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Annual Concert Season
Will Open
Tuesday
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Frit Reiner
To Perform
March 12
Will Appear With
ChicagoGroup
The Chicago Symphony Orches-
tra will appear in the fifth of the
Extra Concert Series March 12
in the "new" Hill Auditorium.
A perennial favorite of Univer-
sity concert-goers, the Chicago or-
chestra will be conducted by Fritz
Reiner, former conductor of the
Pittsburgh Symphony.
CONDUCTOR Reiner caused a
sensation as guest leader with that
orchestra in 1938, and was later
made permanent conductor till
1948. It was Reiner who developed
this orchestra into a top-ranking
organization in the United States.
The Chicago Symphony's reg-
ular season is a busy one, with
subscription concerts Thursday
evenings and Friday afternoons.
Popular concerts are held every
Saturday night and young peo-
ple's shows given on alternate
Tuesday afternoons.
The organization keeps a lesser
"civic orchestra which serves as
a training group for symphony
players maintained by the orches-
tra's governing body, the Chicago,
Orchestral Association.
* * *
DURING THE summer months
the orchestra presents a series at
Ravinia Park outside Chicago, with
guest conductors and soloists. .
HILL CONCERTS:
New Hill Auditorium
Artur RubIstei
To Begin Season
By PETE HOTTON
Pianist Artur Rubinstein, after a 10-year absence, will appear at
Hill Auditorium in the first of the Choral Union Concerts Oct. 4.
Only about one pianist in 10,000 have reached the state of perfec-
tion when the critics can only sit back and admire, say the critics,
and Rubinstein is that one.
FAMOUS in concerts, radio, movies and recordings, Rubinstein is
perhaps the most widely known pianist in America.
Last summer in Chicago's Ravinia Park pavilion (once a
B-29 hangar), Rubinstein got together with two other equally
'U' Music Society
Opens_71st Year
Five Orchestras, Eight Solo Stars,
Vienna Choir Scheduled for Series
For the first time in its history, the University Musical Society
will bring the Boston Symphony Orchestra here for two concerts
this year.
Charles Munch, successor to Serge Koussevitzky, will lead the
group in the seventy-first annual Choral Union Series Sunday, Oct. 23
and the following Tuesday, Oct. 25, in the Extra Concert Series.
Three other orchestras will be heard in the regular series of
concerts-the Cleveland, under George Szell, on Nov. 6; the Cin-
cinnati under Thor Johnson, Jan.$
CHARLES A. SINK
* * *
Third oldest in th4 United,
States and in the higher quality
brackets ever since it was found-
ed, the orchestra is known to
" the entire Mid-West by its tours
and regular Wednesday evening
radio concerts.
Organized in 1891, the orches-
tra was led by its founder 'Theo-
dore Thomas until his death in
1905. Frederick Stock served until
1942, when his death interrupted
almost a half century of building
the orchestra intoone of the fin-
est in the country.
Two conductors have served
since Stock's death: Desire Defaw
and Artur Rodzinski. The podium
has been vacant since '1948, while
: a series of distinguished guest con-
ductors conduct the seasons.
Guests for the year include
Pierre Monteaux, conductor of the
San Francisco Symphony; Bruno
Walter, musical adViger of the
New York Philharmonic;. George.
Szell, director of the Cleveland
Symphony; EugenehOrmandy,
conductor of the Philadelphia Or-
chestra, Fritz Busch, Met conduc-
tor; and Charles Munch, newly
appointed conductor of the Boston
7 Symphony.
Paul Paray
Will Conduct
Pittsburghers
French Conductor
Here February 23
When the Pittsburgh Symphony
comes to Ann Arbor for a Choral
Union concert Feb. 23, it will be
under the direction of the much-
acclaimed French conductor, Paul
Paray.
Since its long-time conductor
Fritz Reiner resigned from his
post in 1948, the symphony has
adopted a guest conductor policy
which has brought such stellar
musicians as Artur Rodzinski,
Erich Leinsdorf, Charles Muench,
Leonard Bernstein and Paray to
its podium.
A irounces
SiX Series
Following is the annual message
from Charles A. Sink, president of
the University Musical Society:
To Music Lovers:-
The University Musical Society
is happy to announce twenty-six
major concerts for the season of
1949-50. These are divided into
five groups-the ,Choral Union Se-
ries, Extra Concert Series, "Mes-
siah" concerts, Chamber Music
Festival,, and the May Festival.
This season the Society anticipates
that its offeringswill by commen-
sarate in artistic .signific2 nce with
the renovated auditorium in whct.h
they w111 b'heard.
Hill. Auditorium, which was con-
structed in 1913 and completed in
ihe foir the May Festival of that
year, stands as armonument' to
the neincry of Arthur Hill. a dis-
tinguished alumnus, and for many
years a regent of the University.
i was greatly interested in msic.
The rusical development at the
University has been largely a re-
sult of his far-sighted wisdom in'
providing this building. In its early
days many distinguished musi-
cians, including Paderewski, pro-
nounced it the finest music hall
in the world. Needed renovations,
accumulated through the years,
were made by the Board of Re-
gents the last summer, and once
again the building stands in its
renewed glory as a memorial to a
man who lived and understood the
quotation adopted by the Univer-
sity Musical Society "Arts Longa
Vita Brevis."
The University Musical Society
is grateful to the University, to
Arthur Hill, and to the general
public, for all which has been done
in the furthering of good music.
The Society hopes that the offer-
ings this year will come up to ex-
pectations and that one and all
will be well pleased with every
program.
Charles A. Sink, President.
Endowment Fund
The University Musical Society,
a nonprofit corporation, has es-
tablished an endowment fund to
ensure high quality concerts in
af era of rising costs.+
All contributions will be used
to provide the best possible pro-
grams.
These gifts are deductible for
income and estate tax purposes.
Critics were skeptical - they
were worried what might happen
when three such excellent men got
together. The three had practiced
10 hours a day on the West Coast
for ten days and no one was al-
lowed to kibitz.
* * *
SAID RUBINSTEIN: 'That was
the kitchen work, and you don't
cook in public."
In Chicago, they took two test
runs to try out Ravinia's deli-
cate microphones. Rubinstein
again commented: "With this
mike, I play what is fortissimo
and drown Jascha. But what
should I do? Play mouse? I go
crazy if I hold back and go
nibble-nibble; fortissimo is not
like a mouse."
But after the performance, 8,000
Chicagoans were enraptured and
the trio had Chicago in the palms
of their hands. Said one listener:
"You didn't know whether to shout
or bow your head."
* * *
RUBINSTEIN was born in War-
saw in 1889, and was an apt mu-
sician at four, but didn't make his
debut until he was six years old.
After studying with the vioiinist
Joachim, he made his debut with
the Berlin Symphony Orchestra
at 13 with his teacher conducting.
At 16 he made his first trip
to the United States, playing at
Philadelphia, Carnegie Hall,
and 75 other cities during his
tour.
During the following half dozen
years he played in many European
countries including Russia, where
he played with Serge Koussevitsky
at St. Petersburg. When he went
into Spain to give four recitals,
he was so successful that he
stayed for 124 more.
* * *
DURING THE first World War
he toured South America and
showed up in America for the
second time in 1919. He has been
so much in demand since then
he has had to be on the move al-
most every month of his life.
He has played in North Africa,
China, Japan, Java and the Phil-
ippines besides the majorcountries
of the world.
In 1939 he returned to America
and played in Ann Arbor for the
Renovated Hill To Welcome
Choral Union Concert Goers
-Daily-Carlisle Marshall
NEW LOOK-Hill Auditorium will blaze forth in new splendor for the seventy-first opening of the
annual Choral Union Concert Series. This summer the 30-year old structure underwent its first
major interior overhaul since it was built in 1913. New upholstered seats, carpeting on the main
floor, a new lighting and sound system and, a complete paint job are only a few of the improvements
which will greet patrons. The installation of new seats has decreased the seating capacity by 383
to 4,195. To balance this loss in revenue, the Society has upped the price of season tickets by 10
cents per concert.
By DAVE THOMAS
A completely refurbished Hill
Auditorium will greet concertgo-
ers at the opening program of the
Seventy-first annual Choral Un-
ion Series, Oct. 4.
Music lovet s can lean back in
upholstered theatre-stylebseats
and enjoy the new decorative and
lighting accouterments as a fit-
ting background for the artistry
of the musicians that play there.
The $209,000 job is the first
major remodeling which the 36-
year old structure has undergone
since it's dedication at the May
Festival of 1913.
THE ENTIRE INTERIOR of the
building has been given a thor-
ough redecorating. Walls and
ceiling in the main concert hall
are done in a warm buff. The
bright red of the floor and car-
peting produces a striking con-
trast with the traditional blue and
yellow' of the seats.
Even the corridors, stairways
and back-stage area has come
in for a complete paint job.
The hardwood floor of the stage
has been sanded down and polish-
ed to a rich finish and above the
stage the old "peach basket"
lights have disappeared. In their
MEMORIES REVIVED:
Semi-Public Rehearsals Led
To Present Series of Concerts
first time. He has been in
country ever since and
month's concert marks his
ond appearance here.
this
this
sec-
May Festival
Tradition Will
Be Continued
The May Festival, one of the
oldest and most-famed traditions
of the University Musical Society,
will be held May 4, 5, 6, and 7
next year.
As in past years, the Philadel-
phia Orchestra conducted by Eu-
gene Ormandy will be a mainstay
of the Festival. The University
Choral Union, Thor Johnson, guest
conductor; and the Festival Youth
Chorus, conducted by Marguerite
Hood, will also participate.
Soloists for this year's Festival
have not yet been annousced.
Four evening concerts and two
matinees will be presented as us-
ual. Ticket orders with remittances
will be accepted and filed in se-
quence beginning Dec. 1.
The tenth annual Chamber
Music Festival, to be held Jan-
uary 13, 14, and 15, will feature
the Budapest String Quartet. Tick-
ets will go on sale Oct. 1.
Back in the days when a parlor
organ formed the nucleus for a
small musical community, Ann
Arborites were buzzing over the
news that three semi-public re-
hearsals and two concerts would
be sponsored by the University
Choral Union.
The occasion for the -announce-
ment was the first public concert
of the choral group, then a lusty
infant celebrating its initial birth-
day.
* * *
A SOUVENIR from the concert,
Single Tickets
On Sale Now
Tickets for single programs in
either the regular or extra con-
cert series are on sale now at the
University Musical Society's of-
fices in Burton Tower.
Remaining season tickets are
also on sale there. Prices for in-
dividual tickets are $3 for main
floor seats, $2.40 for first balcony
and $1.80 for the top balcony.
Season tickets for the regular
series are priced at $16.80, $14.40
and $12. Tickets for the five pro-
grams in the Extra Concert Series
are $8.40, $7.20 and $6. All prices
include taxes.
a faded yellow "programme," lay
for many years in the scrapbook
of a long-time district resident.
Recently the Choral Union's spon-
sors, the University Musical So=
ciety, obtained it, and others like
it, and they. are now being bound
for the permanent files of the So-
ciety.
Some of these recall the days
when Archduke Joseph's Hun-
garian Gypsy Band brought
down the house in old Univer-
sity Hall. Another, printed for
the May 21 concert in 1867, an-
nounced the coming of Andre's
Alpine Choir and laid special
emphasis on the zither duet
which would highlight the pro-
gram.
In 1889 the local group succeed-
ed in drawing the forerunner of
the Boston Symphony to Ann Ar-
bor on its "Third Annual Grand
Concert Tour.'
SINCE THEN, the Choral Unioi
concert series has come to include
two series of fifteen concerts, the
Messiah, May Festival and Cham-
ber Music Festival annually.
And although musical tastes
have varied through the years, the
concerts continue to create the
same enthusiasm as the "semi-
public rehearsals" kindled 69 years
ago.
place are new flood lights--re-
cessed in the ceiling.
* * *
OTHER NEW features include
rows of indirect lighting fixtures
and two drinking fountains for
the first balcony. A new switch-
board illumination control panel
now controls the lighting.
On the main floor, a system
of terraced floor levels has been
constructed so that each seat
rests on a level plane. This
* technique has also -eliminated
the two "blind rows" in the bal-
-conies.
* Experts believe - that the ab-
sorptive qualities of the seat up-
holstery and carpeting will fur-
ther improve the already excellent
accoustical qualities of the audi-
torium.
THEHUGE glass skylight has
been cleaned and its border of
electric bulbs removed. No long-
er a real skylight, the opening in
the roof has been bricked over.
Officials say that this will fa-
cilitate the successful showing
of movies during daylight hours.
Other boons to film-goers are
a new dismountable screen and
improved sound system.
Built by funds bequeathed by
the late Arthur Hill, alumnus and
a Regent of the University, Hill
Auditorium has long been consid-
ered one of the country's finest
halls. This year's renovation seems
to assure it a place in the front
rank for a long time to come.
Promptness
Asked By Sink
Charles A. Sink, president of
the University Musical Society,
requested yesterday that concert-
goers refrain from arriving late
for concerts.
He stated that the Society's,
traditional policy of refusing to
admit latecomers while the ar-
tists are performing will be main-
tained for all concerts in the So-
ciety's five concert series this sea-
son.
He said that all afternoon con-
certs will begin promptly at the
time scheduled.
17; and the Pittsburgh under Paul
Paray, Feb. 23.
FIVE soloists plus the Vienna
Choir Boys are also scheduled for
the regular series.
Artur Rubinstein, pianist,
opens the season at 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, followed by the Vienna
Choir Boys on Oct. 15.
Italo Tajo, Metropolitan Opera
basso, will return to Ann Arbor
Nov. 16. Rise Stevens, opera, radio
and movIe mezzo-soprano, will
make her local debut Dec. 5.
MYRA HESS, British pianist,
will make her fourth local ap-
pearance in the Feb. 17 concert. A
violin recital by Zino Frances-
catti on March 20 will complete
the regular series.
In the fourth annual Extra
Concert Series the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra under
Guest Conductor Fritz Reiner
will be heard Mar. 12. Nelson
Eddy, baritone, will lead off the
series at 7 p.m. Sunday.
Other artists scheduled to ap-
pear in the extra series are Tossy
Spivakovsky, violinist, on Nov. 22
and Carroll Glenn, violinist, and
her pianist-husband, Eugene List,
in a joint recital Jan. 6.
Three other musical events will
fill out the year for the Society.
These include two performances
of Handel's "Messiah" on Dec. 10
and 11; the tenth annual Cham-
ber Music Festival featuring the
Budapest String Quartet, .Jan. 13
to 15; and the 1950 May Festival
scheduled for May 4 to 7.
B uda pesters
To Offer Fine
StringMusic
Famous Quartet
Will Play inJanuary
Local music lovers will have a
chance to hear the finest in cham-
ber music when the famed Buda-
pest String Quartet appears on
Jan. 13, 14 and 15 at Rackham
Auditorium.
The Budapest quartet first made
its American debut in 1930, after
touring in Europe extensively dur-
ing the 1920's. It scored an imme-
diate success, and has become in-
creasingly popular in succeeding
years.
TODAY reputable critics gen-
erally consider the Budapesters to
be the top-ranking string quartet
in the world. This is an impressive
tribute, for chamber music is often
called the "highest and purest"
form of music.
Its history dates from the 18th
century when Hungary's Prince
Esterhazy commissioned Franz
Joseph Haydn to write and play
quartets for him. For many
years it appealed only to those
gourmets of music, who consid-
ered it as being a cut above
opera and the symphony or-
chestra.
Today, thanks to te work of
such groups as the Budapesters.
chamber music is much more pop-
ular. Records made by top flight
string quartets sell rapidly at most
of the nation's music shops.
THE BUDAPEST Quartet has
merged the talents of four great
artists into an ensemble designed
to meet the exacting demands of
chamber music.
First violin is in the capable
hands of Joseph Roisman, while
Jac Gorodetzky wields the bow
for the second violin. Mischa
Schneider, violoncello, and Boris
Kroyt, viola, complete the group.
Having appeared in the Uni-
,-'rir 'c f.h nmhar ThfcinPcevn ic
Myra Hess,
Piano Soloist,
Will Appear
British Artist To
Perform Feb. 17
Myra Hess, pianist, who has won
acclaim from audiences in Amer-
ica as well as her native England,
will make her fourth local appear-
ance in the Feb. 17 concert of the
Choral Union series.
Hailed as one of Britain's major
contributions to 20th century
music, the famed pianist received
a warm welcome from American
audiences immediately following
.,her debut in New York in 1922.
ANNUAL CONCERT tours in
this country became a part' of
Dame Hess's annual program until
tiey were unfortunately halted by
the outbreak of World War II.
Before that time, she had ap-
peared in Choral Union coucerts
here in 1928 and again in 1933.
The war brought seven years of
hard work to the British pianist,
who won the honor of Dame Com-
mander of the Empire for her out-.
standing efforts to bolster the-
morale of her countrymen. The
award is the highest honor a -
sician can receive in her native
land.
* * *
MOST OF HER efforts were
centered in organizing and taking
part in daily lunch-hour concerts
at the National Gallery in Lon-
don. The aims of these concerts
were to provide work for musi-
cians, support the Musicians'
benevolent fund, and, primarily,
to bring music to a people that
needed itsspiritual help as never
before.
Her return to Ann Arbor was
made in January, 1948. Music
lovers and critics alike noted the
new depth and maturity which
had sprung from her already
pure musicianship.
The famed pianist's enthusiasm
for American audiences was quick-
ly renewed after the war. She calls
the spontaneity of audiences here
"one of the greatest inspirations
to a performer."
Ignoring the "so-called popular
music," she has found that here
as well as in her native country,
audiences appreciate the great
classics most highly.
'Messiah' Will
Herald Xmas
Noted Stars to Appear
On Annual Program
Heralding the University's fes-
tive Christmas season, the Musical
Society's traditional presentation
of Handel's Messiah will be pre-
sented on Dec. 10 and 11.
Featured in this year's perform-
ance of the Yuletide classic will be
Chloe Owen, soprano, Anna Kas-
kas, contralto, David Lloyd, tenor,
and Oscar Natzka, bass.
In addition, the choral and in-
strumental background will be
provided by the University Choral
Union and a special Symphony
Orchestra under the direction of
Lester McCoy.
Distinguished in concert, opera
and oratorio, Miss Owen has been
with the Schola Cantorum of New
York, the Carnegie Opera Guild
and the Hartford Oratorio So-
ciety.
Miss Kaskas, a Metropolitan
Opera contralto, proved herself an
artist of fine capabilities at the
PARAY, who conducts the sym-
phony during' a four-week con-
cert tour this winter, first at-
tracted attentiondinuthis country
with his Boston debut in 1945.
European fame had come to
Paray long before that time.
Educated at the Paris Conserv-
atory, he became conductor of
the Concerts Lamoureux in 1923,
and in 1933 leader of the Con-
certs Caloone.
Since his arrival on these shores,
he has been guest conductor of
the Boston. New York, Cincinnati
and Pittsburgh Symphony Or-
chestras.
Paray is noted as an interpreter
of French music.
AS FOR THE Pittsburgh Sym-
phony itself, it has long been one
of the Steel City's institutions.
MUNCH CONDUCTS:
Boston Symphony To Give
Two Concerts
Y
By ROMA LIP.SKY
For the first time in Choral Un-
ion history, the Boston Symphony
will rPAcnt fum.rnnn - ar nA_ A
Munch's first year as conductor
with the Boston, he is no new-
comer to Ann Arbor. Munch led
The Oct. 23 concert will also
include Weber's Overture to
"Euryanthe," Piston's Sym-
peared as guest conductor with
many major symphonies, and
spent last season touring the
season at the Berkshire Festival,
had led the orchestra for 25 years.
The Boston SymOhony has