monday, february 5, 1979
page 12
daily nebraskan
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Conductor gets warm reception in Lincoln concert
By Michael Nikunen
Friday First Plymouth Congregational Church featured
the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Alfred
Savia, assistant Conductor of the Florida Symphony.
Appearing with the orchestra was guitarist Stephen
Waechter, in a performance of the Concerto d'Aranjuez
by Rodrigo. Violinist Arnold Schotz, performed
the Concerto in A Minor by J.S. Bach. Also included in
this program were Danses Concertantes of Stravinsky and
Symphony Number 29 in A Major by Mozart.
The First Plymouth Congregational Church must be
recognized as one of the successful elements in the orches
tra's performance. This magnificent building set an ap
propriate mood for the orchestra to build upon, not to
mention the near-perfect acoustics of the main hall.
Bach concerto
The orchestra began with Concerto in A Minor 'by J.S.
Bach. The allegro moderato began the progression, fol
lowed by andante and ending with allegro assai.
The concerto, in its purest sense is a contest of
melodies and instruments, presenting an overall thematic
movement. In this sense, the orchestra moved nicely into
the progressions.
Schatz entered in the first movement, with his violin
bringing a unique line of music that moved nicely with the
orchestra.
In the second andante movement the orchestra and
soloist expressed their separate integrities simultaneously
in beautiful quest for the theme. The piece was finished
in a spirited allegro assai that captured the audience in its
bouncy tempo.
Masterful performance
Schatz, who is familiar to Nebraskans because of his
many performances, played masterfully. His heart and ear
must be connected to his instrument, as evidenced by his
playing.
Photo by Mary Anne Golon
Alfred Savia, assistant Conductor of the Florida Symphony, gave an excellent performance Friday as guest
conductor of the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra.
Breezy musical is well done, but not great
The second half of the concert featured Waechter's
guitar solos. The first piece was Concerto dAranjuez by
Joaquin Rodrigo. It is surprising to see a guitar in a cham
ber orchestra. The use of a guitar in this particular piece is
rather unconventional, and the resulting performance
served as an indicator of this.
Off-set orchestra
The orchestra seemed at its best in this section, but the
guitar off-set the orchestration and balance. Though alone
the guitar created some unique melodies and chord pro
gressions, it did not sound well with the rest of the
orchestra. The music of the orchestra was sweet and cer
tain, while the guitar served to undermine this with lower
tonal qualities and a varying tempo.
The Nebraska Chamber Orchestra is a group of gifted
musicians, who were fortunate enough to be conducted
by Alfred Savia. Savia has conducted several symphonies
across the nation and was trained by several superb con
ductors in Italy. This training came through once
again as he conducted the orchestra to a warm ovation.
By Peg Sheldrick
It in't easy to evaluate the production
of Out to the Wind which premiered at
Kimball Recital Hall this weekend. To call
it anything less than a fine, entertaining
evening is unfair; but to call it an unqualif
ied success is inaccurate.
Clearly a great deal of hard work went
into its preparation, and the Friday night
audience seemed to enjoy the show . It was
a treat for the eyes and ears.
What it failed to be was a treat for the
mind. Out to the Wind is described as a
musical drama, and this production empha
sized the music. With a little more empha
sis on the drama, the show could have
been, rather than a parade of pleasant
scenes and songs, a fine, well-rounded piece
of theatre.
Confusion
Set in Nebraska in 1896, the show
centers on Eric Hermannson, a young
immigrant fiddler faced with a choice be
tween the happy, "sinful" life he has led
and the somber, joyless "salvation" offered
by a local revivalist sect that regards music
as evil. His confusion continues until he
meets Margaret Elliot, a high spirited
easterner touring the west.
The music, settings and costumes were
well executed, and the libretto seemed in
telligent and true to Cather.
Robert Beadeil's score encompassed a
wide variety of musical styles, from con
ventional duets to tender ballads to serious,
complex musical soliloquies.
Peter Hauser's sets were excellent and
detailed. The set for Moon Rock was
especially fine, truly conveying a sense of
wide open spaces and endless prairies. It
was much more successful than the setting
which opened the play, an elevated, rocky
area with only a patch of sky visible that
seemed to belie all the grandeur and space
Eric was singing about.
Virginia Faulkner's libretto included
good lyrics and some clever dialogue.
Filming hurt
The show's problems arose from circum
stances largely beyond anyone's control.
For one thing, the show was being filmed
by NETV. This especially hurt the lighting,
since subtle effects that could have helped
set scenes and focus attention were lost in
a wash of white light.
The presence of the cameras was not in
itself distracting, but it seemed to en
courage the cast to use primarily the front
of the stage. This may have been necessary
for filming purposes.
Staging a musical, and a new one at
that, is no easy business, and having to ad
just to the conflicting needs of live theatre
and television programming made it an
even more arduous task. It's nice that a
statevide audience has the chance to see
the show but it's unfortunate the product
ion had to cope with more than one kind
of audience at a time.
Splendor
The show had plenty of visual and vocal
splendor. What it lacked was a sense of
continuity and a certain dramatic tension.
These problems were partly due to the
structure and nature the play and partly
due to the nature of the troupe presenting
it.
The show's structure hurt its continuity.
The first act is spent in alternating scenes
showing the lives of Eric and Margaret
moving closer to a point of intersection.
Each scene is long and involves several
songs.
Somehow the story gets a little lost in
the scenery and music. The problem with
musicals is that whenever a song occurs,
the action pretty much grinds to a halt,
and if too many of the songs are just diver
sions with no particular relation to the
main action, one begins to forget what the
show is about and to lose track of what
went on in the previous scene.
Opera spoofs
For example, in Scene 3, the audience
was given not one but four opera spoofs in
a row. All of them were funny songs but
with so many together it was hard to
appreciate them, and it was certainly hard
to remember poor Eric back in Moon rock
struggling for his soul.
Perhaps if the alternations between
Eric's situation and Margaret's had been
more frequent, there would have been a
better sense of where the show was going.
This would have posed many staging
problems, though.
Scene changes were complicated enough
as it was. They were executed with remark
able swiftness, but often there was no
music to cover the noise and maintain a
feeling of continuity between scenes. One
especially unhappy moment was when,
after a tender love scene between Eric and
Margaret, the actors had to clamber down
from the windmill in the semidarkness and
push the scenery off-stage.
Fine singers
It isn't fair to expect the School of
Music Opera Theatre to give certain drama
tic aspects the kind of attention they
would have been given in a University
Theatre production.
Eric and Margaret had no problems
holding their own when singing, and in
deed, the show was blessed with fine
singers and musicians throughout. But the
production was given (quite understand
ably) a rather operatic treatment, and that
doesn't really work with a musical.
With the delightful distractions that
abound in a show of this kind, it takes
strong acting to make the audience concen
trate on the characters.
This is basically a psychological story.
Both main characters have choices to make
about the kind of life they want to pursue.
Eric must decide if his music is indeed sin
ful, and Margaret must decide if she really
wants to return to the east when her spirit
feels so free in the west.
A greater emphasis on acting and stage
movements would have helped convey
these internal conflicts more convincingly.
As it was, the main characters come into
focus when singing, but the rest of the time
the picture was fairly generalized and the
show didn't build up to much of anything.
Out to the Wind was a good show
Given the various limitations and pressures
everyone involved was working under, it
was a remarkable show. The unfortunate
part is that with a more effective use of a
few dramaturgical devices, it might have
been a great show.
Dirt Cheap is
remodeling for
a dance studio
The second floor of Dirt Cheap is
being remodeled for a dance studio.
TRUDANCE, according to the in
structor Trudy Knisely, will provide
Lincoln with a dance studio that offers
several types of dance.
"J feel dance shouldn't be for a
certain age group," Knisely said. "All
people can benefit from it because of its
therapeutic value."
Dirt Cheap has donated the space
above their store for use by the studio
for three years, she said.
Disco, modern, jazz, African ethni
cal, child creation and dance education
will be featured. Knisely spent time in
San Francisco to learn about African
dance which was varied ry thms.
"Dance education is needed in the
Midwest," Knisely said. "When I tell
people that I am a modern dancer, they
immediately think all I do is the latest
steps."
Knisely presently works as a soloist
in modem dance. She said she tried
working with other people but found
that her style was hard to teach.
"Besides, I don't believe other people
should turn out like me," Knisely said.
Tentatively, she said membership
fees will be S 10 a year. A newsletter will
be sent to all members and they will be
informed of any performances. Classes
will last between one and one and one
half hours. The cost is $4 per hour and
members pay a reduced rate of $3.50.
Knisely said she hopes the studio will
be open the first part of March.
"I hope to get a lot of university stu
dents because it (the studio) is so close
and cheaper than other studios. Also I
hope to educate the public, from child
ren to elderly, on the benefits of
dance," Knisely said.