THREE
THE MICNTf. AV 1) A TT.V
Enthusiastic Response Given 1940 Ten-Concert Choral
Series
Sink Predicts
Every Concert
Will Be Sellout
Heavy Demand Reported
For Season Tickets;
First Concert Oct. 23
(Continued from Page 1)
they delighted 1uc cities last year in
less than five months.
(5) The appearance on Nov. 7 of
Rudolph Serkin, Czechoslovak pian-
ist, whose brilliance was first ac-
claimed locally after a dynamic ren-
dition of Beethoven's "Emperor"
Concerto at the 1938 May Festival.
Serkin made his debut in this coun-
try during 1933 at the Coolidge Fes-
tival in Washington. The following
year he made his American solo de-
but in Carnegie Hall, receiving such
an ovation from both the critics and
the exacting 'Hall audience as has
seldom been witnessed in New York.
Ensuing seasons have seen him ex-
tend his popularity to almost every
musical point in the country.
Enesco Returns
(6) The return of Georges Enesco,
Rumanian violinist, whose "triple"
as conductor, composer and violinist
at a recent May Festival is still being
talked about.
(7) The ninth concert on Feb. 20
given by the Budapest String Quartet
which has made eight tours of the
United States, and has given nearly
1,000 concerts from Norway to the
Canary Islands.
(8) The solo appearance of Rich-
ard Bonelli, Metropolitan baritone
and standby, who is remembered in
Ann Arbor chiefly for his work in
May Festival concert operas of re-
cent years.
Giants Of Russian 'Steppes
To Chant Native Songs Here
The 34 singing giants of the Steppes
who will come here are the original
Don Cossack Chorus that was found-
ed in a military camp near Con-
stantinople about 20 years ago.
Descendants of the race of Stenka
Razin, greatest hero of the centuries
old Cossacks, they have travelled
more than a million miles to sing
more than 4,000 concerts in almost
every corner of the earth.
Singing folk tunes, Cossack soldier
songs and liturgies dating back a
thousand years, the group is now in
their eleventh season in America, pro-
duct of diminutive Serge Jaroff's
enterprise. His choirmaster training
fashioned a brilliant ensemble out
of a horde of bedraggled, homesick
prisoners. Leading them in song
around the evening campfire, he
sensed the emotion in their voices
and welded them into an artistic
aggregation.
Shortly after their fame spread be-
yond the military prison a knowing
concert manager set them on the
first of their world tours.
Serge Jaroff, Tom-Thumb direc-
tor of the Giant Don Cossack Chorus
was considered as a boy "too small
for much use" by his gargantuan
brothers and was permitted to study
music with the choirmaster of the
neighborhood church.
Born in the valley of Russia's his-
toric Don River, young Serge
showed a marked aptitude for music.
After he had learned all the local
choirmaster could teach him, young
Jaroff was sent to the Imperial Chor-
al School in St. Petersburg where
his talent was brought to the atten-
tion of the Grand Duchess Marie
whose protege he became.
He held a lieutenant's commission
during the World War in the machine
gun corps. When the war was over
he fought with the White forces and
was interned by the Soviets. At the
camp of Lemos he groomed the home-
sick Cossacks for 15 months until
there emerged a brilliant chorus of
34 whose fame spread outside the
prison walls. Invited to sing in Em-
bassy Church, they became in 1921
the official choir of the St. Sofia
Cathedral in the Bulgarian capital,
and for three years people streamed
from all over Europe to listen to
them as at a shrine.
The vicissitudes of two decades
have left the ensemble comparatively
unscathed. A record of which they
are proud is that in four thousand
appearances no one has missed a
concert, and only once was a man
tardy for rehearsal. This they as-
sert is due not only to the complicat-
ed system of fines levied against
rule-breakers, but to the strong com-
munity of interest and love of their
work.
Vinneapolis Group
Makes University
Campus Its Home
In an arrangement with the Uni-
versity of Minnesota which permits
it to make its home in beautiful
Northrop Memorial Auditorium on
the University campus, the Minnea-
polis Symphony Orchestra enjoys a
position unique among orchestras of
the country.
It was the increasing number of
music lovers who sought to attend
the symphony concerts that brought
the orchestra to the University. For
many years, the group had its home
in an auditorium erected for it in
the Minneapolis loop. This seated
only 2,200 patrons. A plan of the
Board of Regents made it possible
to move the orchestra to the Audi-
torium which seats 4,481"persons. At-
tendance at regular concerts last
year averaged more than 4,000.
PLAN MUSICAL PROGRAMS j
In addition to providing all types
of musical instruction to its own
students the University School of
Music offers a comprehensive series
of musical programs for the general
cahnpus during the year.
American Concert Audiences
Rejoice On Horowitz's Return
and despite the troubled times (it
was during the early 20's) he gave
nine concerts in rapid succession.
Ini 1925 he emerged from Russia and
never returned to his native land.
He made his European debut in Ber-
lin in 1926 and overnig;ht became
Since the night that Horowitz was
introduced to this country in a fabu-
lous debut preceded by rumors from
Europe of a second Liszt, second Ru-
benstein and even by one confused
newspaperman, of a second Pagininij
-the pianist has held a unique* place
in the musical life of his country, aj
place which even his recent long ab-
sence was unable -to shake or alter.
His return last year after an ab-
sence of four and a half years was
the signal for wild rejoicing on the
parts of the critics and the public
from coast to coast. The tour cul-
minated in an unparalled perform-
ance of the Brahms B-flat major
Concerto under the direction of Tos-
canni Toscanini in Carnegie Hall in
May, 1940, a performance which was
later recorded. His 1940-41 tour was
t sold oqt as soon as it was announced.
According to the testimony of his
friends, Horowitz, who is now 36
years old, is a simple, natural person
without affectation who has traveled
a long way from the very young man
that loved loud ties, luxurious ward-
robes and elaborate automobiles. a sensation. He made his American
He was brought up in the midst of debut in January of 1928.
a highly musical Russian family. Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven and
They did not notice his musical pre-*Brahms are his favorite composers.
Thty di, t note is musicl re- Unlike Liszt and Paderewski, who
cocity until, at the age of nine, he practiced like fiends in their early
bega.n of his own accoi to learn by years, Horowitz only practices a max-
heart piano compositions by Grieg, imum of four hours a day. It is
Rachmaninoff, etc. In another year literally true that he has not prac-
he had memorized the piano scoring ticed an exercise or scale since he
of Wagner's "Tannhauser." "Lohen- was 15 because he says he finds it
gren" and "Parsifal" and was start- all in the music itself.
ing confidently on the gigantic Ring
cycle. By this time his parents real-__
ized that here was no ordinary gift
and they sent him to the Kiev Con- Read The Daily ClassifiedS!
servatory.
At the age of 17 he made his debut
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