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Show FEBRUARY Lab Theatre Displays f K fc ,n. J MY M AT H R n. W r n N: kr-r'-s R4 , the play," he said.'Some things connect and some things don't." Some scenes offer different perspectives on the same subject, while others are completely unrelated. This lack of cohesion may be the reason that Barker's plays aren't often performed in Salt Lake City a factor that adds to the importance of this production. While Barker is considered a very important figure in European and world theater, his work isn't very well known in his country of Great Britain and in the central United States. text-base- cxt weekend, and for one weekend only, the University of Utah's Lab Theatre will host an impor- ' u'.t bit obscure playwright and a civilization, Cr.i:g Rich's production of Howard "A Hard Heart" portrays a of ambiguous time and space. 1 he play examines the gap between knowing the world and knowing neseif through the story of a woman inventor who helps stave off the near-i.'ibarbarity and destruction of her culture "The play deals with a culture that is under attack and the extremes that they go to in order to save themselves. I think that's relative to this world. Even though it's in a nondescript time and location, it's strikingly relative to mod-- i in times," Rich said. Barker's plays are noted for bold 2004 . ,. -- , " ni a lHard Heart1 therefore, never gives a simple, easy message, and due to the many possible interpretations, is more important to see performed than plays. "As people, we have certain things that we want when we go see a play," Rich said. "We want a message at the end. We want a resolution. Barker denies the audience that. Part of the reason is that he really wants people to debate and struggle with the material in the piece. ..That's why he chooses to leave some things open." Working with the complicated, S 26, i ' This lack of cohesion may be the reason that Barker's plays aren't often performed in Salt Lake City a factor that adds to x " "ft'-,- .. the importance of this production. Even Rich, the play's director, has never seen one of Barker's plays performed. "I've just read his work and read about him and thought it would be a great challenge," he said. "In terms of the research that I've done, I've only found two or three productions of the play in the United States. As far as I know, this is a regional premiere." And the premiere took a long time to arrive from Rich's interest in it. "It's play. Rich had to do certain things that were quite different from his previous productions, which include plays by Shakespeare and a range of other works from "A Little Night Music" to "How I Learned to Drive," as well as his work as the artistic director of Salt Lake Shakespeare. "It's forced me to look at every scene more as complete within itself rather than looking at the entire journey of explorations of sexuality, human motivation and power struggles. These characteristics are seen in the heroine and a man who persistently courts her. Uarker writes his work through the concepts of the Theater of Catastrophe movement, and intends for the actors, directors and audiences to find much of the meaning themselves. His work. li - nn ft mr ii' nmwnrri nr ir ruin Howard Barker wrote plays in the Theater of Catastrophe movement which means his plays reject traditional notions of structure and meaning. Fun, eh? ment and has produced work at the Babcock Theatre and the Lab, including the Babcock's "A Midsummer Night's a play I've actually had for about 10 years," Rich said. In addition to his work at Salt Lake Shakespeare, Rich is an adjunct assistant professor in the U's theater depart see LAB,page r8 Lockhart and Lutoslawski Beat Hough and Rachmaninoff by a Landslide by Christian Gentry elegantly beautiful. So why throw the modern shrieking, scraping and loudness of Lutoslawski in the mix of secure familiarity? Simply put, it is great mu- I hat do composers Franz Joseph Iff I Haydn (Austria). Witold Luto-- I l slawski (Poland) and Serge Rach- maninoff (Russia) have in common? Nothing, save they shared a program performed by the Utah Symphony under the baton of Keith Lockhart. The eclectic programming is becoming common fare for Lockhart's artistic directorship. Obviously, this eclecticism last Friday the program is working Abravanel Hall, in drew in a soid-ou- t addition to a highly attended matinee on Saturday. The popularclassical familiarities with Haydn and Rachmaninoff are easy tools to draw in the cor.certgoer. It is easy to listen to the simple yet well crafted classicism of Haydn. Furthermore, who can resist the sweeping virtuosity and beauty of a Rachmaninoff piano concerto? But what of this Lutoslawski guy? Lutoslawski's music isn't simple and doesn't strike the average listener as sic. In fact, Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra was the shining star of the program. But the Concerto for Orchestra wouldn't have stood a chance of being if it wasn't programmed in such a smart manner. Lockhart simply held his audience hostage. Placing the Concerto for Orchestra between Haydn's Symphony No. 7 and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 gave the audience no chance to up and leave. They had to stay and let the transcendent, grotesque and enigmatically beautiful sounds of the orchestre moderne educate them. Interestingly enough, the Concerto for Orchestra premiered exactly 50 years ago, roughly 10 years after Bartok's work of the selfsame title. It is relatively ...well, old, yet old and new at once. It's old as to Lutoslawki's stylistic treatment of composition and the orchestra, and new to many who think the end of great orchestral music died with the Romantic era. The Concerto for Orchestra is a definitive work that shows a mature composer with an ad- ept understanding of orchestral timbre and rich harmonies. The three movement work uses a kit and caboodle of dancesymphonic forms. Following the introductory first movement are a capriccio notturno (capricious night music), passacaglia, toccata and chorale. As the title would suggest, this work explores the sound strata of the various instrumental sections. Although the movements don't clearly center around one orchestral section at a time (i.e., brass, strings, woodwinds, percussion), there are distinct segments throughout the work in which the various instrumental choirs make their presence known. The orchestra did an outstanding job of presenting the contrasting dynamic and color changes. The climax of the piece revealed a brass section that blew the socks off all who listened and, coupled with rest of the orchestra, made an incredible wall of sound that could have torn down the walls of Abravanel Hall. This demonstration of orchestral prowess proved to be the highlight of the afternoon. The disappointment came in the name of Stephen Hough. Although highly acclaimed with performances with some of the best orchestras and conductors in the world, Hough didn't seem willing to go beyond the notes during his performance of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto. At times, the notes seemed to get in the way as well. The whole work seemed to be an unnecessary battle between the soloist, Hough, and the orchestra. Tempo seemed to be dictated by whatever suited Hough's fancy. Granted, his technical capability is incredibly unmatched and caused great excitement and stir among audience members. Yet his touch was and lacked an emotional force that is necessary to fill the gaps of Rachmaninoff's empty virtuosic writ- heavy-hande- V I A s I d While Stephen Hough is a widely acclaimed concert pianist, his guest performance with the symphony wasn't good enough for RED. see symphony, page r8 FT 1 I'1"' rjr r ft fj I "The Invasion ( ri' off 'P : Irai HAS MADE IT EVEN EASIER FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO DRIVE A NEW NISSAN . it Frontline offers what is being called the "definitive history" ' of the most recent war in Iraq. Tonight al IxW buyers wanted! First-tim-e K " f ,i K r University of U kued.org i New 2004 NISSAN Sentra's 1.8 $2500 REBATE OR -- 0 $500 Campus : Connection Rebate $ 1500 Discounts on APPLE V, 0.9 select Sentras VMWM faoWNTOW'N- $4500 SAVINGS! Special Campus Offer!! 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