Page 10 -The Michigan Daily-Friday, November 6, 1987

I

Vocalist

Leslie

Guinn

is

surely irresistible

By David Hoegberg
For those who know Leslie
Guinn's singing from his recordings
and local appearances, tomorrow
night's recital of American songs at
the Kerrytown Concert House will
be a special treat. For those who
don't know this nationally acclaimed
baritone's work, consider this a
"must see" event. Guinn is a local
vocal treasure whose Ann Arbor
appearances are all too few.
You may have heard him in the
Ann Arbor Symphony's September
performance of Shostakovich's 13th
Symphony, a new work in Guinn's
repertoire. Or you may remember his

contribution to a stunning Britten
War Requiem in Hill Auditorium
last Spring. Or perhaps you have
heard Handel's Messiah in Detroit,
where Guinn has performed it for
three successive seasons with the
Detroit Symphony.
Leslie Guinn is Director of the
Division of Vocal Arts at the
University's School of Music, but
his responsibilities here don't
prevent him from appearing all over
the country. This season alone his
singing engagements have taken him
to New York, Pasadena,
Washington, and Milwaukee for
opera and orchestral performances.
Past credits include appearances with
the major orchestras of Chicago,

Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston,
Boston, and Baltimore.
Although his repertoire is wide,
Guinn always returns to American
music with a sense of familiarity and
respect. He says that his Texas
upbringing on country/western and
other popular music gave him an
instinctive feel for the American art
song, which differs from its
European counterparts not i n
difficulty nor the amount of vocal
training required, but in something
less tangible called "style."
Guinn has the style and the vocal
technique to make an American song

into a thing of exquisite beauty, as
he has demonstrated on several of his
recordings. Volume I of his Songs
of Stephen Foster, recorded with
mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani, won
Stereo Review's Record of the Year
award. His recording of music by
American composers Samuel Barber
and George Rochberg with the
Concord String Quartet won a
Grammy nomination for Best
Chamber Music Record of 1983 and
was included in High Fidelity's list
of Best American Music on Record.
Tomorrow night's recital, then,
will be a rare opportunity to hear a

major artist in the most intimate of
settings, singing music to which he
is ideally suited. In choosing music
of Foster, Ives, Copland, and
Rochberg for this recital, Guinn
admits he is selecting personal
favorites.
"I'm enjoying myself," he says.
"The program ranges from the
stalwart patriotic songs of Foster, to
the parodies of Ives, to the challenge
of Rochberg, to 'Charlie Rutledge,'
which is comic and sad and a little
bit of everything."
Guinn claims that it is a very
accessible program, designed for

maximum enjoyment for all types of
listeners. The songs will also be
punctuated by Guinn's illuminating
comments. "Who can resist, say, the
beautiful simplicity of 'Beautiful
Dreamer' done exactly as Foster
wrote it, for performance in
somebody's parlor?" Don't try to
resist. Enjoy.
Leslie Guinn will be accompanied
by pianist Deanna Relyea. The
recital is at 8 p.m. at Kerrytown
Concert House, 415 N. Fourth
Avenue. Tickets are $8 and $12, and
reservations are suggested. Call 769-
2999 for further details.

a
I


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Life During Wartime
By Lucius Shepard
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In only his second novel Lucius
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Reality and the drug-induced
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At first the book appears to be a
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Regardless of his intent, Shepard's
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the last page is read.
-John Davey
Michigan Daily
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