10B - The Michigan Daily Weekend Magazine - Thursday, January 22, 1998
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The Michigan Daify Weke d Magazine - Thursday, January 22. 1998 - 78
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Q Campus Arts Feature
Tokyo Strii
with mix o4
By Emily Lambert
Daily Weekend, etc. Editor
The string quartet may not be the
most accessible of musical forms,
but it is definitely one of the tightest-
knit.
In good quartets, the cellist, violist
and two violinists communicate on a
high level. They
practice, travel,
learn, listen, think p R
and even breathe
together. And the
most successful
quartets stay
togetherRackham,
But introduce a
new member to the mix and things
could change.
That challenge was faced recently
by the Tokyo String Quartet, which
plays Mozart, Webern and
Tchaikovsky at Rackham
Auditorium tonight.
Once friends and students at
Japan's Toho School of Music, the
quartet's members met again at
Julliard in 1969.
Today, only the cellist and violist
remain from the original group. The
second violinist, Kikuei Ikeda,
ioined just five ears after the ouar-
I State of the Arts
A FATAL EMERGENCY
ng uartet endures
ifolnew musicians
D.
R
1
ai
on.
All the members of the Tokyo were
eyeing Mikhail Kopelman of the
Borodin Quartet, but were hesitant to
approach him.
"It's not like a free agent in a pro-
fessional sport," Ikeda said. "We did-
n't want to
interfere with
E V I E W the other quar-
tet."
Tokyo String But Oundjian
Quarte insisted on
Tonighttat 8 p h o n i n g
uditorium; tickets $10 Kopelman. And
when the Tokyo
was on tour in California that April,
the musicians made a detour to
Europe to read music with
Kopelman, who immediately asked
to join the quartet.
"It was very quick," Ikeda said. It
may take a while to fully 'adjust, he
said, "but we're lucky to have
Mikhail."
Ikeda said a new member affects
"almost all aspects of music-mak-
ing" in a quartet, including sound
color, balance, pacing and a myriad
of other elements big and small. The
changes come down to individual
notes.
"There are so many ways of mak-
ing accents," he said.
Each quartet member plays a spe-
cific role, and Ikeda said he didn't
consider taking over the first seat.
That, he said, would have been like
having two new members in the
quartet instead of one.
"It's much harder to find a second
violinist," he said. "We play the same
instrument, but I find it's completely
different."
Ikeda's own introduction to the
quartet was "as smooth as you can
dream of." His predecessor, juggling
travel with a family, had not planned
to be a permanent player and gave
Ikeda the luxury of three years of
preparation.
Kopelman, on the other hand,
arrived with 20 years of experience
in a different quartet.
"He has his own ideas," Ikeda said.
"We are adjusting all the time, trying
to find a point where both sides feel
happy and contented."
Kopelman is also Russian-born.
But Ikeda said nationality is of less
importance than it once was in the
quartet.
"When Peter joined in 1981, that
was the first time we had a non-
Japanese member. Everyone around
thought we should have someone
Japanese," Ikeda said.
But the Tokyo's style and sound
had changed with time, he said.
"We were no longer typical
Japanese musicians ... and after all,
music is the most important aspect."
But Ikeda can't imagine ever hav-
ing a Tokyo Quartet with no
Japanese members.
"We have a certain sound, a certain
musical character," he said. "I'd like
to maintain that."
"ER" is quite possibly one of the
worst shows in prime time this season,
After long deliberation (especially
after last week's show). I have come to
the realization that the program, which
has gripped us since 1994. has lost its
originality and has fallen into the depths
of soap opera trash.
Perhaps I should explain the reason
for my utter dismay at the Thursday
night drama, for to many this may cone
as a shock. It's not like every week I
expect the creators to take the story
exactly where I think it should go. Nor
do I expect obviously perfect relation-
ships to be created. But really, is it too
much to ask to have Doug
Ross and Carol Hathaway.
together in sweet romantic
bliss?
Last week, the high-gear
relationship between Doug
(George Clooney) and Carol
(Julianna Margulies)came to a
sudden halt as Carol told Doug
of her romantic encounter with
a paramedic. The series had
built up the momentum of a Kristin L
spectacular relationship, and DailyArt
then deflated it in one swift y
punch. How sweet.
I don't know if the "ER" writers think
this is some kind of sick joke, but I am
not amused or entertained -and I don't
think I am alone.
The majority of this season has por-
trayed the Doug-Carol romance as
something more than a half-hearted
fling. Let's be serious here. A woman
doesn't take time off' from her job in
Chicago and fly to California for just
any man. If this show is to have any
touch with reality, which it often
attempts to do, then the writers need to
reconsider the path they have chosen.
Perhaps the writers are simply looking
for an easy way to write Clooney out of
the show. Reuters reported that
Clooney's contract would likely not be
renewed because he wants to pursue his
movie career.
He's a big star now, you know. So big
that we only see him in the first and last
five minutes of the show. What is that?
It's like making a sandwich and only eat-
ing the bread. One question: Where's the
danmn beef?
This twist in the plot comes as quite a
disappointment, to say the least. If I were
NBC, I would be disturbed at the fact
that I'm about to pay S13 million per
episode for a show that's only emulating
a cheap afternoon melodrama.
The current writers are just dangling
this string in front of us, as if we were
nsive kittens that are easily amused by
tiresome antics. A little audience credit
would be nice.
What we witnessed last Thursday was
Carol "pulling a Doug" as one might
say. We saw Doug essentially glowing at
the thought that he would finally walk
into matrimonial bliss with the one
woman who was perfect for him.
Then we saw Carol just throw it all
away. She went up to the top of
an apartment building with
this man who obviously had
some personal issues, and then
let him kiss her. What on earth
was she thinking?
When a man like Doug
Ross, who at one point could-
n't stick to one woman unless
handcuffs were involved, final-
ly decides to make that matri-
monial step, then we definitely
Editor have something serious. We've
seen Doug go through women
like tissues. So maybe he even once went
through Carol like a Kleenex, but this
time it's different. I swear.
This whole business with their on-
again, off-again relationship is merely
reminiscent of a soap opera that lures
viewers by maintaining the same basic
storyline.
The whole reason "ER" is on prime
time and not daytime is because it's
something better, something more
intense, something more intellectual
than a show that has the same people
doing the same thing over and over again.
For four seasons, this relationship has
been a major point of interest in the
entire series. And finally it looked as
though the torn lovers were actually
going to do it - they were actually
going to tie the knot.
Yes, life does go on, and yes. I proba-
bly will still watch the show at least once
more. But is it really so bad to bring
these two together?
Or is that too easy or something?
Kmristiii Lomg igll/soon be' avcilacble
Tiu'sc/ai' nig/t bet'een 10 atd 11
p.m. She can be reached over e-mail at
klong im(mmich.edi.
E Weekend, etc. Column
'U' MATCHMAKING
I walk slowly, apprehensively, to my first class of the new wearing makeup and when she isn't. We pay attention
semester. It could be this semester, it could be last semes- to what kind of outfit she's put on, or whether she turns
ter, it could be any semester of my entire college career. in her homework on time.
I'm a tiny bit nervous, but mostly filled with antici- We remember her name, even when we can't for the
pation. Maybe my palms are sweating, maybe my life of us recall whether the guy we always sit next to
mouth is dry. Then again, maybe that's going a little too is named Sam, Pete, Harry or Bob. We'll see her ran-
far. domly walking around campus, and automatically her
You see, my mind isn't distracted by the name flashes into our minds, like some kind of
possibilities of a new class and the explo- .... . old friend. Even though she probably never
ration of challenging new horizons of knowl- even knows we exist, why would she? We
edge. I'm not excited about the thought of rarely ever say a damn thing to her, anyway,
learning from quirky new teachers, and I'm unless we cleverly come up with a brilliant -
not even rattled by the ominous feeling that , , , albcit phony - excuse to talk to her.
all my hard-earned money will soon be spent '. "' "What time was the study group?" Or,
buying a few paperbacks at Shaman Drum. .. . < "When was that paper due? - when we've had
No, the one thing preoccupying my brain, the due date marked on our calendar since the
the one idea I turn over and over in my head, beginning of the year. These are favorites of
centers around the most important aspect of some hopeless souls who are friends of mine.
any new class: The women. CHRIS I'm not too sure why we can't get up the
Oh, come now, you didn't actually think FAH guts to make conversations with these earth-
I'm concerned with trite matters of acade- FARAH bound goddesses. Every now and then, I see
mia. did you? I have much more important FA AES these relatively geeky, average-looking men
things on my mind. I am, after all, a man. AU(T who appear to actually be dating one of the
And I'm not even the worst example of my semi-divine females. She'll have long blond
sex. I'm convinced that one of my friends chose to hair, deep blue eyes, perfect complexion - the whole
major in psychology solely because, according to him, stereotypical spiel.
the women in psych classes have an appearance far He'll be wearing glasses with huge brown frames
superior to those in any other scholarly discipline. (I that keep sliding off his nose. Maybe the glasses are
happen to prefer the ones in English classes -now my taped in the middle. Maybe the lenses are cracked.
dad finally knows why I really never became an engi- Maybe he even has ears as big as mine. Those lucky
neer.) chaps are probably the few of us males who actually
Really, if anything, we deserve pity, not scorn. After get the nerve to speak up every now and then.
all, our weakness for beautiful women borders on the When I was a young and naive had of 18 or so. I
pathetic. We go to new classes, we walk down the believed all the fairy tales, and I trusted all the novels.
sidewalk, we drive our cars down busy roads, and There was, in fact, such a thing as finding true love at
what's our first priority'? Finding a new beautiful first sight, and it was going to happen to me. Now. I
woman to stare at. It would be one thing if we actually realize that those kinds of thoughts are foolish. Why
tried to do something about it ... you know, talk to Because I probably fall in love at first sight at least
them or take some other kind of radical measure of three times a day. And some of my friends fall in love
communication. five or six times a day - and those are often the ones
But most of the time, we just stare. Or every now and with girlfriends.
then, maybe we salivate a little. If we do happen to spot Now, once and for all, I've decided to take a stand.
the woman of our dreams in one of our classes, we usu- See FARAH, Pago 108
ally start to keep track of her. We notice when she's
At tonight's concert, these three members of the Tokyo String Quartet will
Introduce the quartet's newest member to the Ann Arbor audience.
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tet's formation.
But in 1996, the quartet was
forced to find a replacement for
Peter Oundjian, who had played first
violin for 15 of the quartet's then 25
years. Suffering from nerve damage
in his left hand, Oundjian prepared to
stop performing and the search was
j FARAH
Continued from Page 7B
' Enough is enough. After all, what
makes these women so special? They
Lofft S lemay be beautiful, they may have
crystal-clear eyes, a cute nose or
gaceful necks that curve ever so per-
fecty.
But have you noticed? Look close-
Apartent Hoes ly, and lots of them wear so much
r makeup that it's doubtful whether
s Deluxe Loft Style ' 24 Hour Fitness Center their skin ever sees the light of day.
The soles of their shoes are thick and
Designs . Full Size Washer/Dryer optional tall enough to transport them a mile
from the surface of our fair earth.
'Volleyball Pool ' Gourmet Kitchens and And the pants! We all know men like
Free Extra Storage Marble Bathrooms them tight, but please, leave some-
thing to the imagination.
Well Tackle Your Take 1-9410US23 North. Exit on 37A. Yes, I've had enough of them (or of
h nt Probl Turn left on Hogback. Turn right staring at them, at least). I've had
lg onto Clark Road.Arbor Pointe enough of pining after women
is 314 mile down Clark who've gotten what they wanted,
on the right directly when they wanted it, from every man
across from they've met since the time of their
Washtenaw birth.
Community Every single one of you women out
College. there, as far as I'm concerned, can go
to hell.
6" '4tj e Oh, and one last thing: Before you
leave, are any of you busy Friday
Vr ABO PolNTE night?
- x «T«. T « .-. . -E-mal Chris Farah at
cfarah@mmnich.edm.
Inside the Clarion Hotel
2900 Jackson Rd., Ann Arbor, MI
" f un dr a s er foar t C W /sA4i I i
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