effort rather unsuc-
cessful.
-Joe Acciaoili
BLOOM COUNTY
Mathis der Maler (Matthias the Pain-
ter) is based on the life and accom-
plishments of the artist Mathis
Grunewald (1460-1520).
The Symphony has three movemen-
ts, each a musical representation of
one of the painted panels of
Grunewald's greatest work - an
altar-piece created for St. Anthony's
monastery in Alsace, now on display
in the Unterlinden Museum of
Colmer.
The first movement, titled "Angelic
Concert," is a happy, jubilant section,
with a conclusion that positively
sparkles. The second. "Entom-
bment," is much more quiet and
melancholy, with a haunting oboe solo
that adds to the somber mood. The
final movement, "The Temptation of
St. Anthony," is at once ominous and
lyrical, the struggle between good
and evil well-symbolized with op-
posing themes and rhythms and the
entire section suspenseful to the end.
The last scheduled piece
Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E
Minor, is now considered a milestone
of 19th century music because of the
specifity of tone colors to certain
moods and ideas. However,
Tchaikovsky himself was not happy
with the piece until several years af-
ter its premiere in 1888. He said of the
piece "There is something repellent
about it, a patchiness and insincerity,
a fabicated quality that the public in-
stinctively recognizes..."
Part of the reason Tchaikovsky was
so negative about this work was his
mental state; after a string of
exhaustive performances, he was
feeling a lack of inspiration.
"Hasn't the time come to stop,
haven't I always overstrained my
imatination too much, hasn't the
source dried up?" wrote the
despairing composer to his patron
Welcome
Students!
" DISTINCTIVE COLLEGIATE
HAIRSTYLING for Men and Women
" 6 HAIRSTYLISTS
DASCOLA STYLISTS
Nadezhda von Meck while he was
working on the Fifth. It did not help
that, after the premiere, many critics
came to the same conclusion.
However, by the late 1890s, the vir-
tues of the piece were discovered by
composer and commentator (the
audiences having been enthusiastic
from the beginning), and it has
remained in the repetoire ever since.
Tonight's concert will be held at
Hill Auditorium at 8 p.m. For tickets
and more information, contact the
University Musical Society's Burton
Tower Office at 665-3717.
r=M=M====MMM
I I
i GUITAR i
STRINGS
I I
2 for 1
with this ad
' expires 11-9-85
IAnn Arbor
Music Mart
336 S. State 769-49801
* ----- - - --
ELIE WIESEL
Tuesday, October 29, 8:00 p m.
RACKHAM AUDITORIUM
Elie Wiesel is one of the most
gifted and sensitive writers of our
time. His lectures are cultural
events of emotional depth and in-
tellectual challenge. He is the
author of more than a dozen
books. His is perhaps the most
respected Jewish voice in the world
today.
Tickets are available at the Mich-
igan Ticket World Outlet, and at
Hudson's in the Briarwood Mall.
Admission: Students $4 -
General Admission: $6
Show how you feel with .. .
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Maple Village
761-2733
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