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WEDNESDAY
JANUARY 23, 2002
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Orchestre de Paris brings all-French
program, famous conductor to Hill
By Janet Yang
Daily Arts Writer
Nobody knows Ravel and Messi-
aen better than
0rchestre
de Paris
Hill Auditorium
Tonight at 8
the French them-
selves, which is
why it will be
such a treat to
hear the
Orchestre de
Paris. World-
renowned con-
*d u c t o r
C h r i s t o p h
Eschenbach and
pianist Pierre-
Laurent Aimard
will perform
famous pieces
from those
renowned com-
Orchestre dedicates only a third of
its total performances each year to
audiences outside of Paris, it is a
rare delight for local classical music
admirers that they have chosen to
spend a night in Ann Arbor. Besides
Ann Arbor and the rest of the U.S.,
the Orchestre has spent time per-
forming in Europe, Russia, Latin
America and Asia.
The Orchestre's appeal is not only
seen by its varied audiences, but
also by the famous conductors that
have spent time working with then.
Charles Munch, Sir Georg Solti,
Herbert von Karajan and Seiji
Ozawa are among the few of the
famous names that have led the
Orchestre in the past.
The Orchestre de Paris was estab-
lished in 1967, taking over the for-
mer Concert Society of the Paris
Conservatory, which was formed in
1828. Since its creation, the ensem-
ble has introduced the public to pre-
viously little-known composers
such as Mendelssohn, Beethoven,
and Schubert, who then gained an
audience through the Concert Soci-
ety. More recently, the Orchestre
has paid special attention to con-
temporary works by Jean-Claude
Drouet, Pierre Boulez and Witold
Lutoslawki, among others. This
diversity in composers leads to a
vast repertoire that includes three
centuries of music, ranging from
symphonic to operatic.
The concert at Hill Auditorium is
one stop on Esehenbach's first tour
with the Orchestre de Paris. Eschen-
bach is not only the music director
of the Orchestre, but is also the
Principal Conductor of the Ham-
burg NDR Symphony Orchestra and
the Artistic Director of the
Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
He has been the music director for
the Orchestre since 2000 and has
also recently been appointed the
music director for the Philadelphia
Orchestra. Eschenbach has also
worked with the London Philhar-
monic, Chicago Symphony and the
Houston Symphony Orchestras.
Tonight's concert is Eschenbach's
fourth visit to Hill Auditorium.
The featured pianist in this per-
formance, Pierre-Laurent Aimard,
performs throughout the year with
other prominent orchestras and con-
ductors. Just recently, Aimard per-
formed Beethoven's "Piano
Concerto No. 5" with the Berlin
Philharmonic, as well as the Cham-
ber Orchestra of Europe, the Boston
Symphony and the Cleveland
Orchestra. Currently, Aimard is cre-
ating and recording music for the
television series "Arte," which fea-
tures films that focus on great com-
posers of the 20th century. Tonight's
concert at Hill Auditorium is his
debut in Ann Arbor.
posers tonight at Hill Auditorium.
The Orchestre is performing one
work from Messiaen, titled "Les
Offrandes Oubli6es" and three
pieces by Ravel, including "Piano
Concerto in G Major" (featuring
Aimard), "La Valse" and "Daphnis
and Chloe Suite No.2."
This will mark the first time that
the Orchestre has visited the Uni-
versity since 1976. Since the
Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures
Cuba Gooding Jr. on the set of "Chill Factor 2."
S lly, unfunny
'Snow Dogs' 1is
just plai'n mush
d Curtes
Conductor Christoph Eschenbach
By Jenny Jeltes
Daily Arts Writer
American Pie 2' DVD laden
with hours of bonus material
In what was expected to be a
poorly developed, but perhaps
By Dustin Seibert
Daily Arts Writer
beats the MTV versio
Other than the un
deleted scenes, most
Not very often does a sequel have the same immedi- dull at best. "Your F
ate effect on an audience that the original did, but it tion of the best sce
can be safely said that "American alarming importanc
Pie 2," last year's sequel to the both movies won't1
1999 surprise hit, comes pretty "Classic Quotes" trie
darn close. Normally, the idea of ture showcasing the
American making a sequel to a movie in there is absolutelyt
Pie 2 DVD which the lead character sticks his scenes that we cans
Universal Pictures dick into a pie would be met with bonus material.
some level of B-movie disap- Probably the mostc
proval, but "AP2" was met with open arms at the box is the presentation of
office. ly dark, with a dull
The "Collector's Edition" DVD (as opposed to the show. Do not adjusty
one that you buy and throw away later) comes with a good folks at Univ
promise of hours and hours of extra material, but in much better clarity
reality there are only a few noteworthy special fea- movie itself. There is
tures. The obligatory "making of" featurette, wittily to allow it to have b
titled "The Baking of American Pie 2," is simply a DTS 5.1 Digital Sot
behind the scenes displaying the utter complexities audio glory if you ca
that go into making such an epic rovie, featuring rifice.
commentary from the cast and directors. "Good Of course, the mov
Times with the Cast and Crew" is just an oppor- should have fir
tunity to witness the cast behave like
total idiots off-camera over a musicx
track: If the characters engaged you
in the movie, then they should keep f
your attention for this five minutes.
The feature commentary in this#
movie is expansive, which is
included for the viewer who feels ,
the need to have people constant-
ly talking over the movie. You.
have the option of hearing direc- ry
tor J.B. Rogers, writer Adam>
Hertz, Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari,
or my personal favorite, Eddie
Kaye Thomas. A feature usually 1
reserved for fanatics who have to
get into every nook and cranny, the
commentary is fun to listen to once
you already know what will happen
next in the film itself. For the couple
dozen remaining 3 Doors Down fans
their "Be Like That" music video is o e
here, in all its clear DVD glory. It "Pie" cast thanks God they'll never get ugly.
n hands down.
nexciting array of outtakes and
of the other bonus features are
avorite Piece of Pie," a compila-
res from both movies, bears no.
e, as those who have access to
be moved to sit through them.
es to take itself seriously as a fea-
best lines from the movie, but
no point whatsoever in adding
simply skip to in the movie as a
disappointing feature of the DVD
'the movie itself. It runs extreme-
red tint playing throughout the
your television - this is how the
rei'sal made it. Overall, there is
in the bonus features than the
s no excuse for the DVD creators
een mass-produced as such. With
und, you can watch the movie in
n somehow escape the visual sac-
vie itself is good, dirty humor and
rst-time viewers busting guts. The
movie comes in its standard
R-rated version, along with
an unrated issue, designed
for those who feel the
. need to witness Jim endure
more agony after super-
gluing his schlong to his
hand.
The DVD itself is just
an example of overkill at
its finest. In a promise of
10 hours of material, there
are probably only two
(excluding the novie) that
will be meaningful to any-
one. "The American Pie:
Ultimate Edition DVD" is
the example that they
should have followed on
this new one, so don't be
surprised if you see an
)ofUniversai "ultimate edition" AP2
DVD in the nearfuture.
Snow
Dogs
Grade: D+
At Showcase
and Quality 16
slightly
entertaining
film, "Snow
D o. g s"
proves to be
even worse.
An extreme-
ly boring
script, paired
with pre-
dictability
and the
absence of
anything
truly funny,
m a k e s
"Snow Dogs" a futile attempt to
make some post-holiday dough.
The presence of Cuba Gooding,
Jr. is the only potentially redeem-
ing aspect to the film, but any
real talent on his behalf would
just stray too far from the con-
fines of an inane and superficial
story.
When Ted Brooks (Cuba
Gooding, Jr.), a cit.y boy with a
successful dental career, gets a
phone call from Alaska, he
learns that he is adopted and that
his biological mother, Lucy, who
lived up in the sled-dog town of
Tolketna, has just passed away.
Upon the town's request, he flies
to Alaska to work some things
out and perhaps find his real
father. He soon realizes the cold,
harsh weather and basic lifestyle
is just not for him, however, and
the funniest scenes consist of
him slipping all over the icy
ground ... Haha, how hilarious!
Right.
Don't get me wrong. Gooding
seems to have done the best he
could possibly do with such a
meaningless script. His charac-
ter's reactions, for the most part,
are genuine and appropriate to
the situations he is given. It
seems there could have been at
least some attempt at real humor
or smart dialogue on the writer's
part; but alas, there is none.
Of course the film could not
be complete without a touching
love story and Ted soon falls for
Barb (Joanna Bacalso), the local
bartender and also the most
beautiful woman in town. Barb
inspires Ted to stick around after
giving up at finding his father
and Ted soon finds himself
learning all about sled dog rac-
-ing, known as "mushing," which
is the one activity Lucy had
adored.
Ted has also inherited her sled
dogs and with the annual Arctic
Challenge race coming up in two
weeks, Barb urges Ted to race in
honor of Lucy, but several things
are holding him back. First,
"Thunderjack" (James Coburn)
the local old man who takes
mushing very seriously, is in
constant pursuit of buying
Lucy's dogs, especially Demon,
the lead dog that seems to hate
Ted anyway. Secondly, Ted
knows absolutely nothing about
mushing, and he's convinced he
could not learn the sport quickly
enough.
Nevertheless, Ted feels some
sort of calling to carry out the
race and just when he is getting
ready to leave Tolketna behind,
one last look at the dogs con-
vinces him he should stay. The
emotional peak of "Snow Dogs"
is probably the longing look the
dogs give Ted when he is prepar-
ing to leave them behind. Seri-
ously. Cute, yes, but trite?
Definitely.
By this time, if you haven't
already figured it out, you will
know how the rest of the story
will pan out, at least in a general
sense. Everyone will be happy
and Ted and Barb will fall in
love. A slightly unexpected twist
leaves Ted with the knowledge
of who his father is, but this real-
ly isn't that surprising, because
in this kind of film, there are
absolutely no loose ends and
everything just works out per-
fectly, but at the cost of being
boring and predictable.
0
Atypical jazz musician Charlie Haden
brings bass to the Mendelssohn Theater
s150 18K
Our Entire
loetion Of
ERFF JONES
llGee Ring
Styles
an.i
By Archana Ravi
For the Daily
At first glance, performer Charlie Haden
would seem like,
Charlie
Haden's
Quartet
West
Mendelssohn
Theatre
Fri. at 8 p.m.
an atypical jazz musician-
and he is just that. He ritu-
ally performs behind a pane
of plexiglass with his eyes
shut, holding his bass an
arm's length away and
turned in the opposite
direction.
But it is not merely his
stance that makes him
unique to the world of jazz.
Haden first became a jazz
modernist in 1957, when he
joined Ornette Coleman's
new quartet, which includ-
ed trumpeter Don Cherry
tet West. While recording several albums over
the course of the '90's, this band developed a
reputation of evoking the Raymond Chandler
"film noir" atmosphere of Hollywood in the
1940's. Quartet West's music also manifested
and intertwined all of Charlie Haden's many
musical interests including classical, folk,
American pop and contemporary jazz.
Another aspect of Haden's musical individu-
ality lies in his incredible character. He advises
his students regularly, "If they want to be great
jazz musicians, they have to strive first to
become great human beings ... You have to
develop your character to the level that you
achieve when you're touching music. It's one of
the most difficult things, I think."
Haden's charming character is, indeed, a
reflection of his incomparable skills as a musi-
cian. In jazz bands, drummers are often wrong-
ly accredited with keeping the beat. Haden,
i
I