The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, March 20, 1992 Page: 15 of 24
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ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, MARCH 20. 1992 15
Rice Dance Theatre takes First Steps
On March 26, 27, and 28, Rice Dance Theatre will present First Step, a concert focusing upon new
choreography by Rice students. The program includes works created with a variety of music and styles.
Angie Fosters "Because It's There" contrasts sharp fast movements with a slower lyrical style, while
Sarah Hamill's dance is set to bag-pipe music. Mimi Cho, Amy Miller, and Jeanne Nuechterlein are
scheduled to perform "Dancing Toward the Edge," an energetic dance with a strong primitive feel.
The performances will be held at 8 p.m. in the Harjo Dance Studio on the first floor of Rice Gym.
General admission is $4. Reservations are recommended. Call 527-4808 or 527-4058 for more informa-
Perlman concert lackluster
BY JENNIFER M. LEE
//
I
.t's Itzhak!" raved the
Society for Performing Arts
advertisement. For me and 2500
like-minded competitors for
parking spaces, that excited little
blurb was summons enough to
draw us on Thursday, March 12
to Jones Hall, where we battled a
most daunting traffic snarl in
order to witness the wonder of
violinist Itzhak Perlman and
pianist Samuel Sanders.
As we crawled around the
plaza and the anxiety-filled
moments approached curtain
time, I mentally thanked my
editor, who had wisely given me
an extra ticket so that someone
else, my date, could temporarily
misplace the car while I sprinted
to my seat in time to witness the
beginning of the concert.
At a generously late 8:15 p.m.
the concert began. No one rose to
greet the bespectacled violinist as
he began crossing the stage,
although the applause was warm
and enthusiastic. Unfortunately,
his opening selection, Schubert's
Rondo Brillant in B minor, Opus
70, did little to take my attention
away from simply watching him.
Here at last was the man I'd seen
only on PBS and on paper, heard
only in reproduction, playing a
piece I wouldn't have chosen to
hear even if he had recorded it.
During the piece's frequent
duets, Perlman and Sanders
proceeded with unflinching
finesse, demonstrating their
admirably seamless partnership.
Perlman did not demonstrate his
technical mastery of the piece as
flawlessly by himself. In spite of
his obvious disregard for the
music stand before him, which
demonstrated his knowledge of
the piece, his E string attacks
were disappointingly messy.
Aside from the pleasure of
watching him play and defy every
violin teacher's rules on posture
without too many repercussions,
the only impressions I remember
are the sounds of his whistling,
poorly attacked triple-stop chords
contrasting his famously lyrical
tone on the lower strings.
The recital truly came to life
during Perlman and Sanders'
rendition of Shostakovich's
Sonata for Violin and Piano,
Opus 134. The musicians filled
the hall with motion and color.
The cool impersonal tones of the
sonata's pentatonic scale called
attention to the performers and to
the stage itself, creating an
awareness of the performance in
ways which a more melodic piece
could not. The atonality of the
piece compels the audience to
listen with greater attention than
a more conventional sound
would require, sensitizing its
imagination to visual aspects of
the performance normally taken
for granted.
While listening to this piece, I
noticed how bare the stage was,
how small the performers, and
how plausibly they could be
surrounded by spirits and
dancers.
Perlman's visible involve-
ment with the piece, periodically
manifested through a unique way
of bringing his violin to the bow,
accentuated the passion and
mystery underlying the piece's
slightly alien sound.
Shostakovich, too, deserves
credit for the warmth in this
piece; in the third movement, he
generates anticipation of the
theme with a series of attention-
getting chords, only to catch the
audience off guard by introducing
the melody with mocking
pizzicato.
The excitement buzzing
around before the concert was
nowhere to be found among the
clusters of people milling about
after its first half. If audience
reaction can be gauged in the
bathroom line, people were
nonplussed and to an extent
bewildered during intermission.
As one man remarked, "It's a fine
performance, but I'm not familiar
with the repertoire, so I'm
enjoying it, but...."
During the remainder of the
concert, Perlman and Sanders
continued with their selections of
lesser-known recital pieces. The
discrepancy between the perform-
ers' concept of this evening as a
low-key affair among friends and
the audience's expectations of
experiencing an unforgettable
performance tainted Perlman's
performance of Dvorak's
Sonatina in G Major, Opus 100.
Although in a more informal
environment he may have been
able to create something very
beautiful out of the piece's
simplicity, the fact that he was
too good to be doddering and too
mature to be sprightly left him
playing something inappropri-
ately easy and uninteresting.
Between the first and second
movements, Perlman lost his
authority when the audience
forced him to wait an unconven-
tionally long time while it
coughed, fidgeted, and grumbled.
The remainder of the piece
SEE PERLMAN, PAGE 18
Those Who Dig
sing at Willy's grave
BY SHALA PHILLIPS
A
. little before 2 p.m. on
Monday, March 16, a delegation
from UT quietly entered the
quad. Calmly, they surveyed the
area, then, instruments in hand,
headed toward Willy's statue.
There they casually arranged
themselves and their instruments
comfortably at Willy's feet. A few
minutes passed, a quick count,
then a burst of music energized
the quad.
Those Who Dig had arrived.
Students paused to listen for a
moment between classes and
stayed to celebrate the beautiful
day with the help of the Austin
band's eclectic folk rock as the
group proceeded to give the first
open air concert in Willy's recent
memory.
The Hand moved smoothly
through their set, obviously
performing for their own amuse-
ment as well as that of their
audience. Their repetoire ranged
from songs glorifying the "mito-
chondria: the little powerhouse in
me" to a ballad dedicated to
Wayne Newton.
Free concerts are nothing new
for Those Who Dig. They
developed their following by
giving free performances on
University of Texas' West Mall.
The young band has gathered
quite a devoted set of fans—their
album, Trouser Gallery, spent
four weeks on Tower Records'
Top 25 list, reaching #7. Those
Who Dig also held the title of top
selling Austin band for four
weeks.
Quite an impressive track
record for a band who's only been
together since fall of 1991.
The college band planned to
spend the rest of its Spring Break
touring the South, giving free
concerts on college campuses
such as Tulane and University of
Alabama, while hopefully
arranging future appearances in
clubs in the surrounding areas.
They said that they do plan to
return to the Houston area
eventually.
Then they jisked me for more
information about the Coffee-
house. ..
Best bets off campus...
Poetry Contest
The National Library of Poetry has announced that $12,000 in
prizes will be awarded this year to over 250 poets in the North
American Open Poetry Contest. The contest is open to everyone
and entry is free. To enter, send one original poem, any subject, and
any style to the National Library of Poetry, 11419 Cronridge Dr.,
P.O. Box 704-PP, Owings Mills, MD 21117. The poem should be
no more than 20 lines. The poet's name and address should appear
at the top of the page. Entries must be postmarked by March 31.
Music
Carolyn McDade, a feminist musician from the Boston area, will
lead "A Day of Reflection with Music," Saturday, March 21, from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Dominican Motherhouse (6501 Almeda
Road). Registration begins at 8 a.m. There is a $10 fee. Call 747-
3310 for more information.
The Austin Lounge Lizards will perform at McGonigePs Mucky
Duck Saturday, March 21 at 9 p.m. Admission is $8. Advance
tickets are available. Call 528-5999 for more information.
Jeffrey Siegel will give the third in his Keyboard Conversations
series Sunday, March 22 at 4 p.m. in the Dudley Recital Hall on the
University of Houston campus, entrance 16 off Cullen Blvd. The
program will focus on Aaron Copeland and Leonard Bernstein.
Tickets are $12. Call 227-ARTS for more information.
Lecture
The Rice Design Alliance will continue its lecture series on
"Hispanic Traditions in American Architecture" with a lecture by
Karen J. Weitze. Her talk, which will focus upon the California
missions, will be held March 26 at 8 p.m. in the Brown Auditorium
of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. Admission is $.3 for students.,
$5 for RDA or MFA members, and $7 for all others.
Consort with
the followers of all
religions
with friendliness!
the Baha'i Faith
For Information Call:
West University
Baha'f Community
664-0776
Happy Hour 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM daily
Monday Night is College Night
$1.00 for all drafts in the house
Fri., Mar. 20
People With Hands -
Rockabilly
Sat., Mar. 21
The Swammi's
Sun., Mar. 22
Brass Quintet
Tue., Mar. 24
Songwriter's Night
Wed., Mar. 25
Galleria Strings - Classical
Thur., Mar. 26
Houstonian Big Band
Fri., Mar. 27
Steve Jamail & Sean McPherson
Live music, darts, sports, private parties!
1617 Richmond • Houston, TX 77006 • (713)528-3545
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Zitterkopf, Ann & Howe, Harlan. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, March 20, 1992, newspaper, March 20, 1992; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245809/m1/15/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.