The Michigan Daily - Weekend etc. - April 8, 1993- Page 3 Cecilia Bartoli interprets with expressive power by Kirk Wetters At this point, it's pretty well known that mezzo-soprano Cecilia B artoli has a great voice, but her distinctive interpre- tive personality is less widely appreciated. In her recorded repertoire of works of Rossini and earlier composers, B artoli is somewhat forceful in comparison to the subtlety and understatement preferred by other singers. She is clearly an interpreter who feels the need to powerfully express meaning and emotion every word which she sings. Especially the so-called "ArieAntiche" ("AncientArias"), which are songs from the Italian late-Renaissance and Ba- roque, have recently been recorded primarily by specialists such as Emma Kirkby and Julianne Baird. Such interpreta- tions, frequently with a harpsichord accompaniment, belong to a world which is entirely different from Bartoli's vocal richness accompanied by a modem piano. Both types of performance have their place, but it is encouraging that this music, much of which is excellent, will be more widely recognized through the advocacy ofa performer like Bartoli. Bartoli's piano accompanist, Martin Katz, described the style of the "Arie Antiche." "It is rhythm and melody and Bartoli is somewhat forceful in comparison to the subtlety and understatement preferred by other singers. She is clearly an interpreter who feels the need to powerfully express meaning and emotion every word which she sings. style and charm. Ithas florid music to be executed, it has trills - it is a very intimate kind of art," he said. "It has a special charm that she (Bartoli) is very good at. It requires a real purity of tone, as anything old does, which is very much her strong suit." When questioned about the importance of his role as an accompanist, Katz said that it was 50 percent of the perfor- mance. This is modesty on Katz's part, since it would be plausible to say that good accompaniment is even more important than a good singer: If a singer is ineffective or uninspiring, the accompanist can do a lot to make up for it, but if the accompaniment is bland, then the performance as a whole will often be unsuccessful, regardless of the singer's abilities. Katz explained why the accompaniment is so important. "Most of it is not heralded by the public - the average concert-goer doesn't know what the accompanist is doing. He is setting all the tempos, allowing the singer to breathe or not to breathe - most of them do better when they breathe," he said. "The accompanist creates the context for the words to live in - in other words, if Cecilia is about to sing a delicate lyric, and if I have an introduction, I have to already set the scene for that. So I sort of have to set the frame, and then she paints the painting." Katz offered his insights into the reasons for Bartoli's meteoric rise to the forefront of classical superstars. "She's a twenty-six-year-old person who's unbelievably talented - the world doesn't have this kind of talent come along at her age very often," he said. "Combined with attractiveness physically, combined with brains, combined with acting ability, the whole package is really quite formidable." Predictably, Bartoli's sudden presence has led to a flood of far-fetched comparisons with other artists. Katz, however, admitted that Bartoli does have much in common with the Spanish mezzo, Teresa Berganza. "I think Berganza's name does come to my mind as well, as a professional," he said. "I've also played for Berganza, so I feel equipped to judge. Their voices have about the same range and weight and purity. She's flashier than Berganza - much flashier as a thinker, and therefore her art comes out flashier. Berganza was always a modest kind of artist, if you can generalize - but it's not a bad comparison." In the realm of "pop opera," Bartoli is much more than just an improvement over such blockbusters as the "Three Tenors Concert."Unlike the "tenors" concert, which shame- lessly exploits celebrity names in order to pass off mediocre performances of overplayed arias, Bartoli has made a name for herself in repertoire which has in the past been far removed from the classical "top 40." Admittedly, thepublicityorganizationatLondon Records deserves a large part of the credit for Bartoli's super-stardom, but at least they have chosen to focus their attention on serious artistry and on music which deserves notice =-not a mere star vehicle. CECILIA BARTOLI will perform with MARTIN KA7Z this Saturday at 8 p.m. at Hill Auditorium. Tickets are $10 to $35, at the UMS box office. Call 764-2538. Frank BlacK Frank Black 4AD/ Elektra Now, two months after the unfortu- nate but perhaps timely death of me- lodic punkers, the Pixies, comes lead singer/songwriter Black Francis' solo effort. Anew year, anew album, anew start, and interestingly, a new name: Frank Black. He has become his own evil twin. With this new name and album comes anew sound. "Frank Black ("the big eponymous debut" as advertised)" will not be mistaken for its creator's previous works. The songs, vocals, and lyrics are softer, spacier, and more ma- turethananything from the Pixies. Frank has expanded his eccentric world to 0 include tributestohisidolsthe Ramones ("I Heard Ramona Sing") and Iggy Pop ("Ten Percenter"). And his vocals are deeper, fuller, and softer, often recalling John Lennon and Lou Reed, especially on "Adda Lee" and "Every Time I Go Around Here." However, Frank is not trying to disown his bizarre and illustri- ous musical past. Warped subjects and lyrics abound on "Frank Black," in- cluding such topics as black holes ("Places NamedAfterNumbers"), UFO conventions ("Parry the Wind High, Low"), JohnDenver("Czar"), and grow- ing out amustache ("Fu Manchu"), and crazy lyrics like "I'm getting patterns from a trekker and it sounds like soul music to me" from "Parry the Wind." Butperhaps themostimportantthing torealize aboutthisalbumisthatitisnot * the sequel to "Surfer Rosa." It does not fill the gapofthePixies' supernova-like implosion."FrankBlack" showsgrowth and change, both of which may alienate die-hards still mourning the death of one of their favorite bands. While songs such as "Czar," "Ten Percenter," and "Adda Lee" could have been on asixth Pixies album, this album finds Frank experimenting with many different sounds, from dreamy Lennonesque pop ("Places Named Af- ter Numbers") to Bowie-influenced space noodlings ("Fu Manchu") to the mod, Who-ish "I Heard Ramona Sing" to the schizophrenic, thrashy dreami- ness that is "Los Angeles." Much of this new sound can be attributed to Frank's collaboration with Eric Drew Feldman, keyboardist with Pere Ubu, the spacy, avant-rock band that supported the Pixies on theirTrompe le Monde tour. The keyboards add a spooky, intergalactic feeling to much of the album. Another contributor is John Linell from They Might Be Giants. His saxophone on the instrumental "Tossed" one of the best songs on the album. Fellow ex-PixieJoey Santiago lends his fluid guitar stylings as well. "Frank Black" is an innovative and exciting album that combines the best of art-rock, new wave, punk, and the always refreshing visions of its creator. while it will probably disappoint those who only want to hear the Pixies, it will be enjoyed by those willing to have their heads taken to another space by one of the most creative and iconoclas- tic figures in music today. - Heather Phares Poison Native Tongue Capitol The flamboyant and whimsical C.C. DeVille is gone and, consequently, so too are the (in)famous catchy melodies that defined "Talk Dirty To Me," "Nothin' But a Good Time" and "Unskinny Bop." Some would say good riddance.'The Poison of the '80s never did manage to achieve any sort of re- spect. Take it from someone who knows - in terms of social acceptance, it was not a good move to announce that you liked four guys dressed in green neon and lipstick, whose mostprofound com- mentary on society may have been "Ev- ery Rose Has Its Thorn." They were corny and they were cheesy, but as they say in clichd-land, that was then and this is now. Today with accomplished guitarist Richie Kotzen, Poison's look is danger- ous and their sound is less hook-happy, more challenging and raw. In fact, these guys aren't singing pop at all; they're singin' the blues. Trying their damnedest, anyway. Remember "Some- thing To Believe In?" Add a choir, thicken the sermon and make every effort to sound deeply pained and you'll See RECORDS, Page 10 Are you an artist? In the fall Weekend etc. needs pen and ink artists to do illustrations and other miscelaneous art work. For info cal 763-0379 1° YOST ICE ARENA PRESENTS MARK MITCHELL LISA ERVIN 191 NATIONALS LVER MEDALIST 1993 NATIONAL SILVER MEDALIST I S "Best Haircut in Ann Arbor" s voted in The Michigan Daily Best of Ann Arbor Poll 1992 715 N. University (Next to Comerica) 668-8488 7 M ICY{IQGJ 9 SAT., APRIL 17 TICKETS $8.00 / $5. SAT. APRL 17 YOST ICE ARENA - 764-4600 8 PMU UOF M ATHLETIC TICKET OFFICE SANMrONED BYtUSMA. U OF M TICKETMASTER OUTLET " 7 SUPERCUTS 1991 Sper lIc I '764-0247 63-TKTS B u Best of Ann Arbor Ballot '93 Please return byApril 9 to the Daily at 420 Maynard, 48109. Results will be printed in the April 15 Best of Ann Arbor issue of Weekend etc. Thanks for your time. Best Restaurants/Bars for... 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