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by Thomas J. Anderson
It is hard to imagine a more var
ied program than that performed
last weekend by the Atlanta Sym
phony Orchestra. With Robert
Shaw conducting, the symphony
was joined by violinist Henryk
Szeryng, a Polish native now a citi
zen of Mexico, who is considered
to be one of the world’s great mas
ters of his instrument. Nothing he
did on this concert conflicts with
such a lofty assessment.
Performing two works of enor
mous contrast, Szeryng demon
strated a level of artistry that comes
only with the maturity and exper
ience which he possesses. He
opened the concert with J.S.
Bach’s Concerto No. 2 in E, pro
grammed as a part of the sym
phony’s celebration of the 300th
anniversary of the composer’s
birth. Accompanied by only a small
orchestra of strings and harpsi
chord, Szeryng demonstrated a to
tal control of the technical demands
of the work allowing him to deal
with the music behind the notes.
Particularly in the slow second
movement was he successful in
producing a sensitive yet precise
performance.
Unfortunately, there were fre
quent quivers of tempo in the or
chestra that kept the performance
Symphony Notes
from ever really coming together in
the first and last movements. In the
first movement, sluggishness in
running 16th notes in the low
strings and soggy 8th notes near
the end of the movement were
troubling. In the fast third move
ment, the tempo was quite unstable
through the many “tutti” sections,
but the intervening solo playing
displayed a restrained brilliance
that was most impressive.
After the warrnup provided by
the Bach, Szeryng returned for a
more substantial work, at least in
terms of length and size of the or
chestra, the Concerto No. 2 of the
Polish composer Karol Szyma
nowski. This is a work with which
Szeryng feels a particular affinity
for nationalistic reasons, and it
certainly places substantial tech
nical and musical demands on the
soloist and orchestra alike. How
ever, despite an impressive per
formance by the soloist and more
than adequate support from the
orchestra, the performance did not
result in much of a musical event.
In such a case, the blame must be
placed on the composition itself,
and after due consideration I have
decided that, in my opinion, this is
just not much of a piece. Its heavy
nationalism would certainly make
it a vehicle of much nostalgia for
those with ties to Poland, and it
does have many nice sections in it;
to these ears, however, its absence
of coherence and organization
makes it come off like a too-long
rhapsody.
In contrast, after intermission
the orchestra turned its attention
to what many consider not only
Beethoven’s best symphony but
perhaps the best example by any
composer of this central type of
composition. Beethoven's Seventh
Symphony, although in the past
often neglected in favor of the
other four odd-numbered works, is
in many ways a pivotal work in the
history of music and, not always
the case for historically significant
works, enjoyable to a wide range of
listeners. A detailed discussion of
this work and its performance
would fill this page, so summarizing
generalities must suffice.
There were some rough spots
mainly growing out of tempo selec
tions. In the first movement, the re
curring rhythmic motif lost some
of its clarity in the low strings, in
the third movement one accom
panying figure in the bassoon was
consistently sluggish, and the
woodwind phrasing in the slower
contrasting sections was clipped
and rushed; and in the finale the
tempo was perhaps too fast to
achieve the cross accents that
should give a brusque, peasant-
Councilman Lewis addresses
common dream of blacks, Jews
Blacks and Jews share a com
mon dream, Atlanta City Council
man John Lewis told top leaders of
B’nai B’rith District Five. “Both
groups want to eliminate racism
and anti-Semitism and to build
(what he calls) a ‘beloved commu
nity,”’ Lewis said.
The city councilman was the fea
tured speaker on Black/Jewish re
lations at the District Five mid
winter Board of Governors meet
ing recently at the Hyatt Regency
Atlanta.
“The ‘beloved community,”’ ac
cording to Lewis, “is a worldwide
community of loving and compas
sionate individuals seeking to era
dicate the twin evils of racism and
anti-Semitism but which is also re
sponsive to the needs of all indivi
duals ”
“For in the final analysis,” Lewis
emphasized, “it is the common
bond of human aspiration that
binds us.”
Lewis was bom the son of a share
cropper in 1940 in rural southeast
Alabama. He received degrees in
religion and philosophy from the
American Baptist Theological
Seminary and Fisk University in
Nashville, Tenn.
He has been a leader and parti
cipant in the Civil Rights Move
ment beginning in Nashville when
he organized sit-ins at lunch coun
ters and restaurants. He was also
selected as an original participant
of the Freedom Ride in 1961 where
he suffered violent abuse. The
Freedom Rides led to the desegre
gation of public transportation
facilities nationwide.
Lewis’s appearance was sched-
City Councilman John Lewis (center) with B’nai B’rith GRAN
leaders (from left) Bernard Kornmehl, vice chairman for International
Issues; Steve Levetan, chairman of the Georgia B’nai B’rith GRAN; Dr.
Stanley Levin, district GRAN chairman from Virginia; and Michael
Fridovich, vice chairman for Domestic Issues from Atlanta.
conjunction with B’nai B’rith Wo-
uled by B’nai B’rith’s local Grass
Roots Action Network (GRAN).
GRAN activists are B’nai B’rith
members knowledgeable on issues
important to the Jewish commu
nity, and who wish to communi
cate B’nai B’rith International’s
views on a variety of topics and
policies.
Georgia’s GRAN committee, in
men and B’nai B’rith, will soon
sponsor a year-long series of sem
inars entitled “The Great Balancing
Act: Adapting to the Eighties.”
The kickoff for the programs will
be held in early February on “Black/
Jewish Relations.”
The cortimunity is invited to
attend.
The Paul and Leslie Bclz Mem
orial Torah Retreat which is held
annually in Gatlinburg, Tenn., will
be held from Dec. 20-23 at the
Parkview Hotel (formerly the
Sheraton).
The retreat is being sponsored
by the Union of Orthodox Hebrew
Congregations in conjunction with
the Yeshiva of the South and the
Memphis Hebrew Academy.
dance feel.
All of this, however, was far out
weighed by positive features of the
performance. The solo playing of
the principal woodwind players
was most impressive, particularly
that of oboist Jonathan Dlouhy. It
becomes quickly apparent why this
work is considered such a major
opus in the oboe’s orchestral rep
ertoire, and Dlouhy’s superb hand
ling of the demands placed upon
him was exemplary both in terms
of technique and musicianship.
Special mention must also be made
of the fine playing of the horn sec
tion. The ususally brilliant section
playing in the strings added the
final ingredient to make this a truly
exciting and impressive
performance.
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The cost of the retreat is 5150 for
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WEEKLY QUOTE FROM LESTER S BOOK
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PAGE 23 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE December 7, 1984