rw .... HEH MICHIG~AN DVA11JV 9t NDA PU, All 3,0t147 !UDERN WORK:- DreSton Second Symphony T BR PefIrmed at Festi r !-ilsberg Tou OU TSTA NIN: -ceetho Verdi Regio To Flr E ,t Wmrks highlight Concerts 1 Most modern of the works to be presented during the May Festival is the Symphony No. 2 by. Paul Creston, composed m 1944. "Conceivedf as an apotheosis of the two foundations of all music- song and dance," the work is writ- GTor .To GIv First Concert In Ann Arbor Ferruccio Tagliavini, tenor star of Opera Reale, Rome, La Scala, Milan, and San Carlo di Napoli, Bologna, will present selections by Massenet and Meyerbeer in the closing concert of the 1947 May Festival series, at 8:30 p.m. Sun- day, May 11. . Born in Florence in 1913, Tag- 1h.avini was hailed by critics im- ten in two miovements, introdhic- tion and Son, and interlde and Dancite., t ecJiVe.d its irst c' forance Febray l. 19 played by the Philharmoni-Syii phony Society of New York under Artur Rodzinski. Symphony Played IHere The forty year old composer is not entirely unknown to Ann Ar- bor audiences, as his Symphony No, 1 was performed at the 1943 May Festi val. Bori in New York City, October 10, 1906, Giresto n be-gan his musi- cal studies with piano lessons at f the age of eight, and continued wi h organ instruction under Pie- tro Yon. He is entirely seff- taught, however, in counterpoint, harmony and composition. Research Work Interested in all forms of music, Creston has performed research in acoustics, musicotherapy, Groe- gorian chant, evolution of har- mony, psychology of music, and various other aspects of the musi- cal art. As a result of this work, Cres- ton was twice awarded a Guggen- heim Fellowship, in 1938 and 1939. He also received a $1,000 award, given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters, in 1943. Compositions Listed It was not until 1932 that Cres- ton began considering a compos- er's care'r, although he had been writing music for some time. Since that date he has written more than 30 works. Some of these are: Suite for violin and piano; Suite for viola and piano; Suite for cel- lo and piano; Suite and a Sonata for saxophone and piano; Sonata for piano; String Quartet, Missa Pro Defunctis; Legend for band; Concertino for marimba and or- chestra; Concerto for saxophone and orchestra; Fantasy for piano and orchestra1 songs, piano piec- es and choral works. Among his orchestral composi- tions are Threnody, Two Choric Dances, Prelude and Dance, Pas- torale and Tarantella, A Rumor, Symphony No. 1, Dance Varia- tions for soprano and orchestra and Symphony No. 2. Glinka's "Russlan and Ludmila," which appeared in 1842, was founded on Pushkin's poem, and although musically it was a great advance over his first opera, "A Life for the Tsar," it had less popular success. ORCHESTRA ASSEMBLED - he Philadlphia ympon O stra is sho n as it will appeal. to the audiences at the 54th annual May Festival during which the orchestra will perform at all concerts. A.,-sociate Conductor Alexander Hlilsber., who will direct the Phila- delphri Orchestra in two concerts here this year, has seen a lot of the world Since his conidictorial dehut wit1h a Cossack hand aI the age o nine. After H ilsberg graduated from the Petrogad IpInerial Conserva - tory of Mulsic' i11 1917, 1he'went east to Tomsk, Siberia vwere he Joined a conservatory staff as violinist. H-e toulred xesieyipaigin cities throulghlout Siber1i, finllyl (:huk_1lO, which "ZaS 11hen1, ;it; now, Russian-dominated. In Harbin he taught and played for Oriental and European audi- ences for four years. He joined ' the Skidelsky Quartet which EMPIJEROR CONCERTO: Casadesus, French Pinisi, Wl Peform Betho C Work Robert Casadesus, whose mas- tery has been hailed as "the most beautiful piano playing of the century", will appear with the Philadelphia Orchestra at 2:30 p. in. Sunday, May 11. Casadesus will be heard in the Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) by Beethcv en. Musical Family A Paris born artist, Casadesus comes from a family of musicians whose members, both men and women, have made important con- tributions to French cultural life for many generations. He himself studied at the Paris Conservatoire, graduating with all prizes. His career soon covered not only Europe, but North Africa and South America. He made his de- but is the United States in Janu- ary, 1935, with the New York Philarmonic Symphony Orchestra. Since his American debut, Casa- desus has become a name of re-" nown in this country. He makes his American home in Princeton, N.J., just off the Princeton Uni- versity campus. A friendly neigh- bor is the ,physicist and amateur violinist, Albert Einstein. Composes Concerto A composer as well as pianist, Casadesus has written many works, including a Double Con- certo for Two Pianos and Orches- tra which, with his wife and him- self as soloists, both the Cincin- nati Symphony and the Rochester Philarmonic have performed. The St. Louis Symphony has played his "Ballet for the Birth of Dau- phine". His compositions also in- clude a series of piano Etudes, two symphonies, a sonata for vio- lin and piano dedicated to his Arist Photos Cover *Wa Ils ,e Society Office fld ( "Oncert Greati Great Performances of the past still live in the headquarters rooms of the University Musical Society. Cream of the musical greats of the last quarter. century still in their concert primes, look down from a huge collection of pictures which stud the walls of two of the big rooms where the Choral Union has its offices. Among the great works to be performed in the 1947 May Festi- val concert series, two are pArticul- larly ott-andin, alccording to Prof. Glenn D. MCGeouch of the music school. The Beethove1 Missa Soleiinis, Jo b heard May 9, "a suprenwly beatiful example of how a great genius can lift his work above the worldly and achieve a spiritual maI.sterpie~e," was witlten :is a erimional ins for a friend at is instllat ion ats Archbishop of Olmut z, Pit'. McGeoch satid. "Itxwas nt comlpleted in time for the ceremonybut Beethoven beaeso aibsocr bed inl its, crea- t ioni that it resullted in oile of the most individua,,l works in miusic lit- era t re"rof. McO' eh asserted. Traditional form Although B Feethioven restricted himself to the traditional form of the mass, he skillfully combined musical styles and so completely put himself into the work that it is unique in its unity and may be caled not a mass, but his mass, Prof. McGeoch said. "Lofty and beautiful as the Missa Solemnis is," Prof. McGeoch said, "it is hard to reconcile Bee- thoven's moral and ethical lapses in the disposal of the mass." Four Publishers The great composer promised the work to four different pub- lishers and borrowed money to obtain a contract for the sale of the work with no intentions of turning it over to any of these ,,sources, Prof. McGeoch explained. "He employed every possible trick to obtain the greatest monetary value for the mass." "Beethoven showed how genius in an artist can be completely apart from his 'worldly' charac- ter," Prof. Mdjeoch said.. The second significant work to be performed is the 'Te Deum' by Giuseppe Verdi which will be her. -a. 11. Prof. McGeoch said that it is also interesting to note that spir- itually inspiring as the mass is, the composer was considered an "unbeliever" in his day. Beethoven, although deeply religious in his own way. j "This work has been shamefully neglected by performers." Prof. MCGeoch said. Written when the composer was over 80 years old, "it reveals Verdi's unlimited re- sources of in1agination aind crea- tive powers with its dramatic in- tensity and color reminiscent of his greatn operas." Prof. MrGeoch said, Fire Bird Stite Will Be Give,i Cotroversy Begun~ By Stravinsky Work Since the production of "The Fire Bird" in 1910, the music of Stravinsky has created more con- troversy and critical comment than that of any other contempo- rary composer. The suite, which will be per- foimed in the fourth May Festi- val concert, has been followed by "Rite of Spring" in 1912 and "The Psalms" in 1930, all presenting dif- ferent musical positions. Stravin- sky's ideas have caused critics to label his music as "modernistic" and "futuristic '' "The Fire Bird," which first at- tracted attention to the composer, was first performed at the Paris Opera with a scenario by Vokine. In it he showed the influences of his teacher, Rimski-Korsakov. The story of the ballet is com- posed of Russian folklore concern- ing a fire bird, known in its native haunts as the Zhar-Pititsa. The movements of the siti e are organized into Introduction, Fire Bird and Her Dance, Dance of the Princesses, Kastchei's Infernal Dance, Berceuse and Finale. Stravinsky, who was born in 1882, represents the modern Rus- sian school, also shown by Mous- sorgsky, and Borodin, two of his friends. Monologue, Farewell, and Death Scene from "Boris Godu- nov" by Moussorgsky will be per- formed in the same concert of the Festival as the Stravinsky suite. t - ti Each autographed, in most cas- - X4 s inscribed, the more than four hundred pictures all were person- ly collected by Dr. Charles A. Si President of the University Muical Society. His office walls.1 co-mpletely covered with pictures o eat performers whom Dr. Sink has known intimately, are a I museum of modern musical greats. ROBERT CASADESUS In adjacent frames may be seen .to perform Beethoven I Fritz Crisler, Lily Pons, John Phil- ip Sousa, Nelson Eddy, all who friend Zino Francescatti. and a have entertained in Ann Arbor in+ Piano Concerto in E dedicated to the last quarter-century. Dmitri Mitropoulos, conductor of Glancing at random on the oth- the Minneapolis Symphony Or- cr side of the room ,one can see chestra.C Helen Jepson, Enrico Garuso and' Casadesu.s is noted for being atI Waiteir Damrosch. home with the compositions of ' Dr. Sink has an oportunity to any composer, be it the thunder- i renew old friendships when these ous virtuosity of Liszt, the artists visit Ann 4rbor during the+ strength and nobility of Brahms, musical season. It is his custom or the elegance and grace of Mo- to entertain the musicians at his zart. He himself believes that the home following the concerts. trend today is "back to Rameau --- ALEXANDER HILSBERG - . . to lead symphony FERRUCCIO TAGLIAVINI . . .to sing in last concert mediately after his debut there in 1939. Since then he has become one of the most popuar Italian recording artists and is known as the principal interpreter of several Italian films. He made his American debut with the Chicago Opera Com- pany in "Rigoletto" in 1946 and his debut with the Metropolitan Opera Company in January, 1947. Tagliavini's concert here will mark his first Ann Arbor appear- ance. played to Eastern Siberia, Japan and China. In 1921, the Quartet gave con- certs for the benefit of the China famine victims, and President Sun Yat-Sen, founder of modern China decorated Hilsberg in recognition of the work. A chance meeting with his friend Jascha Heifetz turned the violinist's thoughts to America. He came here via Vancouver in the twenties, becoming a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra's first violin section. C t - -,-----. aE ll 11 241 IAhe / /our[4~ 24nmta I and Couperin." In his own words: "the classical note is gaining everywhere. Stravinsky, who para- doxically is the greatest name in contemporary F r e n c h music, marls the ind of an era" Pinzm... ing his time in the army, during his last few months he began praticing again. He was heard by av manager and promptly on- gag ed for the role of King Mar in Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde" at the Royal Opera House in Dome. This was the turning point in his career, and his fame began to grow. Ile made hiis debut with tie Metropolitan Opera Company in November, 1926, as the Hligh Priest in Spontin's "La Vest alo" Plays Many itles Acclaimed by critics and the public as well as the greatest bass since Chaiapin, he was given an imposing array of great roles for his first season with the Metro- { pohitan. In 1929, he created a sen- sation in his first Metropolitan "Don Giovanni" and his abilities as one of the most arresting per- sonalities on any operatic stage, in addition to being a great sing- er and actor, were recognized. . A NEW AND LARGERAUDITORIUM IS NEEDED FOR MICHIGAN STUDENTS A'lAY IF IE SIL VA, i _". 4 IL A was constructed from funds be- queathed to the University by the late Arthur Hill, a loyal and generous son of Michigan, more than thirty-five years ago. Ignace Jan Paderewski pronounced it "the finest music hall in the world." For a long time it was so regarded. With the passage of years, however, the audi torium has long since lost this distinction. With the growth of the University and the widespread advance in musical culture and appreciation, it no longer adequately serves its original purpose. The University Musical Society hopes, and be- lieves, that there are other public-spirited citi- zens who would like to provide funds for a NEW AUDITORIUM, equipped in all respects to meet present-day needs. Such a building with increased capacity would make possible the presentation of mu- sical programs of greater magnitude, including grand opera in its best tradition. It would serve as ran outstanding educational and cultural fac- tor, and would also bring to the University many alumni, interested friends, and the public in general who are desirous of hearing the best programs under favorable conditions. ARS LONGA VITA BREVIS ok MAY FESTIVAL ARTISTS : , ... .w r ri 'rte .,..: :- ..,... . L. 1 I EUGENE ORMANDY, Conductor of the world renowned Philadelphia -Orchestra May 8, 9,1, 1I,1]94/f ail iil l I 1Ili 11 11 * - - - -- - - - I1I1 -- - --- - --------.- --- 11 Sw ~ l1- 1. kIII