Page 10-The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 30, 1990
G. F. Handel rolls over
Ann Arbor
by Christine Cipriani
G eorg Friedrich Handel would
probably roll happily around in his
grave if he knew what the perfor-
mances of his Messiah do to Hill
Auditorium every year. Amid a long
line of poinsettias, over 200 for-
mally-clad singers and musicians and
an atmosphere of great anticipation,
the Messiah continues to transfix
Ann Arbor audiences (indeed, audi-
ences everywhere) in welcome con-
trast to its original lukewarm recep-
tion in 1742.
The University Choral Union,
with guest soloists, and the Ann Ar-
bor Symphony Orchestra will again
usher in the holiday season with
Handel's masterpiece this weekend,
continuing a tradition begun in 1879
by local choir members. Thomas
Hilbish, the interim director of the
Choral Union, says that "For some
CAMPUS
Continued from page 9
A well-directed fantasy film dis-
tinguishes in the way it portrays
good and evil and how it relates its
portrayal to reality. In Highlander
director Russell Mulcahy condemns
war, not with speeches on the evils
of war, but with a battle scene from
medieval Scotland. Two clans line
up on either side of a small valley,
people, it's not Christmas without
the Messiah."
The Messiah is an oratorio - a
sacred or epic text arranged for cho-
rus, soloists and orchestra - focus-
ing on the life, and particularly the
birth, of Christ. Its appeal transcends
religious boundaries, though, be-
cause Handel's music itself is so
stirring and powerful that the listener
cannot help but be drawn in, moved
and taken on a journey through
time. A shining example of music
from the Baroque period, the Mes-
siah combines massive strength,
gorgeous delicacy, and everything in
between for a wonderfully rich musi-
cal offering and the shifting of the
spotlight from the vocal soloists to
the choir to the orchestra adds still
more texture.
Hilbish insists that a performance
of the Messiah "would be just as
lovely in the basement of a church."
It is the "wedding" of the inspiring
religious text to the beautiful music
that keeps people coming back for
more, he says.
In Hill Auditorium, though, the
musicians' efforts are rewarded
acoustically to the fullest possible
extent and there is the added excite-
ment of having a packed house of
4200 people share each musical
moment. An interesting custom of
the University Musical Society is to
hand out music to the famous
"Hallelujah" chorus, encouraging ev-
eryone present to stand up and join
in during this joyful segment. This
is one of the evening's highlights;
the size of the crowd not only makes
the music more intense and powerful
but allows those not endowed with
vast operatic talent to belt happily
away without fear of offending any-
one.
This year's concert promises to
be an excellent one. Soloists
Elizabeth Knighton Printy, Drew
Minter, Paul Groves and Stephen
Bryant will be in town for the oc-
casion and Hilbish says of the
Choral Union, "The esprit de corps
within the group is tremendous."
Regardless of one's religious
persuasions (or lack thereof) or
general musical tastes, the Messiah
is a glorious experience. Maybe
Handel does know...
HANDEL'S MESSIAH will be
performed Saturday at 8 p.m. and
Sunday at 2 p.m. in Hill Auditorium.
Tickets prices range from $5 to $16
and are available from the Univer-
sity Musical Society in Burton
Tower.
draw their swords, and charge at each
other. The resulting image of a horde
of Zorro wannabes in skirts charging
each other like two football teams
after the kickoff strikes the viewer as
absurd and the essential reality of the
battle links this absurdity to war in
general.
Highlander is being shown in
MLB 3 at 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.
on Saturday.
-Jon Rosenthal
The University of Michigan
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
GIL
Continued from page 9
AmeriKKKa's current civil war
would surely burn. Lyrics such as
"Tell me, what's the word? From
Johannesburg?" and "We beg your,
pardon, America, because the pardon
was never yours to give" will forever
illuminate "The Other Side," as Se-
crets provided in the early '80s.
Even as Scott-Heron seemed to
be mellowing out with The Revolu-
tion...'s immediate successor, The
First Minute Of a New Day, his
scathing wit and almost prophetic
vision would only grow stronger.
His newly formed Midnight Band ac-
tually improved on the empathic
mellowness of his earlier band, with
flute by Hubert Laws and piano by
Scott-Heron's first partner in music,
Ron Carter. "Winter in America" is
so beautifully evocative and brood-
ing with its synthesizer and flute ar-
rangement that it sends chills of
emotion down my back.
Yet Scott-Heron actually im-
proved on the rhapsody and killer
bassline of "Revolution" with
Reflections and his overwhelmingly
brilliant satire of the presidency of
Ronald Reagan, "B-Movie." The
bass thumps ominously with the an-
tagonistic rhythms that centuries of
western time could never destroy,
while Gil prods his chorus with a
menacing tone, "This ain't really
your life, ain't really your life, ain't
really, nothin' but a movie."
Nowadays, he begins his shows
with equally sharp dialogues about
the continued decline of western
civilization, whether it be the
irrelevance of weathermen or the
ironic ineffectuality of February as
Black history month. At his most
recent show in Detroit, he delivered a
stingingly funny lecture on the
science of getting paid for anything,
or rather, the usage of an -ology.
Gil Scott-Heron is a bluesolo-
gist. Is he jaded? Hell no, he's Gil.
GIL SCOTT-HERON AND THE
AMNESIA EXPRESS will be
playing at the Ark tonight at 8 and
10 p.m. Tickets are $15 regular, $10
with student id and don't forget that
evil service charge.
V -
Journey through time
Dwane Shepard portrays Malcolm X , in the National Black Touring
Circuit INc.'s production of Brother Malcolm X, Reminiscences of A
Black Revolutionary by Frank Greenwood. Brother Malcolm Xis a one-
man show chronicling the life of the Black leader from his early life in
Michigan to his assassination in Harlem. Tickets are $15, $10 for
students with ID available in the League ticket office. The production s
being performed in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre tonight only at 8 ,
p.m.
Sun. Pec. 2
Michigan Marching Band
in Concert
Gary Lewis, conductor
Tickets: $ 4 (764-0852)
CrislerArena, 2:30 p.m.
University of Michigan
Percussion Ensemble
Michael Udow, director; Ted Piltzecker,
guest vibraphonist
Piltzecker: Junctures
Kowalski: Grin go Blaster
Udow: Flashback and Thoughts from
Almost Near Somewhere
McIntosh Theatre, School of Music, 4 p.m.
Composers' Forum
School of Music Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
George Michael
"Freedom"
At the end of Georgie Porgie's
latest video, a blond androgynous
woman of rare beauty takes a boiling
kettle off a stove. For the five min-
utes of "Freedom '90," Mr. Michael
has been letting off steam. George is
fed up of being a pop star commod-
ity for pubescent girls to wet their
knickers over. He wants to be taken
seriously, to be "listened to without
prejudice. The lyrics don't matter.
George wants to throw off the old
image and embrace a "new lifestyle."
All the stuff in the "Faith" video,
except George himself, is destroyed;
the jukebox and guitar get blown ul
a few times. His Triumph leather
jacket is burned by one of the many
babes in the video. George is she
ding the symbols of machismo th
he has so painfully worn, since-his
break-up with Andrew Ridgely. -All
his words are sung by languid, sexus
ally-alienated women, presumably to
men. George never appears. The one
male hunk body is fetishized, lying
on the bed, muscles rippling, nip-'
ples stiffening. Is George finally
coming out of the closet?
-Peter Shapiro & Nabel Zube
Mon. Dec. 3
Tues. Dec. 4 Campus Orchestra
Cindy Egolf Sham-Rao, conductor
Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter
Overture
Debussy: Nocturnes (Nuages, Fetes)
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 in E minor,
"From the New World", Op. 95
Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m.
Early Music Ensemble
Edward Parmentier, director
Music of Monteverdi, Schutz, Philidor,
Ferrabosco the Elder, Gesualdo and Graun
Blanche Anderson Moore Hall, School of
Music, 8 p.m.
LEARN RUSSIAN ON THE
BLACK SEA!
IN SOCHI, RUSSIA
8 WEEK RUSSIAN LANGUAGE COURSE
PLUS...
5 DAY TOUR: JUNE 11 - AUGUST 5
- OR -
10 DAY TOUR: JUNE 11 - AUGUST 20
FOR FURTHER DETAILS COME TO A
MEETING & PRESENTATION ON/NEAR YOUR CAMPUS:
r-
U
P
g.
17
THE
tacking
Shippin
Sto
f,
Monday, December 3, 1990
3:00 pm- 5:00 pm
Modern Language Building
Third Floor Conference Room
.O~SOPPE.
w .
g
ring -
Moving'-
rything you need for the holidays
You can find here!
Decorative Bags and Boxes
Gift and Jewelry Boxes
Gitwrapping ava|Iable
We ship UPS and Freight
us
u1 Rd. (313) 668-6455-
a 48105 W
laesars & Wendy's)
Thur. Dec. 6
Thur.-Sun.
Dec. 6 - 9
University Of Michigan
Jazz Combos
featuring Priority, What is Hip, and
Timeline
North Campus Commons, 8 p.m.
University Players
Tartuffe by Moli6re
Philip Kerr, director
Tickets: $ 12, $ 9, $ 5 (students)
Power Center
8 p.m. (Thur.-Sat.), 2 p.m. (Sun.)
I
A representative of the Ministry d Education of the Russian Federation will be with us at the meetin
OR CALL:
DAFNA RONN-OXLEY AT TANDEM-VIRTUS LIMITED
1-800-274-9121
Eve
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BL
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(1
iorth Camp,
747 Plymou
knn Arbor, M
Next to Little C
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- A . .
Fri.
Sat
Dec
Sur
Dec. 7 Symphony Band and
Concert Band
H. Robert Reynolds, Gary Lewis,
Dennis Glocke, conductors
Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis of
Themes by Carl Maria von Weber
Grainger: Sussex Mummers' Christmas
Carol
Bernstein: 2nd movement, "Profanation",
from Symphony No. 1 ,"Jeremiah"
Vaughan Williams: Sea Songs
Schwantner: From a Dark Millenium
Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m.
.-Sun. WAVES Digital Music Ensemble
.8 - 9 Ed Sarath, director
a multi-media collaboration using
improvisation, dance, film, and theatre
School of Music McIntosh Theatre
Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.
1. Dec. 9 Campus Band
Myron D. Moss, conductor
with guest appearances by
School of Music chamber ensembles
Montenegro: Fanfare
Schuman: "Chester"
Holst: Nocturne from A Moorside Suite
Sousa: "Manhattan Beach"
Glide: "Russian Sailors' Dance"
Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m.
U o lMso
my coed a cappela singing ensem e
~0
AIDSWorkshop
M
National Comedian Danny Williams will be
conducting a workshop for people who know
those with AIDS. It will be followed by an
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