mUsic SUPPLEMENT Y Lw 43UtLa ~Iuii4 MUSIC SUPPLEMENT 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-