Page 8-The Michigan Daily- Thursday, October 10, 1991 Rostropovich conducts National Symphony Orchestra by Roger Hsia Renowned cellist Mstislav Ros- tropovich will weave magic, not with his bow but with a baton, when the National Symphony Orchestra takes the stage at Hill Auditorium on Saturday. As the or- chestra's music director, Rostropo- vich will conduct in a rich program that features his student, Wendy Warner, as the soloist in the concert's centerpiece - Schumann's Cello Concerto in A minor. The group will also perform the well- known Rossini Overture to La gazza ladra ("The Thieving Magpie") and Beethoven's splendidly popular Symphony No.3 ("Eroica"). No compliment can be paid to Rostropovich that hasn't already been uttered. Widely considered to be the world's premier cellist, with a staggering list of recordings and awards to his credit, Rostropovich will mark his 15th year as conductor of the NSO, the Washington, D.C.- based orchestra. In that time, the or- clestra has toured through North Amierica, Europe and Asia. Among Rostropovich's highlhights with the orchestra was his triumphant return to the Soviet Uron in 1990, from where he had been exiled sincel974. Recognized as one of our nation's foremost symphony orchestras, the NSO performs regularly at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Warner is an emerging force in the music world today. She came to the climax of her achievements when she won first prize in the Fourth International Rostropovich Competition in Paris, where she was one of the youngest contestants. All eyes and ears will focus on her dur- As most people know, Beethoven himself was hardly short of emotion when he composed his Heroic Symphony. He dedicated the work to one of his great heroes, Napolean Bonaparte ing the Schumann Cello Concerto in A Minor, a piece characteristic of the Romantic movement because of the favoritism shown to the cello during this period. It is interesting to note that Rostropovich himself has per- formed as a soloist on this work on numerous occasions, and has even recorded the piece with several major record labels. The orchestra adjusts its musical palette when it plays Rossini's glit- tering La gazza ladra. The piece is based upon a melodrama by two French playwrights in which a thiev- ing magpie causes a young girl to be wrongly accused and executed for stealing a silver spoon. For the Italian opera, Rossini altered the tragic ending, but not without mov- ing his audiences to tears in anticipa- tion of the girl's death. As most people know, Beethoven himself was hardly short of emotion when he composed his Heroic Symphony. He dedicated the work to one of his great heroes, Napolean Bonaparte. Viewed as a liberator, the young Bonaparte led France's revolu- tionary armies against its enemies, but he overstepped the bounds of propriety, in Beethoven's mind, when he crowned himself Emperor. The symphony, no longer dedicated to the military genius, honors only the memory of a great man. The work itself sings heroically as few pieces in all of music do. In the finale, Beethoven employs the Prometheus theme, rejoicing in the demi-god who defied Zeus and stole fire to bring warmth and enlightenment to man. The piece excites in its variation, moving from a funeral march to a joyous scherzo in the third movement to the triumphant finale. THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA will perform Saturday at 8 p.m. at Hill Auditorium. Tickets range from $18 to $45 and are available from the University Musical Society. Call 763-TKTS for more info. Jethro Tull Caifish Rising Chrysalis When the new Jethro Tull album, Catfish Rising, was finally released, I was extremely excited to hear it. I mean, after listening to old classics such as "Aqualung," "Thick as a Brick" and "Locomotive Breath," I figured that I must be in store for at least some awesome new flute playing from the British rock combo. However, after spending a couple of days lis- tening to the CD over and over again, I found one word that sums up the album perfectly: disappointing. The music on Jethro Tull's new release is clearly an atypical Jethro Tull. There aren't any great flute- playing solos or fast tempo drum beats - nothing like what we would expect from one of the world's most unique and distinctive rock 'n' roll bands. The music has more of a rough, organic approach than the band's last few releases, but they should've stayed with the original plan. Singer/songwriter/mul- ti-instrumentalist Ian Anderson seems mostly to blame. Throughout the entire album, Anderson's vocals are louder and rougher than on the previous albums - his voice overplays the music. The album does have its moments. The lame song "This Is Not Love," the first single, has a pretty good; electric guitar rhythm to it. It also has about ten sec- The music has more of a rough, organic approach than the band's last few releases, but they should've stayed with the originalE plan onds of fast-moving flute playing, which is surely a, bonus. In addition, the song "Rocks on the Road" is * probably the most similar to anything that we would expect from Jethro Tull. This acoustic guitar song is perhaps the best on the album, which isn't saying much at all. - Kenny Beli The Broken Pitcher A courtroom satire about tipping the scales of justice Oct Stu The U-M School of Music by Heinrich von Kleist University Players Trueblood Theatre t. 10 -12,17 - 19 at 8 PM; Oct. 13, 20 at 2 PM dent seating $6 with ID. Tickets on sale at the League Ticket Office in the Michigan League. Celebrating 75 years of U-M theatre Ricochers John Lithgow and Denzel Washington settle their differences the manliest way there is: arm- wrestling. This scene also foreshadows the duo's eventual battle to the death atop a 75-foot tower, during which nelI's arm in imnaled nna nointed tanka lachI ::I Null 6.0G11L.GI a of nI la IVIIF0ICU 0711 0 IJUI11LIUU OLVIDJAW. VU411: 1 BANG AN N ROR 5TH AVE. AT UBERTY 14700 OoDAILYSHOWS BEFORE 6 PM E$3E DAIL DAY TUESDAY' p EAL -UTEE PSP. R * OPPE IN ENU 0 MY FATHERS GLORY (G) -