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ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1947
® _ ^ _ i
Biggest
Musical
Season
Will
Begin
Oct.
2
Noted Boston
SymphonyTo
Appear Here
Will Be Directed
By Koussevitzky
The Boston Symphony Orches-
tra, which will appear in Ann Ar-
bor under Serge Koussevitzky,
Dec. 8, has had a long history of
great performances since it was
first organized in 1881.
Famed for Berkshire Festivals,
pop concerts and radio broadcasts,
the Boston Symphony has become
probably the best known sym-
phony in America.
Pop Concerts
The Pop Concerts, given during
May, June and July in Symphony
Hall, were first begun in the
spring of 1885. While programmes
suiting lighter tastes of the season
are played under the direction of
Arthur Fiedler, refreshments are
served at tables on the floor of
the Hall. So popular have these
concerts become, that they have
been imitated by most large sym-
phonies.
In 1929, the open-air Esplanade
concerts were first held on the
Embankment of the Charles River.
Berkshire Music
The Berkshire Symphonic Fes-
tival was first conceived in 1936.
Tanglewood estate was presented
to the orchestra in that year for
the performances and by 1940,
nine concerts were given a year.
The present "Shed" has a capa-
city of more than 6,000 people.
Serge Koussevitzky, conductor,
is beginning his 24th successive
season with the orchestra. Before
his American appearances, he had
organized and conducted an or-
chestra in Moscow and St. Peters-
burg. In addition, he had present-
ed-the Concerts Kousseviitzky to
large audiences in Paris.
Organizes Center
It was Koussevitzky, who in
1940 realized a long-cherished
plan to establish a center of the
arts to further the studies of
music students. - The Berkshire
Music Center, opened July 8, 1940,
developed into one of the largest
summer music centers in the
country.
Last season, Koussevitzky pre-
sented varied programs including
both modern and traditional
works. A new symphony by Aaron
Copland was given its debut by
the orchestra. Two symphonies
commissioned by the Koussevitzky
Music Foundation also received
their first performances.
Minneapolis
Symphony To
Play Feb.15
The Minneapolis Symphony Or-
chestra with its internationally
noted conductor, Dimitri Mitro-
poulos, will play sunday, February
15, in Hill Auditorium in the
fourth of the special concert
series.
The orchestra is one which has
its roots deep in the culture of
the great Northwest where it has
followed a course of sound and
gradual development through the
years. It is composed of ninety
musicians and is known as one of
the most widely traveled orhes-
tras in America.
Well Traveled
Since 1906 when it made its
first tour, it has performed in
all parts of the United States as
well as Canada and Cuba.
Before it moved to the campus
of the University of Minnesota,
the orchestra for 25 years played
in an auditorium constructed for
its use in the Minneapolis loop
which seated only 2,200 patrons.
Now, under an arrangement with
the University Board of Regents,
it has become an integral part of
the life of the institution.
University Group
Through the arrangement, the
university brought within the or-
bit of its educational advantages
the chief cultural attraction of
Two 'Messiah' Concerts
Rescheduled This Year
Double Performance Policy Created
By Admission Deniands Last Winter
Two performances of Handel's monumental oratorio, "Messiah,"
will be given Dec. 13 and 14, by the University Choral Union.
Four soloists from New York and Chicago will be heard, accom-
panied by a special orchestra composed of students and townspeople.
Frieda Op't Holt Vogan will be at the organ and Lester McCoy,
associate conductor of the University Musical Society, will direct
the concerts.
Two Concerts Created by Demand
The policy of a second concert was begun last year and continued
because of the demand for admission. "Messiah" performances have
DR. CHARLES SINK
*, * *
Sink Promises
Varied Season
For Audiences
The University Musical Society
endeavors to present each season
through several series of concerts,
a wide range of music literature
performed by the most distin-
guished artists and organizations.
It attempts, not merely to amuse
or entertain, but rather to inject
into the lives of its patrons a cul-
tural background comparable in
all respects to the best that is pro-
vided by the University in its nu-
merous schools and colleges in
academic and professional fields.
To this end symphonic and choral
music, chamber music, vocal and
instrumental recitals, are includ-
ed-all synchronized in such a
manner as to cover in the course
of a season well-nigh the entire
field of both classic and modern
compositions.
This season twenty concerts are
announced in addition to the six
programs in the annual May Fes-
tival. Six orchestra programs are
included. Two choral concerts,
seven recitals by singers and three
chamber music concerts will be
heard; and as a climax, the May
Festival of six concerts. Music-
lovers are thus enabled to adapt
themselves to the courses in
which they may be specially in-
terested.
The Board of Directors of the
University Musical Society again
expresses appreciation to music-
lovers of the University and com-
munity for their continued sym-
pathetic support and co-operation
through the years, for only by
such support can so comprehen-
sive a program be maintained.
(Signed) Charles A. Sink.
President.
' long been a Christmas season tra-
dition in Ann Arbor.
Frances Yeend, soprano, was se-
lected as soloist by Koussevitzky
for a performance of Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony and the leading
role in the American premiere
performance of Britten's new
opera "Peter Grimes" at the Berk-
shires last summer. Miss Yeend
came originally from Vancouver,
and made her New York debut
only two years ago.
Mary Van Kirk, contralto, is a
Metropolitan Auditions of the Air
winner. Her only previous appear-
ance in Ann Arbor was in 1944.
She has also appeared with the
New York Oratorio Society, the
Washington Choral Society, sev-
eral symphony orchestras and
radio broadcasts.
Oratorio Experience
Harold Haugh, tenor, has ap-
peared with the Handel and Hay-
den Society and the Boston Sym-
phony Orchestro. He has had
long experience in oratorio per-
formances.
Mark Love, bass, is a veteran of
nearly five hundred performances
of the "Messiah." A member of
the Chicago Opera Company, Love
will be making his Ann Arbor
debut this year.
Choral Union
Organized in 1879, the Univer-
sity Choral Union, performs each
year in both the "Messiah" and
May Festival concerts. Composed
principally of students of choral
music, the chorus studies as well
as providing music for others.
This season in addition to the
"Messiah," it will perform the
Mozart Great Mass in C minor,
and Rachmaninoff's "The Bells"
at the May Festival. These works
will be conducted by Thor John-
son, and the Philadelphia Orches-
tra, with soloists, will participate.
String Group
Will Perform.
The eighth annual Chamber
Music Festival, to be performed
by the Paganini String Quartet,
will take place, Friday and Sat-
urday, Jan. 16 and 17 in Rackham
Lecture Hall.
Four renowned artists, each an
eminent musician on his own in-
strument, make up the quartet.
Henri Temianka and Gustave
Roeseels are the violinists; Rob-
ert Courte, violist; and Robertl
Maas, violoncellist.
The name of the quartet derives
from the fact that all of the in-
struments, which were made by
Stradivarius, were at one time
owned by the famous Paganini.
Last year the quartet made its
world debut, performing in most
of the European countries, as
well as American cities from coast
to coast.
Young Star
To Give First
Concert Here
Munsel Achieved
Fame in Teens
Patrice Munsel, the Spokane,
Wash. lass who skyrocketed to op-
eratic fame while still in her teens,
will open the second annual Extra
Concert series at 8:30 p.m. Oct.
18 at Hill Auditorium.
Twenty-two-year-old Miss Mun-
sel, a coloratura soprano, will
make her Ann Arbor debut at the
October concert. Currently she is
making her fifth national concert
tour.
Opera Veteran
Already a veteran of five sea-
sons at the Metropolitan Opera
Company in New York, Miss Mun-
sel has also made numerous net-
work radio appearances. Last year
her radio work brought her the
title of the "best female vocalist"
in a national poll of radio editors.
When only 17 the dark-haired
songstress attained national rec-
ognition as a winner of the Met-
ropolitan Auditions of the Air. At
first skeptical of the slight girl
who appeared before them clad in
bobby-sox, skirt and blouse, the
staid Metropolitan auditioning
board quickly changed their opin-
ions after hearing Miss Munsel
perform.
Metropolitan Debut
The very next year, when still
only 18, the attractive prima-
donna made her official Metro-
politan debut as Philine in "Mig-
non." Her superb performance
won her a seven-minute ovation
from opera throngs who imme-
diately dubbed her "Princess Pat."
And after five subsequent operatic
seasons Miss Munsel is still the
youngest star of the Metropolitan
Opera Company.
The young star, who is just at
the age most college students com-
plete their scholastic careers, says
no college course could provide
the maturing qualities she has
received in her Metropolitan opera
experience. According to Miss
Munsel the insight which she has
gained from contact with ma-
ture colleagues is something that
most students acquire only after
they graduate.
Social Life
However, she ruefully admits
that her operatic career has ham-
pered her social life. With con-
cert, radio and opera performances
occupying most of her time, Miss
Munsel has difficulty inserting
much social life into her jam-
packed schedule.
The young lass has some defi-
nite ideas about family life, how-
ever. The vivacious soprano hopes
her future husband will be tall,
not too good-looking, with a well-
rounded personality and lots of
ingenuity. However the future
spouse does not have to be a mu-
sician, since Miss Munsel thinks
two artistic egos in one family
would be more than the traffic
could bear.
Despite her five previous sea-
sons in the Met, Miss Munsel feels
that she won't hit her artistic
stride for several more years. She
See PRINCESS, P. 2
Music Series
Began in 1879
Faculty Among First
Directors of SQciety
The University Musical Society
was organized in 1879 to provide a
means of coordinating the music
offered to the community and that
planned for the University.
Faculty members and other pro-
minent citizens of the communiity
form the Society's Board of Dir-
ectors which is headed by Charles
A. Sink as president and director.
The first move of the Society
was the establishment of the
Choral Union Series to present a
wide variety of musical tallent and
programs with selections not offe
ed inin everyday life.
As a further means to fusing
HILL AUDITORIUM-To be scene of biggest Ann Arbor musical
season, featuring two special Choral Union series of concerts.
CINCINNATI SYMPHONY:
Thor Johnson, Ex-Director
Of Choral Union, To Conduct
Thor Johnson, former director
of the University Symphony Or-
chestra,Uwillconduct the Cincin-
nati Symphony Orchestra in the
last concert of the Choral Union
Series at 8:30 p.m. March 18 at
Hill Auditorium.
Newly appointed to the con-
ductorship of the orchestra, John-
son has been widely hailed as the
most outstanding young American
conductor.
Widely Educated
Johnson received his bachelor's
degree in music at the University
of North Carolina and has studied
at the University of Michigan, the
Conservatory of Leipzig and under
such eminent musicians as Felix
Weingarten, Bruno Walter and
Serge Koussevitsky.
He has appeared as guest con-
ductor with the New York Phil-
harmonic, the Boston, Chicago
and Philadelphia Symphony Or-
chestras.
The Cincinnati Orchestra was
founded in 1895 under the direc-
tion of Frank van der Stucken
and in following years has been
directed by Leopold Stokowski,
Ernst Kunwald, Eugene Ysaye,
Fritz Reiner and Eugene Goosens.
Accompanied by Brahms
Although half of the 84 mem-
bers of the orchestra are American
born, many of them graduates of
the Cincinnati Conservatory of
Music and the Cincinnati College
of Music, the orchestra's German
born second violinist, Emil Heer-
mann, bears the distinction of
playing with the great composer
Johannes Brahms as his accom-
panist.
When Heermann was a young
violin student in Germany,
Brahms was a frequent visitor at
his home where the master joined
Heermann in informal musical
gatherings.
Valuable Instruments
Members of the Cincinnati Or-
chestra play instruments valued
at more than $250,000 including
violins, violas and cellos, some of
them genuine Stradivari and
Guarveri which are valued from
$5,000 to $25,000 apiece.
Many of the instruments have
interesting histories and are high-
ly valued for this reason alone.
One cello, for example, the back
and sides of which were made by
Stradivarius, and the front by
Jean Baptist Guadanini, another
famous violin maker, was once lost
and finally discovered in an un-
marked crate in the basement of
a warehouse among barrels of
herring and mountain potatoes.
Other valuable instruments in-
clude a Testore viola, made *in
1745, formerly owned by the late
Eugene Ysaye, the., great Belgian,
virtuoso, and a viola made in 1715
by the great Venetian violin
maker, Franciscus Gobetti. The
viola is known as the "Titian
Viola," because of its rich color-
ing..
Frieze Orgran
Acclaimed as
One of Finest
One of the largest, most effec-
tive instruments of its kind is the
Frieze Memorial Organ in Hill
Auditorium, according to Dr. Pal-
mer Christian, Professor of Organ.
"In size of specification, the
Hill Auditorium organ stands
among the large instruments of
the day," he said, "and because
of the near-ideal organ chamber,
the imposing range of effects pos-
sible from the instrument are sub-
ject to more sensitive presenta-
tion, probably, than is the case in
any other concert hall in Amer-
ica."
Originally built by Roosevelt,
the finest American builder of the
time, the organ was purchased for
the University by the University
Musical Society and installed in
University Hall in 1894 following
the close of the Chicago World's
Fair, where it had been on dis-
play. It was named in honor of
Henry Simmons Frieze, former
professor of Latin and first pres-
ident of the society when it was
organized in 1879.
Upon completion of Hill Audi-
torium, the instrument was moved
from University Hall and rebuilt
to some extent. It was dedicated
at then1928 May Festival.
It now consists of 120 sets of
pipes, six of them were used from
the instrument formerly in the
same location. They embrace a
very wid erange of tone color and
of dynamics. The front pipes, used
in the previous organ as "speaking
pipes," are entirely decorative.
'U' Music Society
Ads New Series
Of Five Concerts
Handel's 'Messiah,' May Festival,
Chamber Music To Be Presented
Twenty-six concerts, including two Choral Union series programs,
will provide Ann Arbor with the biggest musical season in its history.
The annual presentation of Handel's "Messiah," the Fifty-fifth
Annual May Festival and three concerts by the Paganini String
Quartet will be given during the year in addition to the two concert
series.
Opening with a recital by Karin Branzell, contralto, Oct. 8, the
Sixty-ninth Annual Choral Union Series, consisting of ten programs,
will include performances by three symphony orchestras, two pianists,
the Westminster Choir, two sing- -
ers and a violinist.
The special extra series of five
cqcerts, opening with Patrice
M~unsel, Oct. 18, will include pro-
grams by the Cleveland Orchestra,
the Don Cossack Chorus, the Min-
neapolis Orchestra and Alexander
Brailowsky, pianist.
All concerts will be given in Hill
Auditorium and will begin at 8
p.m. except for the performances
of the Minneapolis, Cleveland and
Chicago Symphony Orchestras,
which will begin at 7 p.m.
The Chicago Symphony Or-
chestra, Artur Rodzinski, con-
ductor; the Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Serge Koussevitsky,
conductor; and the Detroit
Symphony Orchestra, with Karl
Kreuger, are the three sym-
phonies playing in the regular
concert series.
The complete programs for the
two series follow:
In the sixty-ninth Annual
Choral Union Series: Karin Bran-
zell, contralto, Oct. 8; Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, Oct. 26;
Daniel Ericourt, French pianist,
Nov. 4;, Set Svanholm, Swedish
tenor, Nov. 14; Westminster Choir,
Nov. 24; Boston Symphony Or-
chestra, Dec. 8; Myra Hess, pian-
ist, Jan. 10; Detroit Symphony
Orchestra, Feb. 23; Georges Enes-
co, violinist, March 2; and the
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra,
March 18.
In the extra series of concerts:
Patrice Munsel, Oct. 18; Cleveland
Orchestra, Nov. 9; Don Cossack
Chorus, Dec. 2; Minneapolis Sym-
phony Orchestra, Feb. 15; and
Alexander Brailowsky, pianist,
March 10.
Handel's "Messiah," will be
presented twice, Saturday, Dec.
13 and Snuday, Dec. 14. The
University Choral Union, a spe-
cial orchestra, with soloists
Frances Yeend, soprano, Mary
Van Kirk, contralto, Harold
Haugh, tenor and Mark Love,
bass, will be heard. Lester Mc-
Coy will direct the performances
and Frieda Op't Holt Vogan will
be organist.
Three concerts will be given by
the Paganini String Quartet, Jan.1
16 and 17 in the Rackham Build-
ing.
The Fifty-fifth Annual May
Festival will take place April 29
and 30 and May 1 and 2. Included
in the six concerts will be per-
formances by the Philadelphia
Symphony Orchestra and the
University Choral Union.
Jaroff Will Direct
Don Cossack Chorus
A particular favorite of Ann
Arbor audiences, the Don Cossack
Chorus was founded in 1923 in
Constantinople.
At the close of the Revolution,
while they were prisoners of war,
they were exiled forever from
their homeland. They toured cen-
tral Europe creating great interest
because of their interpretations of
sacred folk music and battle
songs.
George Szell
Will Conduct
Here Nov. 9
Will Lead Cleveland
Orchestra in Concert
The Cleveland Symphony Or.
chestra, under the direction o
George Szell, will present the sec
ond concert in the second annua
Extra Concert Series at 7 p.m
Nov. 9 at Hill Auditorium.
Szell, who has led the orchestra
since early last year, was born in
Budapest and presented his first
concert at the age of eleven.
Conducted at Seventeen
He appeared as conductor, pian-
ist and composer at a concert of
the Berlin PhilharmonicOrches-
tra when he was seventeen and
decided then on a career of con-
ducting.
Szell has conducted orchestras
in Darmstadt, Dusseldorf, Berlin,
Prague, Glasgow and The Hague
in Europe, and New York, Boston,
Philadelphia, Chicago, Los An-
geles, Detroit and Cleveland in
the United States.
An able composer, Szeil recent-
ly conducted his own arrangement
of Smetana's String Quartet.
Associate Conductor
Associate conductor of the
Cleveland Orchestra, Rudolph
Ringwall has been connected with
te orchestra for twenty-two of its
the orchestra for twenty-two of its
Cleveland's best known musicians,
he is commentator and conductor
of the Educational Concerts and
conductor of the "Twilight" and
summer "Pops" concerts given by
the orchestra.
Ringwall graduated and became
a member of the faculty of the
New England Conservatory in
Boston and later joined the Bos-
ton Symphony Orchestra. He has
played with the National Sym-
phony Orchestra and as a mem-
ber of the Innisfail String Quar-
tet in San Francisco.
Another well-known personal-
ity of the orchestra is the newly-
appointed concertmaster Samuel
Thaviu.
Kreu ger Will
Conduct Here
Will Lead Detroit
Orchestra Feb. 23
The Detroit Symphony Orches-
tra, directed by Kansas-born Karl
Kreuger, will appear February 23
at Hill Auditorium in the eighth
concert of the Choral " Union
series.
The orchestra, which emerged
from near-bankruptcy five years
ago, has since earned recognition
by music critics as "one of the
nation's major symphonic organi-
zations."
Largely responsible for this re-
entry into the big leagues of sym-
phonic music is Karl Kreuger,
who, asanative-born conductor
of a major American orchestra,
is something of a trail-blazer.
During the summer of 1945
Krueger appeared as guest con-
ductor of the leading symphony
orchestras of South America,
where he was hailed by critics,
TRIPLY TALENTED:
Georges Enesco Will Appear
Here During New U.S. Tour
0
Georges Enesco, internationally
famous composer, conductor and
violinist, will appear here March
2, in ,the. course of his first visit
to this country in more than
seven years.
Triply talented, Enesco is known
and honored in the-United States.
As a composer, his Roumanian
Rhapsody in A major, is a pop-
ular work in orchestral repertoire.
As a conductor, Enesco has been
unharmed in his country home
near Bucharest.
Born in the Moldavian Hills of
Roumania in 1831, Enesco's talent
was discovered when, as a small
boy, he repeated on his tiny three-
stringed instrument the folk tunes
sung by the nomadic gypsies.
Studied in Vienna
At the age of seven, he began
his studies in the Vienna Conserv-
atory, from which he graduated
with the highest honors. He con-
'WINDY CITY' CONDUCTOR:
Rodzinski* Will Lead Chicago Symphony
The Chicago Symphony Or-
chestra, under its new conductor
come the new leader of the Chi-
cago Symphony.
in 1891, it has had but four con-
ductors, Theodore Thomas, Fred-