THE MICHIGAN DAILY S UND~AY, OCO4BER 'ITFALLS A-PLENTY: Page-Turner Discloses His Precarious Position Song Fest To Be Given By Viennese Choir Bovs (EDITOR'S NOTE: Ed Troupin turned pages last season for eiitz and Neveu and here recounts his impressions of his experience.) By ED TROUPIN The page-turner's prime requi- chestra, appearing under Thor Johnson in the regular Choral Un- ion Series next January, is widely knTei as one of te six top sym- phonies in the country. This is the third season the mu- sicians are under the direction of Thor Johnson, young American conductor who formerly taughit at the Universiit.HTe has been ap- pearing as guest conductor of the Ann Arbor May Festival since World War H. - * THE CINCINNATI Orchestra was organized in 1895, in response to deands from residents of the city for a permanent orchestra there. Frank varl der Stucken was chosen as the first conductor. Leopold Stokowski began his orchestral conducting career as Cincinnati's second conductor. After three seasons, he left to become conductor of the Phila- delphia Orchestra. Dr. Ernst Kunwald, Eugene Ysaye, Fritz Reiner and Eugene Goosens followed Stokowski in the position of director. ** * JOHNSON took over the job of musical director of the Cincinnati Symphony after Eugene Goosens became ill in 1946. He has in- creased the popularity of the young people's concerts in his adopted city and has appeared as conductor in several out-of-town concerts. He will return to Ann Arbor again this winter as conductor of one of the nation's foremost sym- phony orchestras. sites are presence of mind under the strain of performance and the ability to read music accurately at a distance of several feet-for he must not sit so close to the ac- companist that they pass the eve- ning rubbing elbows. He is usually a music school student studying the specialty of the evening's soloist, and is picked by the University Musical Society for the job. * * * I-E MUST BE part psychologist,E for the various accompanists rare- ly state that the page must be flipped over at some well specified point-and there is nothing so icy as the glare of the pianist (who has to take a back seat anyway) when the fellow he meets some fifteen minutes before acperform- ance causes musical chaos by turning: too early, too late, two pages at once; or even worse, un- ceremoniously dumping Brahms in his lap through vehemence or overconfident eagerness. In addition, he must remem- ber not to race onto the stage-- beating the artists by one fiddle- length--and not to bow politely for his part of the evening's en- tertainment. He is also often supplied with music tattered nearly to illegibility, frequently mending-tape bound and conse- quently refusing to remain open at the proper place-swinging tantalizingly as the difficult anad dangerous climax is reached. But his recompense is corres- pondingly great, with the closest seat for the concert, and with a point of view of the performer's work thatvthe audience out front cannot match. Board Members The Board of Directors of the University Musical Society in- cludes Charles A. Sink, president; Alexander G. Ruthven, vice-presi- dent; Shirley W. Smith, secretary; Oscar A. Eberbach, treasurer; Ros- coe O. Bonisteel, assistant secre- tary - treasurer; Thor Johnson, James R. Breakey, Jr., Harley A. Haynes, James Inglis, E. Blythe Stason, Henry F. Vaughan and Merlin Wiley. CHOIR BOYS -- Two of the choir boys from the Vienna Choir appearing here October 15, practice singing by candle- light. New Zealand Bass To Sing MessiahRole. Oscar Natzka, New Zealand bass, will give his first Ann Arbor per- formance in the annual presenta-' tion of Handel's Messiah Decem- ber 10 and 11 in Hill Auditorium. Natzka, whose American opera- tic debut with the New York City Opera Company last spring was heralded by the critics, received his early musical education at the Trinity College of Music in Lon- don where he studied under Al- bert Garcia, grandson of Manuel Garcia, who had taught Jenny Lind. From Garcia's studio, Natzka went directly to Convent Garden where he began a long series of leading roles including "Rigo- letto," "Faust" and Die Meister- singers" under the baton of Sir By JANET WATTS The world touring Vienna Choir Boys will make their second local appearance in a concert of sacred music, folk songs end av coo;same operetta October 15 in Iill Audi- torium. The 450 year old choir dates from the time of Hapsburg Em- peror Maximilian I who estab- lished the group by imperial de- cree to sing daily masses -in the Court Chapel. * * * THOUGH THE choir's fame had spread through Europe. the boys did not appear in Lhe United States until the twentieth century when impresario S. Hurok spen- sor-ed their first American tour in 1932. The following year the group thrilled an Ann Arbor audience with its concert at Hill. Young Austrian boys ennsider it a high honor to be members of Vienna Boys Choir and thou- sands Flock to the Imperial Pal- a c ,ach year to compete for po- E,4tions. rat only about 1010 are selected to take the two years' training preliminary to joining the choir. About twenty boys, aged seven to twelve, ae on the current tour the group's eighth in this country After the initial tour in 1932, the choir made six consecutive treks around the country before the war caused a suspension of the choir's activities. -*- * WITH THE TEND of hostilities the Choir was reorganized and last year they returned to the United States for their first post. war tour of 110 cities. A boy's career in the choir may be brief, for as soon as his voice changes, he receives "mus- tering out pay" and fare home. lBut he is not forgotten since he may attend an ecclesiastical state boarding school if he Iwishes to study. Extra Series Will Present Sp1vakovsky Violinist Plays No Music for Effect Tossy Spivakovsky, Russian- born violinist appearing here No- vember 22 on the Extra Concert Series, is a virtuoso who doesn't believe in playing music for the sake of "mere effect." "Audiences love to be bowled over, and I'm all for it," Spiva- * kovsky remarks, "but I believe in an artist's doing much more. A concert has to be a cultural ex- perience. If there isn't enough sub- stance to move people, then all the pyrotechnics in the world couldn't be sufficient compensation." SPIVAKOVSKY holds to this view apparently despite his c-rit- ical acclaim as "the greatest violin virtuoso to come up in a decade." Invited by Artur Rodzinski to play the premiere performance of the Bela Bartok Violin Con- certo in New York, Spivakovski became an overnight success, and his fiddling was described by Virgil Thompson as "unfor- gettable . . . his performance, both technically and musically left one a little gasping." When he later played the same work with the San Francisco Sym- phony under Pierre Monteux, the r orchestra's manager exclaimed, "This is the most exciting thing that's happened since the opera house was built!" Since his arrival in the United States in 1941, Spivakovsky has played his Stradivarius violin un- - der many renowned conductors, including two Choral Union con- cert conductors, George Szell and EIGHTY YEARS OLD: Messiah Prompts Choral Union Start It all started with the Messiah. Music is a vocation with some, About 80 years ago, a group ofa Ann Arbor church choir singers adahbywt tes u hy convened to sing parts of Handel's are all fine musicians, Conductor traditional Christmas oratorio. Lester McCoy declared. * * * * * AND IT WAS from this small ABOUT ONE THIRD of our group that Choral Union, and singers leave each year, but we eventually May Festival and the are always swamped with appli- entire concert series came into ex- cants to take their places," he istance. said. Choral Union has grown from this small beginning into a According to Norma Heyde, group of more than 300- sing- graduate student, one of the ers, including students, faculty greatest rewards of being a members, and townspeople. member of choral union is _____. _._.___ __ ._.___._ _ . -__ _ _ ___ , - ._- __. ___ _____y UN I V E R S I T Y MUSI CAL S OC I mingling with and watching re- hearsals and singing with the Philadelphia Symphony orches- tra. She states that the experi- ence and knowledge gained of rehearsal and performance tech- nique is invaluable - especially the conductor's methods. In addition to the annual pre- sentation of Messiah, the choral union has presented almost every major choral work as well as many minor works and original pieces at the May Festival since 1894. CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF CONCERTS FOR 1949-1950 E T Y 11 ARTUR RUBINSTEIN, Pianist .............. .. NELSON EDDY, Baritone......................... VIENNA BOYS CHOIR ........................... BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Charles Munch, Conductor ..................... BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Charles Munch, Conductor .................... CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA, George Szell, Conductor... ITALO TAJO, Bass ............................ . TOSSY SPIVAKOVSKY, Violinist .................. . October 4 . . October 9 .October 15 October 23 ......October 25 .... November 6 .... November 16 .... November 22 The alumni group of the, choir is a highly respected organization Thomas Beecham. which includes some of the world's The famed bass served in the most famous composers. Schubert, Canadian Navy for six years and Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, Liszt also made a 20-concert tour of the and Bruckner each at one time Union of South Africa before com- sang in the world's best known ing to the United States to sing. boy's choral group. WESSIAH SATURDAY, DECEMBE CONCE RTS Rl . . . 8:30 P.M. Fritz Reiner. Last season he opened the National Symphony season in Washington, D.C., with President Truman in the audi- ence. Francescatti To Play Here Zino Francescatti known as one of the world's greatest violinists, whose art has highlighted the American scene for almost a dec- ade will come to Ann Arbor on March 20 as part of the Choral Union Concert series. Born in Marseilles in 1905, Fran- cescatti was taught to play the violin by his parents. His father had studied the violin with Er- neste Sivori, the only direct pupil of Paganini, and Francescatti thus inherited the Paganini tradition. He made his first public ap- pearance when only five years old and at twenty Francescatti made his formal debut in Europe with one of France'sdistinguished or- chestras. The following year he accom- panied Maurice Ravel and Maggie Teyte on concert tours of Eng- land, and in 1938 he made a con- cert tour of South America. Francescatti made his debut in the United States in 1939 with the New York Philharmonic-Sym- phony, appropriately playing the Paganini D Major Concerto, using the original edition. RISE STEVENS, Mezzo-Soprano .........................December 5 "MESSIAH" (Handel) ..............................December 10 "MESSIAH" (Handel) ................................December 11 CARROLL GLENN, Violinist, and EUGENE LIST, Pianist ...... January 6 BUDAPEST STRING QUARTET (first concert) ..............January 13 BUDAPEST STRING QUARTET (2nd concert)..............January 14 BUDAPEST STRING QUARTET (3rd concert).............January 15 CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Thor Johnson, Conductor ...........................January 17 MYRA HESS, Pianist ..................................February 17 PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Paul Paray, Conductor .... .................... .....February 23 CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Fritz Reiner, Guest Conductor......................... March 12 ZINO FRANCESCATTI, Violinist..........................March 20 FIRST MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT............................May 4 SECOND MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT..........................May 5 THIRD MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT ..........................May 6 FOURTH MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT..........................May 6 FIFTH MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT........................... May 7 SIXTH MAY FESTIVAL CON+CEPRT........................... May 7 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11 2:30 P.M. .w . SOLOISTS A R S L O NGA V I TA B R E V 1 S CHLOE OWEN, Soprano ANNA KASKAS, Contralto * DAVID LLOYD, Tenor OSCAR NATZKA, Bass UNIVERSITY CHORAL UNION SPECIAL ORCHESTRA I MARY STUBBINS, Organist LESTER McCOY, Conductor TICKETS (Tax Included) EITHER CONCERT 70e or 50e NOW ON SALE Budapest sting quarte in the tenth annual chamber music festival The Budapest String Quartet will give three concerts for the Tenth Annual Chamber Music Festival - Friday and Saturday evenings, and Sunday after- noon, Jan. 13, 14, and 15. The three programs will include major quartets and other ensemble numbers. JOSEF ROISMANN, Violin JAC GORODETSKY, Violin BORIS KROYT, Viola MISCHA SCHNEIDER, Violoncello LESTER McCCO OSCAR NATZKA 0 s 0 " 0 0 0 0 0 0 A 2 P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 )AY, 2:30 P.M. 0 0 and $2.40 - ALE NOW! :; I Y1 THREE CONCERTS in RACKHAM AUDITORlUN' FRIDAY, 8:30 P.M.-SATURDAY, 8:30 P.M.-SUI A N D 00 SA JANUARY 13, 14, 15, 1950 TICKETS: (tax included) THREE CONCERTS $3. it SINGLE CONCERTS - $1.80 and $1.20... ON I