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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 1976)
monday, january 12, 1976 page 15 uit y I iwyi Four moral fables by Renoir destined to be a classic of f i m By Diane Wanek The Foreign Film Society opens second semester with a recent film destined to be a classic. Le Petit Theatre par Jean Renoir will be screened at the Sheldon Film Theatre on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7 and 9: 15 each evening. Le Petit Theatre is Renoir's last film, made for tele vision in 1969 after what he said was "seven years of un willing inactivity." The film is comprised of four tales, which Renoir introduces and assesses the moral at the end of each. In his autobiography, My Life and My Films, Renoir said, "In it I propounded my beliefs and my doubts, passing in its four episodes from realism to artifice and back again." The first fable, Le Dernier Reveillon (The last New Year's Eve), portrays the importance of the "dream life" of two destitute vagrants. Having watched the spectacle of a rich banquet from, outside the windows, the two hobos inherit the left-overs and have their own final celebration under the bridges. La Cireuse Electrique (The Electric Polisher) is an adaptation of an earlier Renoir project entitled C'est la Revolution. mamsssmK arts& 0nt0f - Ik n (J-i . J ' v Mr . V) Jv t t J 4 ftwto wrmf of R J O. Freddie King, ho learned the bluet in rural Texas and the night clubs of Chicago's West Side, retains some of his old style la his recent album, Greater than Life, with an appeal to the rock audience as well ts hard cure Hues listeners. In Renoir's book, French film critic Michel Delahaye describes the plot: "The idea is to show us first-hand the rise of the spirit of rebellion through a series of situations of the most concrete and trivial, and therefore the most laughable, sort. "The theater here is the conjugal stage throughout the life of a woman who, obsessed with taking care of her floor, subjugates her successive husbands to the tyranny of the wax polisher. "The last husband rebels, throwing the electric polisher out of the window only to' see his wife leap out herself to rejoin her machine." The third sketch, Quandl 'Amour se meurt (When Love Dies), features Jeanne Moreau as an actress and singer at the turn of the century. The episode opens and closes abruptly with Moreau's interpretation a la Dietrich of Oscar Cremieux's song, "Quand 1' Amour se Meurt." Le Roi dYvetot concludes the film. Delahaye said, "This last story, of all of them the most moral, could have been called A Tale of Good Manners. "In it Renoir shows us how the customs of a society, rather than being blindly denied or respected, can be com promised, circumvented, flexed, and varied if we want the rules of life to embrace the art of living. , K ) J? '-wo- I ? , . . I u v Pfott MurtMy et Athanmim Publtakifl Co. This accounts for the variations which Renoir contrives on the theme of the eternal triangle. "It deals with a betrayed husband who refuses to be parted from his wife's lover, his penitent best friend," Renoir said. "The chief actor in this little drama is the game of petanque (a French game played with a ball), which I firmly believe to be an instrument of peace." Surrealism colors Sheldon exhibit; city's weaving, art displays 'unique' By Charlie Krig The works of Val Christensen and Robert Starck are on display this month at the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery. (See the photo essay on Starck's work. p. 1 1 .) Christensen's paintings, a series of surrealistic works, have special depth and character resulting from her sub ject choices, theme, and color. A feeling of foreboding and suspense embraces many, while others are influenced by an earthy view of women and sex. Two paintings that evoked the most response from viewers are "Picasso was Clipped," a moody black and white scene of a great artist seemingly caught in one of his own works, and 'The Vampire of Norton School," an interesting view of impending danger intensified by excel lent use of blues, grays and black. Sheldon will exhibit these works until the end of the month from 10 ajn. to 10 pjn. on Tuesdays, 10 am. to 5 pjn. Wednesdays through Saturdays, and 2 pjn. to 5 pjn. on Sundays. Unique styles Lincoln's Haymarket Art Gallery currently offers two displays of Mary Jo Horning and Harry Orlyk. Both offer unique styles of art. Horning features a collection of weavings that range from practical clothes to more humorous designs. Her work includes children's toys, such as dolls and hobby horses, decorative wall hangings and three-dimensional objects like a stuffed sweater and pants. Horning's weavings have been exhibited in local art galleries and at the Smithsonian Institute's Renwick Gal lery in Washington, D.C. She currently is president of the Nebraska Crafts Coun cil, (an organization that she helped found), is an artist-in-residence in Lincoln's public schools and is married to potter Jerry Horning. Nature s beauty , force Orlyk's exhibit, Sequence Around Me, is based on strong colors. One set of paintings, a series of country landscapes, emphasizes nature's force and beauty through heavy storm clouds and eerie darkness. His second group, sophisticated approach to the use of black and white, achieves varying impressions of life and death. Orlyk came to UNL from New York and received his M.A. from UNL. He currently is a fellow at Centennial College. The Haymarket, open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 pjn., Monday through Saturday and from 1 pjn. to 4 pjn. on Sunday, will display these exhibits until Jan. 26. hot licks 11 ing still blues master Freddie King: Larger than Life, RSO Records One of the undisputed masters of the electric blues guitar, Freddie King's career has followed a classic pat tern: born in Gilmer, a tiny Texas town close to the Louisiana border, King moved north at 16 to Chicago, where his blues-playing technique was perfected in the competitive atmosphere of the West Side clubs. Again following a familiar pattern, his audience widen ed from almost exclusively black, through the days of rhythm and blues to the present, where he is acclaimed in his own right by both blues and rock audiences. The turning point in his career came when he was sign ed by Leon Russell to Shelter Records. King's tour with Russell brought him into contact wiih mass lock audi ences and his music adjusted to his new popularity. In 1974, King signed with RSO records, producing Burglar, which was recorded mostly in England with British musicians. Eric Clapton and his band appear on one cut. Larger than Life, King's second album for RSO, is taken both from live recordings and from studio sessions. The result is his most commercial album to date, but there is still a lot of good-old King style in it, making it worth the price. King ventures into the very vogue disco music on this album, and, while it isn't exactly what one wants to hear from Freddie King, it's not bad. "Have You Ever Loved a Woman?" is one of the better cuts on the album, King trading licks with saxist "Fathead" Newman and slide guitarist Mike O'Neill, -Diane Wanek Stravinsky: Divertimento; Suite Italienne; Duo Concertant Itzhak Perlman (violin), Bruno Canino (piano). Angel Records. The late Igor Stravinsky lavished enthusiastic praise on Itzhak Perlman for performances of his "Violin Con certo," of which the composer said the young Israeli virtuoso was the ideal interpreter. Now Perlman has re turned the homage by recording for the first time on one disc all of Stravinsky's violin-piano chamber music. The Duo Concertant is a serious, concentrated work, in Stravinsky's mature between-the-wars neoclassical style, while the other two are lighter. The "Divertimento" is based on dances from the ballet "The Fairy's Kiss," partly constructed on themes of Tchaikovsky. The "Suite Italienne" derives from "Pul cinella," a humorous ballet with a score freely transcribed from the rococo music of Pergoliesi. All three are rewarding showpieces for the violinist, and Perlman's naturally radiant tone illuminates the humanity of some of Stravinsky's most imaginative and , intimate creations.-Diane Wanek Mozart: Mass in C Minor, K. 427 John Aldis Choir and New rhilharmonia Orchestra, Raymond Leppard, cond. Melodiya Records. Mozart's uncompleted "great" Mass hi C miner is, like the Requiem in D minor, a work of the mature composer, blending tragedy with an inner vision of beauty and joy. It is a large-scaled conception, anticipating the grandeur of Beethoven's masses, and a formidable challenge especially in the two prominent solo soprano roles. Raymond Leppard, whose performing editions of neglected preclassical works like Monteverdi's "Corona tion of Poppea" and Rameau's "Fetes d'Hebe" have brought them to a newly enlarged public, here has had to resolve certain problems of missing orchestration details and performance style. As usual, the results are historical ly authoritative and compellingry musical. With four fine soloists and the staggeringly versatile John Alldis Choir, Leppard has achieved a near-definitive interpretation of this spiritual masterpiece. Diane Wanek Fine arts waiting with entertainment A faculty art exhibition at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery begins Tuesday and runs until Feb. 8. Friday, Secolo Barocco visits Sheldon Gallery Audi torium at 8 pjn. This Baroque music ensemble from France will present works by Locllet, De Vienna, J.C. Bach, Rameua, Josef Haydn and Vivaldi.