THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Organizations Will Contribute
To
Four-Day
Musical Period
Chicago Symphony
Here For 31st Visit
The Chicage Syi".
phony Orchestra will
play in five of the six
,Festival oncert&
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
otes On hopin oncert
By BARBARA BEACH
Fused in the brilliant artistry of
two famous personalities, the Con-
certo in F Minor will, by the sheer
beauty of its melody, make the Sat-
urday afternoon concert the most
memorable in the series for many lis-
teners.
It is Frederic Chopin at his best:
still filled with youth and exuber-
ance, fancying himself in love, he
had yet to encounter the break in
health and the tragic association with
George Sand that together, produced
in his music that sadness and almost
insane despondency for which it is
known.
Expresses Emotional Heights
A man of exquisite sensibilities,
Chopin in his music expresses the very
heights of human emotion, and even
transcends that which is human -
reaching an almost impersonal per-
fection of art. The inspiration for
the second movement, drawn from
Chopin's love for Constantina Gla-
dowska is perhaps a mere nucleus
around which he builds his sphere
of imaginative feeling.
The chief characteristic of the Con-
certo is this lovely flowing melody,
embellished with runs and arpeggios
that delight and surprise. Chopin's
artistry is clearly apparent in the
skill with which the melody, ever
changing in intricate patterns, is su-
perimposed upon the background of+
the regular rhythm. His ability to+
handle rhythms with such superb,
artistry will recall the fact that Cho-i
pin was among the first to apply the
to trace the lucid drifts of the1
as it emerges, an expressiont
mantic feeling. Lhevinne isi
nixed as one of the greatest
intepreters of Copin H
theme
of ro-'
recog-;
living
withigninterpetes fonswho ays
accustomed to see Chopin transmitted
'through hair and finger-tips' will be
pleasantly surprised to see this artist
sitting quietly before the piano, and.
with poise.
Lhevinne is an impressive per-
former. Grey, bushy hair and strong
features, he can make his huge hands
span four notes over an octave, a
useful performance in the rendition
of Chpin, whose intricate variations
demand such things (although,
strangely enough, Chopin's own hands,
were unusually small).
Life Is Fascinating
His own life. is a fascinating story.
Born in Moscow of a poor musician
who played in the Moscow Opera, he
received his musical training at the
Moscow Imperial Conservatory under
Safanoff, one of the most famous
teachers at the time. Only 18- years
old, Lhevinne won the Rubenstein.
Award, an international prize highly
coveted.
When he was 30 years old, coming
to the United States for his first con-
cert tour, he was informed that, for
lack of funds, all of his concerts save
the Carnegie Hall performance had
been cancelled. Undaunted, he played"
there Rubenstein's Fifth Concerto
(the orchestra under the direction of
his former teacher, Safanoff) with
(Continued on Page 3)
JOSEF LHEVINNE
folk dance rhythms (the polka, the
mazurka, and the polonaise, to-serious
musical effort.'
The real spark of Chopin's genius'
will be apparent, not in the orchestra-
tions, but in the piano music itself.
While his piano remains essentially
romantic in form, the orchestral score
is developed along the lines of the
contrapuntal school; one realizes that
Chopin had studied the old masters,
such as Bach, who is an outstanding
representative of the school.
You may expect Joseph Lhevinne
'Boris Godunof'
Will Be Heard
Saturday Night
Final "Concert Of Festival
To Be Famous Russian
Opera ByMoussorg ky
"Boris Godunof" the stupendous
Russian opera by Moussorgsky, will
be heard in Ann Arbor for a second
time, at the Saturday night May
Festival concert, in Hill Auditorium.
Tt was heard in Ann Arbor four years
ago, and made a profound impres-
sion, echoes of which have reached
around the world. As on that occa-
sion, it will be given in the original
English version.
The historical facts behind the
story of "Boris Godunof" are as fol-
lows:
Isac Ivan, the Terrible, had two
sons: Feodor, who ascended the
throne, and his brother Dimitri,, who
was in exile at Uglitch. Dimitri was
found murdered near the end of the
reign of Feod'ar, and' when Boris as-
cended the throne on the death of
Feodo=, it was rumored that he
(Boris) had been responsible for the
death of Dimitri.
Boris Reign Trubled
The reign of Boris was short and
troubled. Led by a pretender, who
passed himself as the murdered
Dimitri, who had been brought back
to life by a miracle, the people re-
volted against Boris at the time of
his death.. This is the skeleton of
the plot, drawn from history and
elaborated into dramatic proportions
by the poet-dramatist Pushkin and
readapted by the composer when he
utilized these incidents for his opera.
These are in all five versions of
Moussorgsky's "Boris." The first
written in 1868-69 was rejected by
the managment of the Imperial The-
atres on the ground that it was too
unlike the opera as they knew it.
Moussorgsky then made alterations
and additions and the work was ac-
cepted for production (1872-3). It
was not given in its entirety, but the
success of its extracts induced the
music publishers, Bessel and Com-
pany, to publish the vocal score in
1874.
Score Long Neglected
From 1881 to 1896, the score lay
neglected. Then Rimsky Korsakoff
made his first and later in 1908, his
second distorted versions of the orig-
inal.
Moussorgsky, born among the
country folk, ever sympathetic to
their position with respect to imperi-
alism, pictures their blind obedience,
their awsome power and finally their
surging revolution. Perhaps all this
was a prophecy of the events of 1918,
in which case, there is an explana-
tion for the removal of the opera
from the repertoire in Russia under
the Tsars and the, great popularity
of the work in the last decade.
The music of Moussorgsky is over-
flowing with vitality and reckless in
its daring. It is music born of the
earth, free from decadence of any
kind, unfettered and incomparably
stimulating.
Opera Called Incomparable
There is nothing, it is said, in the
whole field of opera that can com-
pare for dramatic intensity, and
thrilling grandeur, with the great
agitation scenes of the populace in
Revolution; nor with the scene in
which the criminal neuropathic Czar
Boris is driven into madness by the
ghost of his murdered victim.
In the Rimsky Korsakoff versions,
usually heard, much of the primor-
dial power and wild splendor of the
original orchestral score has been
destroyed and lost, through a mis-
directed attempt to "refine" some of
Moussorgsky's crudity. These crudi-
ties, however, appeal particularly to
our age, and music lovers will wel-
come the opportunity to hear this
great work in its thrilling, torrential
and colorful original
P rogram Shows
Musical Ability
Oyf Many Stars
MAYFESTIVAL
NOTICE-
THE PRICES of Season Tickets (six concerts)
have been reduced $1.00 each, to new low
levels of $2.00, $3.00, and $4.00 for holders
of "Festival" Coupons (an average of from
33c to 67c per concert), and $5.00, $6.00,f
and $7.00 for others.
Orders filed and filled in sequence.
ARTISTS GROUPS
MARY MOORE . . . . . . . . . Soprano THE UNIVERSITY CHORAL UNION
HELEN JEPSON . . . . . . . Soprano EARL V. MOORE
MYRTLE LEONARD . COntralto
= Musical Director
RUTH POSSELT . . . Violinist
WILBUR EVANS.........BaritoneTHE CHICAGO SYMPHONY
MAXIM PANTELEIFF . . . Baritone ORCHESTRA
GIOVANNI MARTINELLi . . . Tenor
JOSEF LHEVINNE . Pianist FREDERICK STOCK
PAUL ALTHOUSE . . Tenor ERIC DELAMARTAR
ETHYL HAYDEN . . .... Soprano Conductors
THEODORE WEIB . . Baritone YOUNG PEOPLE'S FESTIVAL
PAUL LEYSSAC . .Narrator CHORUS
MABEL Ross RHEAD ..... Pianist
JUVA HIGBEE, Conductor
E. WILLIAM DOTY .... Organist
WORKS
BORIS GODUNOF in English . . . Moussorgsky
1Ti\ 1'^ A iTT mT-T Vt fJ
Helen Jepson To Sing
First Performance
1935 Festival
At
In
(Continued From Page 1)
Bach. Giovanni Martinelli will con-
tinue with Aria from "Simon Bocca-
negra" by Verdi, and Aria from "La
Juive" by Halevy. Next will be "Suite
for Orchestra, Op. 19" by Dohnanyi,
a fantasy, "Circus Days" Op. 18 by
Taylor, and Aria from "Andrea Che-
nier" by Giordano.
The second matinee of the Festival
will be given on Saturday afternoon
with Josef Lhevine, pianist presenting
the program. He will play a varied
program including the works of the
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