Page 8 - The Canadian Js>yish News, Friday, July 18, 1975
CBC Festival Orchestra
music
By RICK KARDONNE
A great symphonic conductor has three all-important qualities: (1) authoritative knowledge of his music, both technically and artistically; (2) precision to direct his orchestra as though it is one composite organism: a precision put to the ultimate test by the-tightness of the string section; and (3) '& theatrical flair which can commu-
nicate the full range of human emotions to the audience. I believe that Boris B r o 11 naturally blends all of these ideal qualities.
His leadership of the CBC Festival Orchestra in a taped radio concert on July 8 , at the Edward Johnsori Building wais so distinctive that 1 wonder all over again why Boris Brott was not selected as the music director of the Toronto Symphony to succeed Karel Anceral. His rendition of the well-known Ravel Bolero, in which dramatic interpretation is all-important in keeping audience interest in a single theme which is repeated eight times.
was such an emotionally cathartic crescendo firom the extremely quiet single-wind opening to the super-climactic full-orchestra flourish at the end, that the audience responded with well-deserved cries of bravo. But just as skillful was his rendition of the opening Oonds by the Danish composer Svend Nielsen; in which Brott's delicately sensitive interpretation saved what could easily havie been a long, boring piece if all of the subtly impressionistic descriptive nuances had not been equally empha-.. sized.
The featured work, Lothar Klein's Phflo^ sopher in the Kitchen (a
Davks' 'Leaven of Malice'
IS
theatre
By LYNN SLOTKIN
The second offering of the Shaw Festival is a slight, boring, witless work titled Leaven Of Malice by Robertson Dav-ies.
The play is a dramatization of Davies' 21-year-old novel of the same name. The action takes place in a
Israel's
surveyed
Escape faito Siege By Leon Yadkin General Publishing $13.50
When does .Israeli literature begin? Is a logical starting place the 1948 War of Independence? Is modem Israeli writing a continuation of Jewish creativity or a totally new departure? How does the Israeli writer deal with such complex issues as Jew-ish identity in the modern world, the relationship between religion and culture, the nexus between "National Home" and Diaspora? Who are the major Hebrew writers today and what are they saying?
These and similar questions are dealt with in this helpful and enlightening survey of the kind of literature that is now-being produced in Israel. The author, lecturer in modem Hebrew at-the University of Manchester, cogently analyzes the political, historical and religious background of Israeli writing and offers a
• critical and aesthetic evaluation, with copious examples, of the material discussed.
Lucid and knowledge.-able, Yudkin explores the prose and poetry of such writers sis H.N. Bialik, Si Y. Agnon. S. Yizhar. A. - Appelfeld, Y. Aniihai and many , others. Thiemes discussed include, the flight ofthe hero in Israeli fiction, the impact ofthe Holocaust, the new wave of Israel poetry and the . consciousness of self in the current novel.
Escape Into Siege is a splendid sequel to Simon Halkin's study Modem Hebrew Uteratnre which appeared in 1950 and
• carried the story from the Enlightenment Period to the birth of the state of Israel. ,. /"
The ainple bibliography lists a suiprising\ number of bocdcs—noveIs,\poetiy« short stories andlantho-Io^ej( —- (ih^y Atrans' lated into English. ,
small Canadian university city, in which some malicious practical joker has placed a phoney engagement announcement in the local newspaper. This results in the 'bride-to-be's' father wanting to sue the paper and wreak vengeance on the culprit; the paper's editor searching for the joker; arid countless other little incidents w h i c h lengthen the play, and tire one out so that you reach a point where you don't care who did it, as long as he/she is found so you can leave the theatre and go home. Indeed, there is a di-eam sequence which adds little, doesn't work, ' and should be cut.
Davies paints a detailed picture of small town mentality. It is full of petty jealousies, trivialities that are treated with the gravest of seriousness, and numerous 'intrigues' — a poor mouse of a woman secretly loves the editor; a nebish of a man feels humiliated because he thinks the town's folk have snubbed him; and a-sorrowful y o u n g man flounders around trying to find himself.
But what of all this? Who really cares? Why is it that we are expected to sit for three hours watching characters we wouldn't spend five seconds of our time with under ordinar>- circumstances? By play's end. very little is resolved except that false engagement notice; the whiners still go on whining and feeling sorry for
When you isee me — don't think of Financial Planning.
But when you think of Financial Planning
— see me.
S. Richard Gordon CLU
L
S RICHARD GORDON INSURANCE AGENCY LTD
(416) 445-9500
SUN LIFE OF CANADA
If
is
You may not hove
in*
We know we have the best homemakers and registered personnel for your loved ones at home and in hoispital.
So for the best in , professional family care service ..'.Call
a Dralw International company CANADA ■ ilSA UK • AUSTRALIA
967-4656
"We Care"
themselves, instead of using that wasted energy to do something about their plight, and nothing really changes!.
For some unknown reason, director Tony van Bridge has presenteid this play as an amateur production. There are intentionally missed lighting cues; an actor addresses the audience only to be interrupted by the stage manager and told to leave the stage because it's intermission.
Designer M a u r i c e Strike carries on this tackiness by using props too big for set pieces (a bed completiely blocks the doorway in one); or too small for actors (another bed is half the length of the actress in it.) Perhaps the reason is hiding behind the blocked door.
Excellence is even hard to find in the cast. Some ate, adequate,.most . are«^ unconvincing, a few, thank goodness, stand out. Maurice Good is a devilish Humphrey Cobbler; Heath Lamberts is an energetic and desperate Solly Bridgietower, the •groom'; and Irene Hogan is wonderfully petulant as Edith Little, the lady suffering from unrequited love.
However, in the overall picture, travelling to Nia-gara-On-The-Lake to see Leaven Of Malice certainly is a long way to go to be borefd. There is one consolation, and that is the future productions can only improve, I hope.
Boris Brott
CBC commissioned work) contains some influences by Ravel {the final movement' reminded me of Ravel's opera L'Enfant Mechant) and other passages reminiscent of both Mahler and Richard Strauss, as well a:s some original progressions. The text of this operatic work amounts to an intellec-tualized plea for hedonism. Generally speaking, the fast passages, especially the final movement, were the niost concisely listenable, both musically and textually. The slow passages; especially the disjointed opening recitative ("Adam was bom hungry") which the program notes admitted was pompous, lacked sufficient harmonic innovation
or dramatic dynamism in order to sustain interest: hence, a dirge feeling resulted. Klein's composir tion did be^efitby the best possible interpretation: not only Brott's leadership but also the superbly emphatic- contralto of Maureen Forrester, who did all that she could with this somewhat stilted text; although she could have used some electric amplification at times so that she would have been more easily heard over some of
the loud brass passages. • * ■ * V * ■ *
CHAVA ON THE CBC: The most important thing about ■ Chava Alberstein's recent radio appearance on the CBC network (on the FM on July 6; on AM on July 7) was that she was heard at all, thus giving Israel's top pop singer (and probably the most exciting pop female vocalist in the world today) her first significant North American network on-air exposure.
Appearing on the Music Of Our People series (produced by Montreal based Marc Goldman), and backed up by Nick Ayoub's four-piece Montreal group, Chava's voice was in as fine form as ever, and her choice of material was most wise, emphasizing some of hfer greatest
CD
JAMES VANCE TRAVE L
INVITES YOU TO JOIN THE
SHAAREI SHOMAYIM CONGREGATION'S
'RETURN TO OUR ROOTS'
TOUR OF ISRAEL
THIS TOUR WILL BE GUIDED BY RABBI HENRY HOSCHANDER SPIRITUAL LEADER OF SHAAREI SHOMAYIM CONGREGATION
SEE ERETZ YISRAEL AS IT SHOULD BE SEEN!
OBTAIN AN IN DEPTH PERSPECTIVE OF OUR HERITAGE.
TOUR DEPARTS TORONTO OCTOBER 1ST, :197S RETURNS OCTOBER 1L)TH ]97b.
TOUR COSTS
$1029.00
PER PERSON
i.DOUBLE OCCUPANCY)
$69.00
SINGLE SUPHLtMENT
TOUR INCLUDES
• RETUI^N AIR FA
lORONTO
• ALL TRANSr f f^S
• 13 NIGHTS IN iSRAf. L
• FOUR AND nVE -TAR MOTE
• 13 FIJI L IS1!AELI Bi-lt A-. !"
• ?LUNCHES
• 8 [■) AN'S SiGH [, ING
FOR FUfM H[. IN f OR:.!A l\i !\ CON I .;(
DAVID FREUDMANN
JAMES VANCE TRAVEL
NO\GE STrU::: I '.UilH: 10,'
JO'liyy10 on:tAf^lo m;s iy;i
482-4550
and most musically significant hits siich as Volcano and Ben Yehndah as well as the Yiddish ballad Yankele.
The only damper on this program was the factually competent but emotionally pedestrian style of the announcer, Gordon Redoing, who put-absolutely no life into his talk. Comparing this drab approach to the articulate intelligence which another CBC announcer conveyed in his commentary regarding the much-inferior American folksinger Loudon Wainwright III during the following program, Chava deserved a much better host.
EAST INDIAN FOOD ON DATHURST? (NO iODDING!)
FQR SPICE IN YOUR LIFE (Mild, Medium, or Hot)
BRING THIS AD FOR A IQO/o DISCOUNT ON INDIAN FOOD
AN AND RESTAURANT 3022 BATHURST ST.
(S. of Lawrence)
781-0302
Plus Installation
Includes: 24,000 Btuh condensing unit, 18 foot line set and evaporator coil.
ENJOY IT NOW!
ARCTIC HOUSE
65W963
I invented Ihe Manny Lease
"Whafs a Manny Lease" you say? I thought you'd never ask!
Ifs an automobile leasing program that doesn't tie you down to any specific mal<e or model of car, or any specific duration, or any specific options, or any specific service, insurance, or end purchase conditions.
In other words I tailor the lease to your specific wants and needs - from an economic VWto a regal Rolls-Royce or prestigious Cadillac.
Then I, Manny, price it. which incidentally I also invented.
PARKUIOOD
CCnTRM
CHEVROLET OLDS CADILLAC
2400 Yonge St. just above Eglinton TELEPHONE 481-5111
STOP • READ o CALL
LET LEO'S CARPET CARE
STEAM CLEAN YOUR:
o LOOSE RUGS
• WALL-TO-WALL BROADLOOM o CHESTERFIELDS e CHAIRS
■ WITH ADVERTISEMENT ■
Q "For a limited time only" Q
CALL
635-5772
FREE ESTIMATES o NO OBLIGATION
IS
m m
M
u
H R N H
n
H
n n
M
U
n
M M M
M H N H
M M
18 H M
m'stmk^mssim |
11
»
Short Sleeves White & Pastel - 14 1/2-17
mrs OAMA* DRESS sons
ii
150
I PR.
n
M M M
n n
N
n » n
n
H
n »
M
18
ilce Sport Safes |
319 Progress Avenue - 291-2131 J
Take 401 East to Kennedy, go South to Progress 2 — go East on Proqress a block and a half W Houfs:Mon.-Sat. 10-4 M
PR.
6 Pr. Minimum *Dupont Reg'd Trademark
CLEARANCE OF IMPORTED Tennis & Golf Shirts Turtle-neck Sweaters
n
81
n
81
81 81 H
W ^
Largest ever ill Tbroiit
Jewellery Show and
until July 22
10 am to6p.m.
Wellesley Hall, Sutton Place Hotel 955BaySt.atWellesley,
Over 4,000 square feet of stunningly beautiful items-all for sale!
Jade and ivory carvings Cloisonne wares Handwoven woollen carpets ' Silver, gold and copper jewellery Antique porcelair^ and bronze ware
• Carved lacquer items
o Traditional Chinese lacquer furniture
• Peking glassware
• ChenOle. straw arid other novelties
The Arts & Crafts.Jewellery Trade Group of the China National Light IrKlustrial Products Import and Export Corporation will be present
throughout the Show period.
A rare opportunity to see and select from one of the largest collections of imported Chinese arts, crafts, furniture and jewellery ever assembled in one place in North America.
For further information phone 924-9221