Top of the Month
At 7:30 p.m. on October 25, the Dallas Black Hawks will face off against the Fort Worth Texans to open their home schedule in the Central Hockey League. Most Dallas inhabitants, indeed most Dallas sports fans, will not be aware of the fact that Dallas’ most bitter sport rivalry will be cranking it up for another season of competition. The Black Hawks-Texans rivalry may be lightweight on the public recognition scale, but in terms of intensity, it ranks right up there with the Cowboys-Redskins, the only other Dallas sports rivalry to speak of.
The Black Hawks and the Texans (formerly the Wings) have been fighting it out for several years now, several times each season. The inter-city rivalry is, of course, a natural – if only by proximity. When the teams meet in Dallas, a goodly number of Fort Worth diehards make the turnpike trip to watch their heroes. And vice-versa. Meaning that the most heated action is not always on the ice.
This wonderful clashing exists in relative obscurity for a number of reasons. One is that the home of the Black Hawks is the Fair Park Livestock Coliseum, hardly a pleasure palace of sport. Another is that the Central Hockey League is a “minor league” (the CHL being one of several smaller circuits that grooms young players for the National Hockey League, grandaddy of hockey; the local Black Hawks feed the NHL Chicago Black Hawks, the Texans feed the New York Islanders and the Los Angeles Kings). The “minor league” tag connotes second-rate, and in the we-love-a-winner tradition of Dallas sportsdom, second-rate does not rate at all. And, of course, hockey is not exactly homespun South-ern, which may have something to do with our shortage of frozen lakes and rivers.
On a Saturday night in September, the New York Islanders and the Los Angeles Kings played an exhibition match in Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth. This was the first NHL game ever played in Texas – perhaps not historically earth-shattering, but at least noteworthy. Yet there has probably never been a less publicized
sporting event in North Texas. Somehow 4,000 obviously hard core hockey fans got wind of it and showed up. (The Islanders won 3-2. That, too, was reported in a whisper.)
But the lack of publicity only means you’ll have an easy time getting into the Coliseum to see the Black Hawks on October 25. And you’ll see good hockey. “The stars of tomorrow,” as they say. These players have their sights set on the big time, so while their technical skills may not be perfectly polished, their aggressiveness and exuberance compensate.
And you might as well break in your fanhood against the Fort Worth Texans, those lousy, no-good, high sticking, cheap shot bums. . . .
Art
Looking Back at American Art
The American Heritage in Art, at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts.
The viewer who goes through the DMFA’s exhibition of 100 American paintings from the Metropolitan Museum on his lunch hour is likely to come away feeling that he’s seen a few too many portraits, landscapes, and genre paintings. Some of these may catch his attention, like John Durand’s Mary Bontecou Lathrop, with its Dresden china finish, or Thomas Cole’s luminous View on the Catskill, Early Autumn, or David Gilmour Blythe’s Corn Husking, which, with its backlighting and vivid figure-treatment, anticipates by eighty years the work of Thirties artists like Thomas Hart Benton and Reginald Marsh. But it takes repeated sampling, tasting, and savoring to appreciate the range and depth of this beautifully-mounted show.
Shows like this one, in which the focus is so general, are hard to mount; what organizing principle do you use – chronological or generic? The DMFA has arranged the show so that the paintings appear in a variety of configurations: subtle, intriguing, and dramatic juxtapositions and contrasts of theme and subject matter. The most obvious juxtaposition is by no means the least interesting – the hanging of Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington between the portraits of Washington by James Peale and Rembrandt Peale. If the Stuart painting is so familiar that we almost fail to look at it, placing it between the two Peales reilluminates Stuart’s achievement. In James Peale’s version, Washington appears full figure, in his uniform, in a pose which unfortunately emphasizes the general’s paunch. Neither the slight ludicrousness of this pose, nor Rembrandt Peale’s attempt to make Washington a romantic hero – touches of Napoleon and even Lord Byron appear in the angle of the head and the studied casualness of the general’s cravat – suggest the Father of His Country. Stuart’s portrait is a more complex psychological study. The prim slit of a mouth recedes into a blur in the actual painting, if not in the more familiar engraving. But the eyes challenge us: on the dollar bill they are soft and kind; in the painting they are hard and critical. One sees immediately why no American president has had the effrontery to model himself on Washington the way some have tried to model themselves on more accessible human beings such as Jefferson and Lincoln. Stuart has created the icon of the Founding Father, and any attempt to supplant or even to imitate the figure in his painting would violate Oedipal taboos.
Another telling juxtaposition is that of Mary Cassatt’s Young Mother Sewing with Cecilia Beaux’s Ernesta with Her Nurse. Beaux’s painting is very much in the tradition of Sargent and Whistler – Ernesta could almost be Whistler’s The White Girl as a child. As in their work, psychological insight in the Beaux painting is subordinated to coloration and design. Ernesta is just another pretty child, but the coloring is lovely, particularly the range of tones in her dress and the nurse’s skirt.
The composition and coloration are still more brilliant in the Cassatt painting, but the psychological insight links it directly to the French masters of the period, particularly Manet and Degas. It is an unsentimental treatment of a potentially cloying subject. The shading of the mother’s face and the tenseness of her fingers suggest fatigue. The child is an alert, inquisitive figure, whose repose on her mother’s lap is clearly momentary, a pause to inspect the viewer, whom she regards with a mixture of curiosity and shyness. The painting could almost be an illustration for Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, in which a woman, painting a picture of a mother and child, reflects that these “objects of universal veneration… might be reduced to a shadow [by the artist] without irreverence, for the painting “makes of a moment something permanent. … In the midst of chaos there was shape; this eternal passing and flowing . . . was struck into stability.” There are few statements on the purpose of art more eloquent than Virginia Woolf’s; there are few paintings more worthy of it than Mary Cassatt’s.
Charles Matthews
Larry Bell, at the Fort Worth Art Museum.
Larry Bell, famous for his plexiglass boxes, was one of the darlings of the art world in the 1960’s. His cold, impersonal art was equally at home in California’s school of light and immateriality and New York’s school of minimalism. Then, at the height of his fame and fortune in the early 1970’s, Bell left Los Angeles and moved to Taos with its magical, laid-back lifestyle. Apparently Bell lost most of his drive and direction during the time he spent in New Mexico and was unable to produce work consistent with his earlier accomplishments. Now, in a superb new show at the Fort Worth Art Museum, he has regained his previous vision and strength.
Not surprisingly, Bell has moved back to California, where he created The Iceberg, the central piece in his new exhibit. The show also includes a series of color studies Bell made in preparation for The Iceberg and a large outdoor concrete environment sculpture. The Iceberg itself is composed of four pairs of accordion-shaped plate glass walls. With a mysterious machine of his own design, Bell has applied to the large sheets of glass a metallic mixture of inconel and silicon dioxide. The result is a shimmering surface of gray-brown, transparent yet reflective.
The Iceberg’s walls are positioned so that the viewer sees through the glass into the rest of the gallery space and also sees his own and other reflections in the glass panels at the same time. The whole room is filled with the smokey, gray-brown color of the glass, yet as one walks around the room, the color tones change dramatically, occasionally shifting all the way to blue and yellow. Bell is a master at manipulating the light and space in the gallery so that one hardly knows what is real and what is imagined. Much modern American art has been concerned with the illusions inherent in artistic space, but rarely has an artist been able to achieve a synthesis of form and content as strong as Bell’s. The color studies demonstrate that Bell’s results are not just accidental, but represent complete control of his technique.
Robert Hoffman
D RECOMMENDS Photography is a hot item in the art world: New York photography galleries are ! packed, and vintage and modern printsare being sold at increasingly higher prices. Now Dallas is about to have a part in this scene, with the opening on November 8 of the Texas Center for Photographic Studies in Park Central. Organized by an energetic brother-and-sister team, David and Nancy Pond-Smith, the new center will begin with a lecture, exhibition and workshop by Arnold Newman, one of the world’s great portrait photographers. Jerry Uelsmann, Duane Michals, and Ralph Gibson are scheduled for future appearances. There will also be a continuing program in basic and advanced photography, directed by David Pond-Smith, who trained in Ansel Adams workshop.
Two of Dallas’ better known art galleries have recently moved to new quarters. The Contemporary Gallery has left The Quadrangle for a new home at 2425 Cedar Springs, and the Delahunty Gallery has transformed an old frame building on Cedar Springs at Carlisle into the best gallery space in the state.
The Contemporary Gallery’s new space allows it to show a variety of work simultaneously, a flexibility they will be using with concurrent October shows of paintings by New York artist Lionel Gilbert and wood sculpture by Dallas artist Tom Piccolo. The opening show in the new quarters, an exhibition of 43 mixed media paintings by Salt Lake artist S.K. Skynear, was almost a complete sell-out. Gallery owner Ralph H. Kahn will continue to maintain an inventory of graphics by twentieth century masters like Picasso, Miro, Chagall, Vasarely and Baskin in addition to the on-going one-man shows.
Delahunty, which was formerly the Smither Gallery, is a tripartite operation headed by Laura Carpenter (business and prints), Murray Smither (paintings) and Ginny Gable (framing). The gallery, under Smither’s leadership, has for some time been the only place in Dallas devoted exclusively to showing the work of regional artists. Now all the tough times are starting to pay off for Delahunty as many of the artists they represent are maturing artistically and gaining greater acceptance in national art circles. Business has been so good that Delahunty has already opened a Houston branch.
While the main focus of Delahunty will continue to be one-man shows of regional artists, their new facility has given them the room to add a first-rate print and drawing department, handling the work of many nationally known artists. In addition to maintaining a large permanent inventory of prints by such luminaries as Roy Lich-tenstein, Jim Dine, James Rosenquist and Gene Davis, Smither plans to have continuing print and drawing shows featuring local artists such as Lee Baxter Davis, Bruce Lowney and Larry Scholder.
Delahunty opened the fall with an impressive show of new work by Vernon Fisher, who has been exhibiting work in the Dallas area for about the last six years. His acrylic and stitched vinyl paintings have always been competently produced, but the twelve new pieces just exhibited are a cut above anything he has done before – they might just be the best art being produced anywhere in Texas right now. All of his paintings are structured on a graph-like geometric grid which covers the vinyl surface. Fisher then adds lush, diaphanous colors and expres8ionistic brush strokes, stitching and geometric shapes. The result is a unity of space, color and execution which many artists never achieve. The professionalism of Fisher’s vision even allows him the luxury of push-pinning the un-framed paintings directly onto the gallery walls without seeming forced or gimmicky.
Juergen Strunck’s current show at Delahunty represents a continuation of the series of large prints on rice paper he has been producing the last few years. The colors in these new prints are more subtle than in his earlier work, but the overall strength of the prints is maintained by Strunck’s use of vivid geometric patterning. Strunck’s art is easy to like and easy to live with.
R.H.
Showing Up
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The American Heritage in Art, American paintings from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, will be featured through November 30. The Southwest Prints and Drawings Show will be on display through November 23. Tues-Sat, 10-5, Sunday 1-5. Fair Park/421-4187.
Owen Arts Center, SMU. Studio faculty exhibition, November 5-23, in the University Gallery. Weekdays 10-5, Sunday 1-5. 692-2516.
Richland College. A faculty exhibit by members of the Richland College Art Department will be on display through Nov 14 in the Humanities Building. An exhibition of student work will be featured Nov 17-28. 12800 Abrams.
North Texas State University, Denton. An exhibition of African culture opens October 25 in the Art Building Gallery. 267-0651.
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth. The Image of America in Caricature and Cartoon will be on display throughout November. Tues-Sat 10-5, Sun 1-5:30. 3501 Camp Bowie Blvd/(817) 738-1933.
Fort Worth Art Museum. Larry Bell: Recent Work will be on display through Nov 9. Dan Flavin: Installation in Electric Light opens Nov 23. Tues-Sat 10-5, Sun 1-5. 1309 Montgomery/(817) 738-9215.
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth. Early English Silver and Gold, on loan to the museum from an anonymous collector, features 99 pieces of rare silver and gold domestic ware from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to that of George III. Tues-Sat 10-5, Sun 1-5. 1101 Will Rogers Rd/(817) 332-8451.
GALLERIES
Afterimage. The work of Albert Edgar will be featured through Nov 1. Work by Liliane De-Cock will be displayed Nov 4-29. Mon-Sat 10-5:30, Thurs till 8:30. Quadrangle/748-2521.
Albrecht Studio. Sculpture by Mary Albrecht, Edith Baker, Ruth Litwin and Neal Schneider-man will be featured in November. Mon-Sat 10-5 and by appointment. 249 Arapaho Central Park, Riehardson/690-1435.
Art Collection Gallery. Prints by Karl Hoefle, who did the covers for the Dallas Yellow Pages, will be on display in November. Tues-Sat 10-5. In the Craft Compound/6617 Snider Plaza/369-7442.
Atelier Chapman Kelley. Paintings by Leon Berkowitz will continue on display. Mon-Sat 10:30-5, Sun 1-5, 2526 Fairmount/747-9971.
Contemporary Gallery. Sculpture made from found objects, by Al Kidwell, will be on display throughout November. Mon-Sat 10:30-5, Thurs till 8:30. 2425 Cedar Springs/747-0141.
Cushing Gallery. Rosie Clark, Atlanta artist, will be featured in a show opening Nov 22. Mon-Sat 10:30-4:30. 2723 Fairmount/747-0497.
The Cutshall Collection. An exhibition of twelve painters of the Symbolic-Realist school will be on display. Mon-Sat 10-5. 3530 Cedar Springs/526-3390.
Delahunty Gallery. Relief prints by Juergen Strunck will be on display through Nov 7. Recent works by Stephen Lorber will be featured from Nov 9. Tues-Sat 10-6 and by appointment. 2611 Cedar Springs/744-1346.
Dupree Gallery. Sculpture by Marcy MacKinnon and paintings and lithographs by Nick Ab-dalla will be featured through October 31. Mon-Sat 10-5:30, 420 Northgate Plaza Village, Irving/252-8481.
Fail-mount Gallery. Paintings by Janet Montgomery and collages by Jane Vieaux will be featured in October. A show of oils by Gregory Palmer of Dallas and Lu Ann Barrow of San Antonio will open Nov 7. Tues-Sat 11-5. 6040 Sherry Lane/369-5636.
The Front Room. A show of kinetic jewelry by Vernon Reed will run through October 25. Work by glass-blower Henry Summa and weaver Suellen Hamler will be exhibited from Nov 8. Mon-Sat 10-5. In- the Craft Compound/6617 Snider Plaza/369-8338.
Gallery Marcus. Paintings by Bill Zaner will be shown through October 31. Paintings by Hugo David Pohl, James Gilbreath, and Judy and Warren Osburn will be featured from mid-November. Tues-Sat 9-7, Wed till 9. 1313 Avenue K, Plano/424-1487.
Lee Ethel Gallery. Watercolors by Margaret Leibold will be featured November 2-21. Mon-Sat 12-6. 3115 Routh/742-4091.
Olla Pod Gallery. Pottery by Newt Lale will be on display Nov 8-22. 10-5:30 Mon-Sat, Thurs till 9. Olla Podrida/12215 Coit Rd/239-0551.
Poster Gallery. An extensive selection of museum exhibition posters will be featured through November. Mon-Sat 10-5. 6610 Snider Plaza/363-8223.
Poster Place. A new show of work by Folon, signed and numbered graphics, is planned for November. Work by Hundertwasser, Rothko, Calder, and Michael English will also be featured. Mon-Sat 10-5:30, Thurs till 9. Olla Podrida/12215 Coit/661-3383.
Stewart Gallery. Paintings by Charles Campbell of Phoenix will be on display October 23 through November 25. Tues-Sun 12-7 and by appointment. 12610 Coit/661-0213.
2719 Gallery. Work by Roy Barnett and Ed Bar-tram will be on display through Oct 31. Work by Jack Lew, Ted Naos, and Carol Gilitsch Burnett will be shown Nov 9-29. Tues-Sat 11-5, Sun 2-5. 2719 Routh/748-2094.
Dance
Houston Dances Ahead of Dallas
The Dallas Civic Ballet, with Edward Vil-lella, Anna Aragno, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
The Houston Ballet, with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.
Dallas is still a dance-starved city, despite the fanfare with which the Civic Ballet opened its 1975-1976 season. In fact, the really interesting dance scene this September was at the other end of the Turnpike, with Twyla Tharp’s residency (see David Ritz’s comments below) and the Houston Ballet’s performance in Fort Worth.
While the Dallas company shows promise, the Houston troupe is already moving into the big leagues. The Dallas Ballet is well-schooled, healthy, and has a certain amount of charm, but suffers from the heavy hand of a parent trying to mold it in his own image. The Houston Ballet, on the other hand, is also beautifully trained, but has in addition an independent, searching intelligence, a thirst for challenge, and a brilliant sparkle of wit.
The program of the Dallas Ballet performances was for the most part a collection of snippets and excerpts. Putting an abridged Firebird and Swan Lake scenes on the same bill is like putting Shakespeare, Moli-ere and Chekhov on the same theater program. The blend was too rich to be satisfying, and didn’t give the dancers a break, either. The “complete” ballet, Ravel’s Bolero, couldn’t help but become a sort of “Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall” with its endless repetition. The dancers menaced and strutted in “Spanish” style, but the ballet really goes nowhere and its dramatic climax comes as something of a relief.
The principals and soloists of the Dallas Ballet met the demands of their roles with grace and presence. In Firebird, for example, attention to significant detail such as the carriage of the arms, the flexibility of backs, and the angle of the head was more apparent than is usual in dance on the local level. But the choreography, while it showed the dancers to good advantage, requiring no technique which was beyond their reach, was old hat, uninspired and occasionally distracting, pulling our attention away from the soloists rather than focusing it toward them. Ivan and Tsarevna’s duet was stifled by excess movement from the princesses, and the power of Kastchei’s solo was lost in the flapping and stomping of his creatures.
The Houston program was an exceptionally courageous one. It was composed entirely of new works by relatively unheard of choreographers. The choreography was good, by and large, and some of it really excellent. It presented the Houston dancers with some formidable challenges, both physical and intellectual. They proved more than equal to them, demonstrating balances that would undo a gymnast, extensions to make a contortionist blush, a remarkable dramatic flair, and the finest lineup of male dancers this side of New York.
The biggest surprise on the program was, of all things, a ballet about the founding of Houston called “Allen’s Landing,” which sounded about as promising as a Bonanza rerun. The highlight was its fourth scene, a marvelous parody of an early touring dance company of questionable merit.
Above all, the Houston Ballet proves that a local dance company can please an audience without the presence of high-leaping big name stars. Dallas’ reliance on a superstar attraction, Edward Villella, shows how unreliable a practice that can be. Villella had injured himself. He had to cancel the ballet, Stars and Stripes, that called for the most virtuosity, and almost walked through the rest of the performance. In fact, whoever was responsible for encouraging Villella to appear at all did a grave disservice to this great artist. According to some reports, Villella was pumped full of cortisone; according to others, he was receiving temporary relief from acupuncture treatments. Apart from showing an artist at his worst, letting Villella appear was potentially productive of worse injury.
Victoria Lowe
Twyla Tharp, at TCU.
The big weekend for dance was to have been in Dallas – tne opening of the sym-phony season with Villella. Ironically, though, the sensational stuff was happening not at Fair Park, but over in Fort Worth, on the TCU campus. Twyla Tharp’s much under-publicized two-night stand of “Dancers and Dances” was a tremendous joy, a coy and brilliant two hours of witty and ironic and wonderfully sophisticated work.
Tharp’s musical and choreographical interests take her into areas which are fraught with the dangers and pitfalls of the easy cliche. The first piece, for example, “Sue’s Leg,” danced to eight Fats Waller recordings – instrumental and vocal – might have fallen into the trap of parodying or modernizing the ballroom dance style of the Thirties. Instead, Tharp, who herself danced marvelously during the Waller number, plunged head-first into the spirit of the times – the jitterbug, the lin-dy – and head-first into the humor and capriciousness of Waller’s tongue-in-cheek style. There was an irresponsibility, a falling apart in the middle, a coming together at the end, a relaxation and a tension which simply could not have been truer to Fats. It was a lovely romp.
Irony was everywhere – the casualness with which Rose Marie Wright and Kenneth Rinker danced the Bach duet, the mock formality and lack of respect shown to two of Joplin’s boring rags (with Mozart thrown in the middle for good measure).
Finally there was the astounding “Ocean’s Motion,” a seven-part suite of dances to the music of Chuck Berry. Again, Tharp does not avoid the obvious. Dancers are put into Fifties costumes of pink and grey; their hair is slicked back; they have pony tails and duck tails. But it doesn’t matter, for Tharp manages to break through the standard expectations you might have for a Fifties parody. The sheer technique is so overwhelming you find yourself gasping. Tharp’s able to put her head inside the music – she obviously loves Chuck Berry – and take out its most complicated emotional and social implications without avoiding the obvious. You see Fifties popular dancing, but done with enormous critical wit. It’s great to see and hear “Almost Grown,” “Memphis” and “School Days,” but what a pleasure it is to see the luscious slow dancing to Berry’s long forgotten and absolutely beautiful “Havana Moon.” Twyla Tharp, come back soon.
David Rita
Whaf’s Afoot
Music and Dance in Jeffersonian Times, a program presented by the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, will be held Nov 25 and 26 at McFarlin Auditorium. Authentic musical instruments from the Smithsonian collection will be featured. Dancers will be directed by Shirley Wynne of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Richland College. The Betty Jones Dance Company will be in residency at Richland November 10-12. 12800 Abrams.
Fort Worth Art Museum. A series of lectures on dance begins Nov 12 with Michael Kirby, editor of The Drama Review, and continues on Nov 19, with Clive Barnes, dance critic for the New York Times. 8 p.m., Museum Solarium. Walking Through the Universe in Bare Feet: Ten Circle Dances will be performed during the residency of Deborah Hay at the Museum, Nov 16-25. Call the Museum for further information. 1309 Montgomery/(817) 738-9215.
TCU Division of Ballet and Modern Dance, Forth Worth. Day for Dancing, a Christmas dance drama written by Lloyd Pfautsch and choreographed by Jerry Bywaters Cochran will be performed at 7:30 p.m. in the University Christian Church on the TCU campus, Nov 30, Dec 1 and 2.
D RECOMMENDS Renata Scotto thinks an opera star should be able to act as well as sing. And Renata Scotto sings as well as shè acts, which as anyone who saw her Madama Butterfly with the Dallas Civic Opera a few years ago can tell you is very well indeed. She’s back in Dallas for appearances with the DCO in Anna Bolena, Donizetti’s opera, on November 12, 14, and 16.
Mountain View College. The Mountain View College Concert Dancers present a series of performances, Oct 24-26, at 8:15 p.m. in the Performance Hall. 4849 W Illinois/746-4180.
Dance Theatre of the Southwest. Guest artist Kelly Holt, formerly a member of the Erick Hawkins Dance Company in New York, and Sandi Combest, artistic director of the Dance Theatre of the Southwest, will perform two duets choreographed by Mr. Holt on October 24 and 25 in the University Theater, NTSU campus, Denton. The Company will also perform works choreographed by Ms. Combest and other members of the group. For information call (817) 365-2574.
Texas Woman’s University, Denton. The Gloria Newman Dance Theater will be in residency at TWU October 30-November 1. There will be a performance Oct 31 in the Main Auditorium at TWU. For further information, call (817) 382-5311.
Music
DSO Festival: Cliburn, Sills, Lee
Van Cliburn and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
If somebody asked you “Whom should the Dallas Symphony invite to help start the Bicentennial season?” wouldn’t your answer be, “Van Cliburn?” Of course. The choice is inevitable. A Texas cultural symbol (Kilgore roots, the Dealey Competition in ’52, Texas tallness), he was assured continued occupancy of the big soft spot America reserves for one or two artist-idols when he won the heavily politicized Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow almost twenty years ago. That famous “victory” over the pre-detente Russkies, the hero’s welcome on Wall Street, personal greetings from the Old General in the White House: even now the legend is hard to play down. And why try to, after all? Cliburn’s musicianship is first-rank, his technique phenomenal, his generosity toward younger musicians (not to mention floundering orchestras) apparently boundless.
So he is a winner in the American tradition, and that public perception of him potentially both liberates and constricts. It means he can reflect somebody’s estimation of what the public wants, play on demand to sellout houses, and drag out the Grieg Concerto for the hundredth time. Or he can shape tastes, take risks and deliver the unexpected in the form of Prokofieff or even Mozart concertos. But ’tis the season to be patriotic, and so this year to be a pianist in the American tradition means applying yourself to American warhorses, where they can be found. The Symphony’s own Diamond Jubilee season brought us Van Cliburn playing Edward MacDowell’s Second Concerto, which deserves its place in history as an example of American romantic music, but has seen its best days.
By contrast, the Liszt Concerto was something Cliburn could really sink his hands into. This is romantic music in the grand manner, and both orchestra and soloist gave it a driving, dramatic treatment. Cliburn’s enviable left hand brings bass notes rumbling out of Transylvanian valleys, and as we have come to expect from him over the years, a powerful fifth finger in the right hand keeps the melodic line in the foreground. You can see from the second balcony that the man has hands like a wide receiver’s. From the moment he turned them on those cavernous opening chords I knew that the evening had arrived.
Juxtaposition with old MacDowell of course makes Liszt look even better than he might in more illustrious company; it’s something of an anomaly to find him getting top billing on a full-scale concert program. Cliburn and orchestra built the G flat Major concerto from the ground up, though in the racing animato of the conclusion Cliburn’s momentum carried him past the orchestra, or at least overwhelmed Louis Lane’s attempt to brake his people.
The Dallas Symphony’s problems appear to have bottomed out. There were a few rough moments in the Adagio cantabile movement of Ives’ Second Symphony, where the scoring gives the violins the inevitable intonation headaches, though nothing so bad as the embarrassment of last year’s smudgy Graffman concert. I may be won over to Ives in the coming year; he’s become a sort of musical saint of the Bicentennial. Ives develops musical ideas inventively, and was clear-eyed pretty early in the century about the need for music to shift to new tonalities. He’s capable of cheeky surprises, like the ending of the Second Symphony; all hell is supposed to break loose – every kid in town sends up all his firecrackers at once. But Louis Lane should trust his crew; they were making for bedlam and you could see his restraint. That cacophanous “Reveille” is a touch of genius – who could call it corny? Ives the insurance man knew his American audience, though it took them half a century to find him.
Willem Brans
Beverly Sills and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
The only response to a concert as bad as this one is anger. Anger at the condescension and poor taste of the Symphony management in putting together so insipid a musical program and trying to pass it off as a “gala” event. Anger at the promotional hype that encourages gifted artists to over-extend themselves. And anger that we in the audience will not only tolerate inadequate musicianship, but will stand up and cheer it.
The program was one of those dreary packages that the Symphony has been putting together lately. This time it was an “Italian” evening – the sole excuse for putting a second-rate symphony, Mendelssohn’s “Italian,” and a third-rate tone poem, Respighi’s “Fountains of Rome,” on the same program. If Louis Lane had had something to tell us about these works, their performance might have been admissible, but the orchestra merely whisked through them. In the Respighi, for example, the orchestral color, which is the only interesting thing about the work, was lost in a brutal smear of sound that was only partly the fault of the Music Hall’s disastrous acoustics.
The “Italian” motif also meant that we heard only one side of Beverly Sills’ talents – three coloratura arias from Italian opera. Sills has a wide repertoire. She is one of the few operatic superstars with extensive work in French opera, and she’s an experienced concert artist. It would have made sense to give us some taste of other areas of her talent. Operatic arias, after all, were never meant for concert performance – the orchestra tends to overwhelm the singer when it comes out of the pit, and Lane did little to restrain his players. Some works in which singer and orchestra perform as partners onstage would have been more suitable – a Bach cantata like “Jauchzet Gott,” a Mozart concert aria, even a symphony, perhaps the Mahler Fourth.
If Sills had been in top form, 1 suppose even the inadequacies of the program could have been forgiven. But she sounded tired (she said on Saturday night that she was recovering from laryngitis). The voice was wooly and inflexible in the middle register, and the top was shrill and sour. In the Lucia mad scene her breath control went awry, and the loony runs and trills sounded like cries for help. Only occasionally did we hear some of the quicksilver technique, and her preoccupation with getting the voice’ to work left her no chance to give us the dramatic insight for which she is famous. We have recently seen too many great singers burnt out before their prime. Sills is a beloved artist, in part because of her generosity, but it can be generosity to a fault. She does no one – not herself, not her audience, and not her art – a service by pushing beyond her limits.
Charles Matthews
Peggy Lee and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
Miss Peggy Lee, as she insists on billing herself, in trying to defy or deny age, has recreated herself as a baby doll, a wax figure, a manufactured product of her own design. She brings to mind other stars who have bought the do-it-yourself Fountain of Youth – Mae West and Marlene Dietrich. Through a magical process of recycling, they have returned to a state of artificial childhood, becoming spoiled and prissy little girls.
The DSO could not have made a worse choice for closing the month-long anniversary celebration than Peggy Lee’s pops concert. It’s an elaborate show – the lighting, the super-star bit, Miss Lee’s flowing turquoise and pink I-am-a-butterfly gowns – but all to no effect. Simply nothing is left of her once haunting voice, and the memory of the singer she used to be is not enough.
Attempts at renewal are reminiscent of that other aging pop swinger, Frank Sinatra. Bach hair is in place, painted black or painted white. She’s flat, off-key and moves about with the energy of a wind-up doll about to run down.
Once Peggy Lee understood that in big band singing or jazz interpretation, less is often more. Now she has forgotten her own lesson. So you sit there, embarrassed for her, wishing that she not make the same mistake as Willie Mays or Bob Gibson, that she give up the game while she still has grace and dignity. Watching Willie falling down in the outfield or seeing Sinatra beating himself up as “The Main Event” in Madison Square Event were painful events. So was Miss Lee’s performance in Dallas.
David Ritz
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen has been called “the rock & roll future,” a rock & roll “reju-venator,” a “pioneer,” a “new Dylan,” “the culmination of 20 years of rock & roll tradition.” Poor Bruce – the only real obstacle for this talented lyricist-singer-guitarist and bundle of musical energy is that awesome burden of hopefulness for a New Rock Messiah that has been dropped on his shoulders.
Springsteen is indeed the most interesting thing to happen to rock & roll in a long time. Some people like him; some don’t. But it is difficult to imagine anyone with a rock & roll heritage not being intrigued by him – 1f only because he has drawn so strongly, so diversely, and so proficiently from that heritage. His third and most recent (and best) album, Born To Run, is something of a polyvinyl anthology of rock & roll history. In a broad and distant sense you can hear Chuck Berry, you can hear Elvis, you can hear Roy Orbison, you can hear not the “new Dylan” but the old Dylan when he was rocking with the Hawks. In a more immediate way you can hear Van Morrison on “Thunder Road,” Peter Wolf and the J. Geils Band on “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out,” Peter Townshend and the Who on “Jungleland,” and even a trace of Mick Jagger in the chorus of “Back-streets.” Yet the combined effect smacks not at all of conscious root-pulling – the influences are subliminal at most. The resultant sound is strikingly, almost impossibly, fresh considering all those familiarities from the past.
Springsteen’s September 26 concert in Dallas was even more convincing. His visual dramatics are as dynamic as his music. In black tennis shoes, blue jeans rolled at the cuff, white T-shirt, and black leather jacket, he reminded you much less of a Fifties faker than of a kid, a 26-year old, brash, fetching, tough punk kid from the streets of New Jersey. For two and a half hours he frolicked around the stage convincing everyone that he was having the time of his life, even though he knew that we knew that he’d been through it all dozens of times before. But it was catching. Rarely have I seen such a gigantic and legitimate transfer of energy from rock performer to audience. No small part of which was due to the six-member E Street Band, a stunningly precise and coordinated band led by saxophonist Clarence Clemons and guitarist Miami Steve Van Zandt.
Again there was the reflection of past influences, from an R&B oldie opening number (“It’s Gonna Work Out Fine”) to a “Johnny B. Goode” encore. But the heart of the show was his current material, particularly “Born To Run” (a triumphant composition which has been the single most important key to his sudden rise into public view), Springsteen alone at the piano with “Thunder Road,” a grandiose production of “Jungleland” and a brilliant version of “The E Street Shuffle,” complete with Springsteen the comedian in a satirical and utterly entertaining “story-behind-the-song” routine.
The rather tacky Dallas Convention Theater was only one-third full on this night (only a few weeks after people had lined the streets of the Village in New York for a shot at standing room tickets for his ten performances at the Bottom Line). Partly responsible for the small turnout was a large scale game of musical chairs, as the concert site was shifted from the Electric Ballroom to Texas Hall back to the Ballroom and finally to the Convention Center. Whatever the circumstances, it’s a safe bet that you won’t be able to get a sixth row seat thirty minutes before showtime the next time Springsteen comes to town.
If, that is, he can buck the pressure of this Messiah business. Springsteen’s next album may prove to be far more significant to his place in the ” rock & roll future” than Bom To Run, which he admits was a grueling struggle to produce. There is talk of a live album which might be a mistake; another collection of new and original material would be more interesting – and telling.
David Bauer
Waxing Critical
Ridin’ High, Jerry Jeff Walker (MCA).
“Don’t be concerned if the song sounds familiar,” Jerry Jeff announces at the outset. And there really isn’t anything original here; you feel as though you’ve heard it before. Yet that’s deceptive, for there’s a self-criticism, a tenderness, a coyness which, for me, is new and convincing. If at first Ridin’ High strikes you as just another Walker effort, listen again. It’s a beautiful record.
He sounds more relaxed, more in love with his genre (and his new wife). Lovely touches and sweet lyrics abound: “Gonna roll all the way to la Louisiana,” he moans, “maybe we’ll just roll around in bed all day.” When he’s raunchy – as in Willie Nelson’s “Pick Up the Tempo” – he shows all his teeth. When he’s rhapsodic – as in “Night Riders’ Lament” and “Mississippi, You’re On My Mind” – conjuring forth images of cowboys or Alaska or the lazy South, the mood is misty and poetic. When he’s chucking it all – as in “Pissin’ in the Wind” – he’s self-mocking and funny.
Jerry Jeff is in good shape. He has carried the low-grade, laid-back Austin back-street beer style to its highest level. The questions which remain are: how good is the style, can it sustain him, and how long can it last?
David Ritz
Renaissance, Ray Charles (Crossover).
Only Ray knows what he means by the title of his most inconsistent record. It’s not clear that he’s been born again – when did he ever expire? – and the movement here is from the sublime to the ridiculous. “Living for the City” is wonderful; it becomes Stevie Wonder’s gift to papa, the blind magically leading the blind. “Then We’ll Be Home” is all Hog Cooper’s elegant baritone work and is terribly seductive. Aznavour’s “La Mamma” is unbearable. “It Ain’t Easy Being Green,” from Sesame Street, should be mandatory listening for all schoolchildren. Randy Newman’s “Sail Away” becomes a minor epic. And so Ray’s trip continues, though where he’s headed or, for that matter, where he’s at now, remains a mystery.
D.R.
My Way, Major Harris (Atlantic)
First Impressions, The Impressions (Curtom)
Thirteen, Blue Magic (Atco)
Revelation, Revelation (RSO)
That’s the Way of the World, Earth, Wind & Fire (Columbia)
The Heat Is On, The Isley Brothers (Tneck)
In the Slot, Tower of Power (Warner Bros.)
The big sound is back, blacks belting their way through extravagant charts, through fields of lush orchestrations. For the most part, it’s a bore and there’s no sin-gle record among this group which is good all the way through.
But if you’re the kind of person who can buy an album for one song or one incredible moment, here are some recommendations: I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to Major Harris do “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” or Earth, Wind & Fire’s fabulous “Reasons” or the Isleys’ “For the Love of You.” Each number appears on spotty albums which, were it not for those tunes, would be ignored. Yet those ballads are compelling enough to justify the rest.
First Impressions is worth it for “Sooner or Later,” “Same Thing it Took” and little else. Blue Magic, again in the style of the Dells and Harold Melvin, are overstrained and melodramatic. Revelation, in that same groove, are fine no-monkey-business singers but lack the right melodic material. It’s good wailing, but nothing breaks through. Tower of Power puts on the smoothest fireworks display and sounds like an up-dating and up-grading of James Brown’s now very tired and very overworked band. In the Slot is the slickest and most satisfying album of the batch, especially for Lenny Pickett’s tenor work.
D.R.
Rossini, The Barber of Seville: Sills, Ged-da, Mimes; Levine (Angel).
If I could have only one Barber, it might be this one because of its fine conducting and generally well-balanced cast. James Levine finds things in the score I’ve never heard before, and avoids the metronomic tempos other conductors resort to in Rossini. While almost all of the roles have been sung better on records, there are no disasters in the casting. Sills is not in her best voice – she sounds thin and shrill at the top, and the once-ravishing trill has grown shallow – but she does a fairly straightforward Rosina with few of the affectations some sopranos use in the role. (One exception: the squeaky “zittis” in the “Zitti, zitti, piano, piano” ensemble – a cutesy bit even Roberta Peters didn’t try.) Gedda’s voice is going sour at the top, and some of his coloratura – particularly in his “restored” aria, “Cessa di più resistere” – is a bit desperate. (Why restore an aria for an artist who can’t sing it?) But he acts an ardent Alma-viva. Milnes is one of the best Figaros on record. His handsome voice has never been used entirely properly, and there is some pushing at the top, but he seems to be having fun with the role. The rest of the cast is only okay. No bass since Baccaloni has bothered to sing Bartolo; like the rest of them, Renato Capecchi blusters and squeaks his way through the role. Ruggero Raimondi is a rather dull Basilio. And Fedora Barbieri shouldn’t be singing Berta, or at least not Berta’s aria, at this late stage in her career.
Charles Matthews
Pierre Boulez and The New York Philharmonic, Handel: Water Music (Complete) (Columbia).
What, the Handel Water Music, again? Certainly. Record companies cannot resist the temptation to release the same classics in new interpretations by the latest conductors of note. Boulez, Leonard Bernstein’s replacement for several years now in New York City, joined the perpetual Water Music record making this fall, and why shouldn’t he?
Because his version is strained and overdone, that’s why. Especially in its introduction. Boulez’s rendition of Handel’s opening movement is much too emotional, much too passionate for a French overture from the 18th Century. It reeks with rubato, it staggers under the weight of unnatural musical tension.
But, if you can get through that introduction, there is a good reason to buy his version in Dallas. It falls into the extramu-sical category: the hornist listed as semi-soloist is John Cerminaro, a Dallas boy. At 27, he has made it well enough to become first chair hornist in the New York Philharmonic. Cerminaro is prominent in much of the Water Music, which has been termed a horn concerto disguised as party music for the King of England.
Susan Barton
Nightmusic
Sometimes serendipity is all we have to rely on. There’s so little going on musically in Dallas, that when a mysterious voice during a mysterious phone call gave me a tip that a boss blues singer was going to show up at an out-of-the-way club at midnight that very evening, I didn’t fight the feeling. I went.
That’s how I heard Bettie Fikes of Sel-ma, Alabama. She sang here for just a couple of nights – once at Maxine Kent’s, twice at the Recovery Room – and took everyone by surprise. It’s still not clear where she came from or where she’s going. It just happened.
It wasn’t surprising that she could sing the blues and a jazz number or two. Lots of singers can handle that sort of material with relative ease. But it was her strength that knocked everyone out: she was a heavyweight, a major league blues shouter who came out of nowhere and appeared to have a lot of the technique and aplomb of, say, Tina Turner.
Even a hackneyed tune like “Watermelon Man” was served up with true grit. On one night she worked her way through a Gladys Knight medley with that strange Dinah Washington gift for blues ballads, turning a shag carpet tune like “Neither One of Us” into dark-stained hardwood. And when it came to the blues, especially B.B. King’s “Sweet Little Angel,” she wiped out the house -’men and women, blacks and whites – turning delicious tricks with her falsetto, putting down the mike and wailing unamplified, crying out into the Dallas night of Lemmon Avenue and Cedar Springs Road.
David Ritz
From a physical perspective, Bellmaster would probably make the best jazz restaurant in town. The situation of the bandstand in the room is nearly perfect and the low ceiling, size and dimensions of the place feel just right for the sort of dark and sultry supper club which should be featuring first-class jazz.
In fact, they are fooling with jazz at Bell-master. There’s a Sunday afternoon session, from 3 p.m. on, featuring all the barbecue shrimp you can eat and some taste of music. Friends tell me that the regular group – Sweet Roll – is good, but the weekend I went Sweet Roll was off and a group put together by Gloria Morgan, singer and pianist, was on. Tom Wirtel played trumpet, Bill Tannerbring was on vibes. Nothing much happened. The group needs rehearsal and needs to figure out what it wants to do. The jazz was bland. The idea, though, of turning Bellmaster into an ongoing jazz club should not be ignored. We need it, as they used to say in politics, now more than ever.
D.R.
Arthur’s. Mon-Sat, Barbara & John Kaufman and Joe Lively. Sundays, Abby Hamilton and The Sundowners. (1000 Campbell Centre/361-8833/Seven Days a week till 2 a.m..)
Bagatelle. Tue-Sat, Paul Guererro Group with Jeannie Maxwell. Entertainment begins at 8:30 p.m. (One Energy Square, Greenville Ave at University/692-8224/Bar till 1:30 a.m. nightly)
Bellmaster. Mon-Sat, Patty Sterling-Whitey Thomas Trio. Entertainment begins at 7:15 p. m. (Carillon Plaza, 13601 Preston Rd/661-9353/Bar till midnight, till 2 a.m. Fri & Sat)
Century Room. Oct 13 through November, he Sexy, a cabaret revue produced by Breck Wall. Two shows nightly, Mon-Sat: Dinner show, 6 p.m., $12; late show, 10:45 weekdays, 11:15 weekends, $6. Reservations. (Adolphus Hotel, 1321 Commerce/747-6411)
Downstairs at the Registry. Oct 20-Nov 1, Bill Nash Show. Nov 3-29, Katherine Chase. Two shows each night at 9 & 11, Mon-Sat. Cover charge varies. Bar by membership. (Registry Hotel, Mockingbird at Stemmons/630-7000)
Electric Ballroom. (Tentative bookings, call for verification) Oct 22, Roy Gallagher. Oct 25, Savoy Brown. Oct 29, 10 C.C. Oct 31, Gary Wright. Nov 6, Argent. Cover charge varies. (1011 S. Industrial at Cadiz/7477877)
Enclave. Through Nov 1, Char Lovett. Nov 3-29 (tentative), Mark Franklin. Mon-Sat; entertainment begins 8:30 weekdays, 9 p.m. weekends. (8325 Walnut Hill/363-7487/Bar till midnight nightly)
Harper’s Corner. Through October, Chris and Pam. Mon-Sat, entertainment begins at 8:30 p. m. (Hilton Inn, 5600 N Cen Expwy at Mockingbird Ln/827-8460/Bar till 2 a.m. nightly)
Longhorn Ballroom. Oct 28, Asleep at the Wheel. Nov 5, Freddy Fender. Nov 28, Hank Thompson. Cover varies. (216 Corinth at Indus-trial/428-3128/Tue-Thur 8:30-12, Fri & Sat, 9-2)
Mother Blues. Oct 23-26, Bugs Henderson Group. Oct 27-29, Catfish Hodge. Oct 30-Nov 1. Lightnin’ Hopkins. Nov 3-5, Jimmie Spheeris. Nov 6-9, New Summerfield Band. Nov 13-16, Jay Wise. Nov 20-22, Hot Sauce. Nov 27-29, Bees Knees. Cover varies. $2-$4. No cover weeknights with local bands. (4015 Lem-mon/528-3842/till 2 a.m. seven days a week)
Western Place. Oct 29 & 30, Red Steagall. Nov 5 & 6, Larry Gatlin. Cover charge varies. (6651 Skillman/341-7100/4 p.m.-2 a.m. seven days a week)
Whiskey River. Oct 23-25, Willis Alan Ramsey. Further bookings not available at press time. (5421 Greenville Ave/369-9221/8 p.m.-2 a.m. seven days a week)
Wintergarden Ballroom. Nov 2, Tommy Dor-sey Orchestra. Nov 15, Jack Melick. Admission $4. BYOB. (1616 John West Rd 327-6265/8 p.m.-1 a.m., Wed, Fri & Sat)
Venetian Room. Through Oct 25, Lou Rawls. Oct 27-Nov 8. Brenda Lee. Further bookings not available at press time. Two shows nightly: weekdays 8:30 and 11, weekends 9 and 11:30. Cover varies, $8-$15. Reservations. (Fairmont Hotel. Ross and Akard/748 5454)
Duly Noted
Dallas Civic Opera. The 1975 season opens with Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann on October 31, a gala opening night benefit performance. The opera, which will be repeated November 2 and 4. will feature tenor Alfredo Kraus. baritone Sesto Bruscantini, sopranos Mady Mesplé and Carol Neblett, and mezzo-soprano Joy Davidson. Donizetti’s Anna Bolena will be performed November 12, 14. and 16. Soprano Re-nata Scotto, bass Ruggero Raimondi. and mezzo Tatiana Troyanos will head the cast. Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, with soprano Marina Krilovici and tenor Jack Trussel will be presented November 23,25. and 28. Tickets available from the DCO box office. 742-1008, and Titche’s, 748-9841. Music Hall, Fair Park.
Dallas Civic Music Series. The 1975-76 season continues with appearances by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Lukas Foss, on November .1, and soprano Elly Amel-ing on November 29. Concerts at 8:15 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium. For ticket information call 369-2210.
SMU Division of Music. Lee Schaenen conducts the SMU Chamber Orchestra in a concert November 3, 8:15 p.m. in Caruth Auditorium. Free. Guitarist Robert Guthrie presents a recital November 15 at 8:15 p.m. Tickets $3/$2.50 SMU community/$1 students. SMU Opera Theater performs scenes from grand opera November 22 in McFarlin Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. Tickets $3/$l students. For ticket information call 692-2573.
A Festival of 200 Years of American Music. The SMU Division of Music presents a series of concerts featuring music by American composers. Oct 20: music for symphonic band and wind chamber group, conducted by William Lively and Ross Powell, with Alfred Mouledos, pianist. Oct 22: vocal music, with Catherine Akos and Barbara Moore, mezzo-sopranos, and Bruce Foote, baritone. Oct 24: keyboard music, with Larry Palmer, harpsichord; Robert Anderson, organ; and Ronald Neal, violin. Oct 26: jazz, with the Dallas Jazz Orchestra, directed by Thorn Mason, and Barbara Moore, mezzo-soprano. Oct 27: music by Hanson, Ives, and Barber, with the Dallas Civic Symphony and the SMU Choir, and guest conductor Howard Hanson. All concerts in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center, at 8:15 p.m. For ticket information call 692-2573.
Irving Symphony Orchestra. A concert of music by American composers and music about America, with works by Copland. Bloch, Gould, and Dvorak, will be presented by the orchestra, conducted by Yves L’Helgoual’ch. on November 4 at 8 p.m. in the Irving High School auditorium. Tickets available at the door.
North Texas State University, Denton. Concerts to be presented on the campus include: Classical guitarist David Grimes, University Theater, 12 noon, November 12. Doug Ker-shaw, Main Auditorium, 8 p.m.. November 20. Opera Theatre concert. Music Recital Hall, 8:15 p.m., November 16 and 17. Concert Band Concert, Music Recital Hall, 8:15 p.m., November 19. Chapel Choir and Madrigal Concert, Music Recital Hall, 8:15 p.m., November 21. Lab Band Fall Concert, Main Auditorium, 8 p. m., November 25.
NTSU Fine Arts Series. Mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne will appear in a recital at 8:15 p.m. on November 18 in the Main Auditorium, NTSU campus, Denton. Tickets $3/$1.50 for NTSU community, all college students, and children. (817) 788-2551.
NTSU Symphony Orchestra presents a concert under the direction of conductor Anshel Brusi-low, on November 12 in the Music Recital Hall. Free.
Sunday Operas on KERA FM 90. November 2: Verdi. Don Carlos, with Ghiaurov. Zylis-Gara, Cossotto, and Prevedi. November 9: Vaughan Williams’ Sir John in Love. November 16: Meyerbeer, Le Prophete, with Horne and Ged-da. November 23: Rossini’s Il Cambiale di Mat-rimonio and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. November 30: Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel, and Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortileges. All broadcasts at 1:30 p.m.
KERA FM 90 Blockbusters. 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. every Saturday, recorded music by a single composer, on a single theme, or in a single genre. November 1: Jazz, a selection of the best recorded jazz. November 8: Haydn, a survey of his musical career. November 15: Chicago, the blues indigenous to the Windy City. November 22: Zarzuela, complete recordings and highlights of the Spanish equivalent of operetta. November 29: The Bounding Main, songs and stories about the sea.
The Pointer Sisters appear at the NTSU Coliseum after the NTSU Homecoming game, November 8. Tickets for the show, which will begin about 9 p.m., are $2 in advance and $4 at the gate. Available from Preston Ticket Agency.
Paul Simon appears in concert at McFarlin Auditorium, November 2.
Linda Ronstadt appears at Memorial Auditorium, November 28, sponsored by KZEW.
Movies
Ken Russell’s Vulgar Extravaganza
Lisztomania.
It has been years since the idea of throwing rotten tomatoes at the screen has occurred to me. But Ken Russell’s muddle-brained Lisztomania turned the trick: it’s an infuriating 100 minutes to live through.
Tommy seems mild and, if you can believe it, even restrained compared to this new extravaganza. Once again, we are made to look at – from every perspective, in every possible get-up – the eyes, ears, nose, hair and body of Roger Dal-trey. The film is his. He’s Liszt, treated as a promiscuous apolitical rock star of the nineteenth century. Antonioni loved pouring his camera over Monica Vitti; Fellini adored Mastroianni; Bergman couldn’t get enough of Liv Ullmann. But those people could act, and the director’s preoccupation with the star in movie after movie could be justified on the basis of what the star gave back to the films. Daltrey can neither act nor sing. He just looks like the quintessential rock hero, and that’s not enough to hold anyone’s interest save his most fervent groupies and wild-eyed fans. As a presence on screen, he’s limp.
Then there’s the problem of Russell’s seriousness, what must be seen as his high-mindedness. This business of rock stars as gods, beaten to death in Tommy’s dreadful Marilyn Monroe mass, is dragged out and beaten to death all over again. Does Russell really think it’s clever or brilliant or insightful to show the Pope (played pathetically by Ringo Starr) wearing robes bearing the images of Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Judy Garland? And when Wagner, who is the villain of the movie, creates a Frankenstein’s monster who turns out to be Hitler and starts murdering the Jews of Germany with his electric guitar/machine gun, are we supposed to laugh, or cry, or admire Russell’s keen sense of historical irony?
The vulgarization of Freudian psychology continues to be something the director cannot resist. Lisztomania is offensive and pretentious. It has neither redeeming social values, nor musical values, nor entertainment values. Maybe Russell will pull down lots of money for the film, not ing. Call for times and ticket prices/438-1123, ext 323.
October 24 & 26: The Day of the Jackal (USA 1973). Fred Zinneman’s version of the Frederick Forsyth best-seller, with Edward Fox, Cyril Cusack, Eric Porter, and Delphine Seyrig.
October 31: Halloween Special, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (USA 1923; Lon Chaney); The Phantom of the Opera (USA 1925; Lon Chaney); The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Germany 1919; Conrad Veidt).
November 7 & 9: Two Westerns, Stagecoach (USA 1939; John Wayne and Claire Trevor, directed by John Ford) and The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (USA 1972; Cliff Robertson and Robert Duvall).
November 14 & 16: The Emigrants (Sweden 1972). Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann in Jan Troell’s film about Swedish emigrants to America in the 19th century.
November 21 & 23: Classic Silent Comedy, The Gold Rush (USA 1925; Charlie Chaplin) and The General (USA 1927; Buster Keaton).
November 28 & 30: Recent Comedy Hits, What’s Up Tiger Lily? (USA 1966; directed by Woody Allen) and The Producers (USA 1968; Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, directed by Mel Brooks).
NTSU Fine Arts Films, Sundays and Mondays, 8 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the TUB snack bar, NTSU campus, Denton. 267-0651.
October 26 & 27: Broken Blossoms (USA 1919). D.W. Griffith’s silent film with Lillian Gish and Richard Barthelmess.
November 2 & 3: La Strada (Italy 1956). Federico Fellini’s film with Giulietta Masina and Anthony Quinn.
November 9 & 10: The Blue Angel (Germany 1930). The von Sternberg film that made Mar-lene Dietrich a star; with Emil Jannings.
November 23 & 24: Citizen Kane (USA 1941; Orson Welles directing and starring) and Notorious (USA 1946; Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains, directed by Alfred Hitchcock).
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth. A series of films by Jean Renoir will be shown Sundays at 2 p.m. in the Auditorium.
November 2: Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932).
November 9: The Crime of M. Lange (1935).
November 16: Grand Illusion (1937).
November 23: Le Petit Theatre de Jean Renoir (1969).
Spoils
Grandstanding
Football / Dallas Cowboys. Texas Stadium. Tickets: Reserved $10, General admission $6. 369-3211.
Nov 10 vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 8 p.m.
Nov 23 vs. Philadelphia Eagles, 1 p.m.
Nov 30 vs. New York Giants, 1 p.m.
Football / SMU Mustangs. Cotton Bowl. Tickets: Reserved $7, General admission (end zone) $3 adults/$2 children. 692-2901.
Nov 1 vs. Texas Longhorns, 1:30 p.m.
Nov 15 vs. Arkansas Razorbacks, 1:30 p.m.
Hockey/Dallas Black Hawks. State Fair Coliseum. All games at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $2.50-$5.50. 823-6362.
Oct 25 vs. Fort Worth
Oct 29 vs. Tucson
Oct 31 vs. Salt Lake City
Nov 1 vs. Oklahoma City
Nov 8 vs. Tulsa
Nov 14 vs. Salt Lake City
Nov 15 vs. Fort Worth
Nov 21 vs. Oklahoma City
Nov 28 vs. Tulsa
Quarter Horse Racing/Ross Downs. Hwy 121, 4 miles southwest of Grapevine, 4811071. From 9-19 races every Sunday, year ’round, beginning at 1 p.m. Adults $2/children $1.
Rugby / The Texas Rugby Union now has five Dallas area teams: Dallas Harlequins, Our Gang, Dallas Rugby Club, SMU Rugby Club, and Wildebeeste. Matches are played every Saturday and occasional Sundays at Glencoe Park (Martel Ave at North Central Expwy) and Merriman Park (6800 Skillman at Merri-man Lane). Spectators invited, free. For information and exact schedule of matches, call Randy Langston at 350-9045.
Thoroughbred Horse Racing/Louisiana Downs. Every Thursday through Monday until Dec 21. (The second segment of the season will run from Jan 2-Feb 1.) Located in Bossier City, Louisiana on IH 20 (about three hours drive from Dallas). Nine or ten races daily except Tue & Wed; post time 1:05. Grandstand $1, Clubhouse $2.50, plus $1 entrance fee. For information, call (318) 742-5555.
Theater
In the Wings
Dallas Theater Center. The Theater Center’s 17th season opens with Saturday, Sunday, Monday, running through November 8. Manny. a musical version of Everyman, opens Nov 18. Tues-Fri 8 p.m., Sat 8:30 p.m. Tickets $4.25-$5.50/students $3. 36.16 Turtle Creek/526-8857.
Theatre Three. When You Comin’ Back. Red Ryder? will play through November 23. Wed-Sat 8:30. Sun 7 p.m. and 2:30 matinee on alternate Sundays. Tickets $3-$5.50 with student and group discounts. Quadrangle/748-5191.
Theatre SMU. Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author will be presented in the Margo Jones Theater through Oct 26. Shaw’s Major Barbara will be staged in the Bob Hope Theater. Nov 11-21. Tues-Sat 8:15 p.m., Sun 2:15. $3.50/$3. Owen Arts Center/692-2573.
University of Dallas. Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist will be performed October 22-26 at 8:15 p.m. Admission $1. UD campus, Irving/438-1123, ext. 314.
Richland College. Lock Up Your Daughters, a musical comedy, will be presented Nov 14, 15, 19-22 in the Performance Hall at 8 p.m. Free. 12800 Abrams.
NTSU, Denton. Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple will be presented Nov 18-22 at 8 p.m. Tickets $2.50. University Theater. Studio Theater. 267-0651.
University of Texas at Arlington. Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing will be performed Nov 14-23 in the Fine Arts Center Theater. Performances 8 p.m. Nov 14-16 and 20-22. Matinees 1 p.m. Nov 18 and 19, 2 p.m. Nov 22. Tickets $2/$1.50 students. 273-2163.
Dallas Repertory Theater. Thornton Wilder’s Our Town opens the season for the company with performances through November 9. Tickets $3.50 and $4 adults/$3 and $3.50 students and senior citizens $3 children. Curtain 8:15 p. m. Fri and Sat/3 p.m. Sundays. NorthPark Hall/369-9866.
Oak Lawn Community Theater. The Drunkard opens October 23 and runs through November 1. Performances Thurs-Sat at 8 p.m. $2.50. Group and student discounts. Trinity Methodist Church/Pearl & McKinney/691-7320.
Irving Community Theater. Two by Two, a musical, will be presented Oct 31 and Nov 1,7,8,14, and 15. Performances at 8 p.m., matinee Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets $l-$3. 2nd and Lucille, Irving/255-4233 or 253-0323.
DINNER THEATERS
Country Dinner Playhouse. Mickey Rooney performs in Good Night, Ladies through Nov 23. Bob Crane opens in Beginner’s Luck on Nov 25. Tues-Sun dinner 6:45, show 8 p.m. Tickets $6.95-$9.75; group rates for 24 or more. 11829 Abrams at LBJ/231-9457.
Gran’ Crystal Palace. A cabaret-style musical revue is performed every evening, Mon-Sun, dinner 8 p.m., show 10 p.m., $12.50. 2416 Swiss/824-1263.
Granny’s Dinner Playhouse. Bottoms Up, a Las Vegas musical comedy revue, runs through Nov 16. The Rusty Warren Show will be presented Nov 18-30. Tues-Sat dinner 7, show 8:15 p.m. Tickets $6.85-$10.25. 12205 Coit Rd/239-0153.
The Great American Melodrama Theatre. Dirty Work at the Crossroads runs through Oct 25. Dracula opens Oct 31. Thurs 7:30; Fri & Sat 7:30 & 11; Sun 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. $2.50 admission. Hamburgers, etc., $1.80. 316 Hillside Village/821-3540.
Windmill Dinner Theater. Broderick Crawford appears in Born Yesterday through Nov 2. Tues-Sun, dinner 6:30, show 8:30; Sunday matinee, lunch 12:30, show 2 p.m. $6.60-$9.75, matinee $5.50 for under 21. 4811 Keller Springs Rd/239-9104.
CHILDREN’S THEATER
Junior Player*’ Guild. The Junior Players’ Guild Bicentennial celebration, America in Song and Verse, will be trouping DISD schools in November. For further information, call Jane Hook, 363-4278 or 351-4962.
Kathy Burks Marionettes. A special Halloween show will be presented Oct 22-31. Wed, Thurs and Sat at 11:30 a.m., 1,3, and 4 p.m. and Thurs at 7:30 p.m. Tickets 75 cents. Olla Podri-da/12215 Coit Rd/387-0807.
Looking-Glass Playhouse. The Brave Little Tailor will be performed through Nov 16. A musical version of The Little Match Girl opens Nov 30. Performances are Saturdays at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets $1.75. 11171 Harry Hines, Suite 120/247-7748.
Magic Turtle Series. The first show of the new season is Lady Liberty, running every Saturday throughout November, at 10:30 a.m. Season tickets, for four shows, are $5.25. Dallas Theater Center/3536 Turtle Creek/526-8920.
Casa Manana. Paul Revere will he performed November 1,8, and 15, at 2 p.m. Call for ticket information. 3101 West Lancaster, Fort Worth/(817) 332-6221.
Etc.
Enlightenment
SMU Literary Festival. Authors Jerzy Kosin-ski, Wallace Stegner, Stanley Kunitz, Louise Gluck, James Welch, Thomas Lux and John Skoyles will be featured in a series of readings, lectures, and discussions on the SMU campus, November 10-14. Kosinski will read from his works on Nov 10 and Stegner on Nov 14, both at 8 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium, Kosinski, Kunitz, Gluck and Welch will participate in a panel discussion Nov 12 at 3:30 p.m. in Caruth Auditorium. Other readings and discussions will be scheduled throughout the week. For further information call Kelly Ivie, 692-3541 or 363-1656.
El Centra College Lyceum Series. Journalist Tom Wolfe will speak at 12 noon in the Main Lobby of El Centra College on November 5. Free to the public.
Master Classes by Operatic Artists. Director Carlo Maestrini will speak on “Verismo” and mezzo Joy Davidson on “Making It in Opera” in a series of classes sponsored by the Dallas Civic Opera and the SMU Opera Theatre. Maestrini’s lecture will be on October 13, and Davidson’s on November 3, both at noon in the Choral Hall, Room H-100, of the Owen Arts Center at SMU. Single tickets are $10. Call 692-2839 or 692-2643 for information.
Mountain View College. John Simon, film critic for Esquire and New York, speaks at 10 a.m. on November 13, in the Performance Hall. Admission $1.50. 4849 W Illinois/746-4100.
Old House Workshops, sponsored by the Historic Preservation League, Inc., are held every second Wednesday of the month in the Lake-wood Bank Community Room at 7:30 p.m. The series features discussions of topics related to the restoration and preservation of older Dallas houses. On November 12, the discussion will focus on exterior architectural details and on period decorations. For further information on the series, call 827-5800.
Kidstuff
Children’s Book Week will be celebrated at the Rootabaga Bookery, Snider Plaza, Novembei 17-23. A Writer’s Contest for Young People, with prizes for the best short story, humorous work, poetry, and illustration, will be featured, with winners announced during the week. Registration blanks for the contest, which closes November 15, available at the Bookery. On November 20, 7:30-9 p.m., Mattie Ruth Moore, a nationally-known expert on children’s books, will be present at an open house for parents; wine and cheese will be served.
Rugrat Special on KERA FM 90, features stories and music for children, Sundays, 7-10 a.m November 2: Beatrix Potter stories read by Claire Bloom, and The Peterkin Papers, read by Cathleen Nesbitt. November 9: Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Flopsy Bunnies, read by Claire Bloom, and Rip Van Winkle, read by Ed Begley. November 16: Baron Munchausen’s Tall Tales, read by Peter Ustinov, and The King of the Golden River, read by Anothony Quayle. November 23: The Story of Ferdinand read by Gwen Verdon, and “weird stories” read by Cyril Ritchard. November 30: Fables and Fairy Tales by Leo Tolstoy, and The Book of Dragons, read by Judith Anderson.
Dallas Public Library events for kids include Disney’s Mysteries of the Deep, magic shows Thanksgiving stories, bedtime stories, folksong sessions, and other events and activities throughout November. Check your loca branch for a complete schedule of events.
