I
Blind Pig Party
:,in East Road West, Goodwill,
-ZDays Straight, and Trip Cut
5-horty for some fine soundin'
ies. Blind Pig. 10 pm.
i chigandaily.com/arts
lSfiigm i
Swedish Radio Orchestra
joins Ericson for classics
Visiting author debutj
mystical look at
contemporary India
Jim Schiff
S4y Fine/Performing Arts Editor
d
K
While Sweden is responsible for some irritating pop
its, such as ABBA, Roxette and Ace of Base, it is
also the home country of some great classical ensem-
bles. This weekend, the Swedish Radio Choir joins up
with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the
Eric Ericson Chamber Choir in
two unforgettable perfor-
mances.,,
One of Europe's oldest radio
Swedish Radio choirs, the 33-person Swedish
Symphony Radio Choir has become one of
the world's leading vocal
Orchestra ensembles. The Choir was orig-
Hill auditorium inally led by Eric Ericson back
Friday, at 8 p.m. in 1952, and since then has
earned a reputation for versatile
repertoire. Performing works
from Renaissance madrigals to
modern Swedish works, they
have earned a number of
awards, including the Midem
Prize for their recording of
Schnittke's "Psalms of
" Repentance."
In Friday's performance, the
Eric Ericson choir will team with the
Chamber Swedish Radio Symphony
Orchestra, under the baton of
Choir conductor Manfred Honeck.
t Francis of Assisi Honeck, who has previously
traveled to Ann Arbor with the
" Saturday at 8 p.m.
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
made his conducting debut in
1994 at the Salzburg Mozart
Festival. Traveling all over the
world, Honeck finds that
American orchestras are equally
as prolific as their European
counterparts.
"The musicians here are really at the highest level
of;education," Honeck said. "It's fantastic to see how
they follow the conductor."
Four talented opera singers-Russian soprano
Marina Mescheriakova, mezzo-soprano Nadja
Michael, tenor Marco Berti and bass-baritone John
Relyea, will accompany the two ensembles in a pow-
erful rendition of Verdi's "Manzoni" Requiem. The
piece will be performed in honor of the 100th anniver-
sary of Verdi's death, and carries a special significance
to conductor Honeck. In trying to decipher the mean-
ing of Requiem's words, he sent a letter to the Vatican
about the meaning of the Latin and had it appraised.
"In every word, there's something behind," Honeck
said. "It has a stone-like sound, and its fantastic
because you have lighter strings but it must be cold.
And I understand now
much more what Verdi
meant."
On Saturday, the
Swedish Radio Choir will
accompany the Eric
Ericson Chamber Choir,
with a program that a
includes works of Ligeti,
Lidholm, and Richard
Strauss. Eighty-two-year-
old founder Ericson is mak-
ing a rare return to the stage
from retirement with this
performance.
Ericson, considered the
world master in the field of
choir conducting, founded
the group in 1945 under the
name of the Stockholm
Chamber Choir.
Consistently on the cutting-
edge of a cappella singing,
the EECC has toured exten-
sively in Europe and
Canada, and has been the
recipient of prestigious Above: Eric Ericson alwa
awards, including the Below: The Swedish Rad
Edison prize. Together with out for Fox's next versio
the Swedish Radio Choir,
they have made several recordings with the Berlin
Philharmonic Orchestra, including Beethoven's
"Missa Solemnis" and Verdi's "Quattro Pezzi Sacri."
An important figure in Friday's concert, Honeck is
excited to be involved in an all-star performance.
Honeck said that the most rewarding aspect of con-
ays strikes a sexy pose before conducting.
io Symphony Orchestra and Choir look like they could try
on of "Temptation Island."
ducting is "the possibility to use all the colors of the
orchestra with my own expression ... it always makes
me happy to see that the music gets so alive."
This weekend, Ann Arbor will also be alive, res-
onating with the enchanting sounds of Sweden's fore-
most musical groups.
'Vagina Monologues: Humor relates message
5y Joanna Steinhardt
Fo the Daily
,Eve Ensler is
cxplains why, and
play "The Vagina
The Vagina
Monologues
Michigan Theater
Tonight at 8
rg
worried about vaginas. She
much more, in her one-woman
Monologues." The play began
off-Broadway in the mid-'90s
and has gone on to become a
cultural phenomenon. It is a
favorite among celebrities
from Glenn Close to Calista
Flockhart, who have lined up
to perform it.
This week, a group of
University of Michigan stu-
dents, along with 250 other
students groups across the
country, are performing the
play as part of the V-day
movement: So-called because
it honors vaginas, falls on
Valentine's Day, and aims to
from all walks of life, about - what else? - their
down-theres. It ranges from hilarious diatribes
about tampons to frightening accounts from
Bosnian rape-survivors. As Ensler said in a tele-
conference with college students, "if you're disas-
sociated from your body... it never becomes
yours." Her goal is to get women talking about
their most vital organ in order to reconnect with
themselves. But Ensler said, "it is essential that
men participate-they can gain understanding and
even some expertise."
The play is entertaining as well as enlightening,
and also free, but donations are welcomed. They
will go to SAFEhouse (for battered women) and
Planned Parenthood. "The Vagina Monologues" is
also out in paperback ($12.95). It's a quick and
enjoyable read, and, along with Inga Muscio's
"Cunt," form a new literary trend to puts words to
what was once hush-hush.
For those who want to take part in the V-Day
movement, there is a huge rally and performance on
the Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New
York City, with Claire Danes, Melissa Etheridge,
Queen Latifa, Erica Jong, Marisa Tomei and many
others.
i
'ive'O1' plays like
a rerun for Deuce
atop violence against women worldwide.
_,"The Vagina Monologues" was created out of a
series of interviews Ensler conducted with women
Courtesy or Vilaro Books
Eve Ensler, author of "The Vagina Monologues."
# ..
i
Young Judaea
Programs
LET'S BE HONEST WITH OURSELVES.
THE HOPWOODS ARE A JOKE.
REAL WRITERS PUBLISH THEIR POETRY
AND FICTION IN THE ICHIGAN
DAILY'S LITERARY MAGAZINE.
SEND YOUR STUFF TO
MAGAZINESUBMISSIONS@UMICH.EDU
BV FEBRUARYZ 1ST.
PLAGIARISM IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED.
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