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Show ngr 10E The Salt Lake Tribune 19H3 Sunday, April 28, Pro Arte produces better records ABT presents 4Romeo and Juliet By Frederick M. Winship way, is being beautifully played by the ABT orchestra conducted by Paul Connelly). The British company danced this original version on a number of American tours with great success. The ABT "Romeo and Juliet" is an authentic revamping, overseen by MacMillan who now has the title of artistic associate with ABT while continuing as principal choreographer with the Royal. He is giving us a splendid tapestry of medieval life with dancing that evokes the spirited and romantic quality of th? period This is one of the most spectacular of ABT productions, on a level with ballets, the American Rallet Theater is dancing Kenneth MacMillan's version of "Romeo and .Juliet" for audiences that sCcrn pleased to get away from grab-haprogramming of short works. All 11 scheduled performances of Romeo and Juliet" were nearly sold out before ABT opened its eight-wee- k spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House this week. It was an impressive 45th anniversary tribute to the popularity of the company, which currently is featuring a number of young dancers of star quality plus the strongest corps de ballet it has had in years The New York performance, which followed six months of rehearsal and lour performances, came on top of the Jeffrey Ballet's new production of John Cranko's "Romeo and Juliet" presented earlier this season. Even companies such as the Dance Theater of Harlem are getting into the fullevening ballets, as witness the addition of a creole "Giselle" to the DTH repertory last year. MacMillan first choreographed "Romeo and Juliet" in 1965 for the Royal Ballet, London, to the celebrated music of Sergei Prokofiev (which. to, present the by United Ijess International NKW YORK Reinforcing the trend of American dance companies g g last season's "Cinderella g and marred only by some grotesque settings by Nicholas Georgiadis, whose costume designs are on a much higher artistic level. The gigantic, hovering sculptures of the angels of death in the Capulet tomb are an abomination which overwhelm the dance action below. Susan Jaffe and Patrick Bissell danced the titles roles the evening of this review. They are one of six couples who will dance Juliet and Romeo during the ABT season including Natalia Makarova, who has been absent from ABT for two seasons, and Kevin McKenzie, who also dances Mercutio ' on occasion. Jaffe :w is one of the company's rising By Byron Belt Newhouse News Service MINNEAPOLIS The dynamic Pro Arte company, already a quality producer of records and cassettes, made a bold move by joining forces with Germany's famed Teldec and its direct metal mastering process of recording stars, young and fragile enough to Juliet believportray the is an She unusually supple dancably. er and a fine actress who makes her romance an inter- - rebellion esting study in teen-ag- e It is a authority. parental against complex characterization that rivets the attention of the audience throughballet. out the three-hou- r Bissell, a fine, athletic dancer of uncommon grace, is less successful though very attractive as Romeo. This was most obvious in the balcony scene, which lacked the called-fo- r rhapsodic ardor on his part. He is a fine swordsman, however, and his duel with Tybalt, swaggeringly danced by Michael Owen, was real as well as enough to be blood-chillin- music. Teldec's direct metal mastering (DDM) system eliminates several steps in the pressing of records by cutting the grooves directly into a metal coating, producing a metal positive for the plating process The results are something every listener can appreciate and enjoy. In addition to nearly noise-fre- e pressings, the Teldec-PrArte union brings to the latter company, headquartered in Minneapolis, the European releases on Teldec, the supreme quality releases of the historically valuable Das Alte Werk label, and the superstar of g o blood-lettin- Gil Boggs was an outstanding Mercutio, small, lithe, and daring, and his leaps and turns demonstrated a dancing technique second to none in the company. John Meehan made a stolid Paris, with little more to dance than Baroque-classic- the two leading walk-o- n roles, Lady Capulet played by Georgina Parkinson, and Lord Capulet, played by Eric Weichardt. Susan Jones made the nurse a caricature of a stupid servant. Scenes in the market place of Verona. where Georgiadis is at his best with a forest of arched colonnades, were particularly well done. player-conductor- s, Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The relationship with Harnoncourt and his Concentus Musicus of Vienna are paying especially handsome dividends during this years celebrations of Bach and Handel. They are currently represented by a stunning collection of of Georg Phil- the Overture-Suite- s lip Telemann. "Happy Birthday Bach!" (one of the Pro Arte releases I almost didn't want to hear) proves one of the happiest surprises in many a moon. The superbly recorded DMM disc features improvisations in the manner of Bach (Side One) on "Happy Birthday" and a second side devoted to variations on the same versatile tune in the manner of Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Ravel, Stravinsky and Gershwin. The genius (and the term is not at all too strong) behind this clever recording is pianist John Bayless, whose concert career has been somewhat limited, but whose following as an entertainer in New York's Maestro Restaurant near Lincoln Center includes Leonard Bernstein, publicist Jay Hoffman and the folks here at Pro Arte. This is exactly the sort of record say shouldn't be nearly so wonderful as it is. A related disc, "Bach Meets the Beatles, is also clever, but wears less well to these ears. But Bayless is an elegant pianist, a stylist, brilliant improviser, and a winning musical personality. Sharon Isbin Dances for Guitar may need a comma in the title, but lacks nothing else for musical enjoyment. Some of the I would GOosefls composers, such as Rodrigo, Tur-in- a are familiar, but most of this appealdeing collection is devoted to toof one lightful performances by talents. outstanding day's "Pro Arte Piano", Russell Sherman's recordings of Liszt and Choof pin, and an upcoming series Beethoven piano concerti have a maspread the news that here is be to deserves who jor pianist heard by a larger audience. The recent "Chopin 24 Preludes" augment Sherman's reputation as a pianist, even if his program notes wallow in an prose so purple as to be laughable. This is a record to hear, but not read. Almost the opposite may be said of Peter Serkin's Pro Arte DMM pressing of Beethoven's Sonata." The notes by Harris Goldsmith are magnificent, as usual, but we may never really know how Serkin plays, since the recording was made on the Graf inFortepiano, the sort of limited strument Beethoven devoted a lifetime overcoming. The sound is tragic, and this doubting non-fa"authentic" inof much strumental performances today simply must go on record by noting that the monumental dies a sad sonic death on this release. and Castelnuovo-Tedesc- o "Ham-merklavi- n God-Peaa- ce G rJSoinxd Custom Designed Closets to Order Your Enjoy Desserf... q jZTassical I Call TODAY! 801 3644386 "THE PROFESSIONALS" our 10 Birthday Cake Special during the month of May Our $16 cake for $12. Save $4.00 Try 10 Brickyard Plaza in Free Estimate Choose one of our tempting decorated Birthday Cukes m white oi chocolate Three layers filled with pineapple or raspberry topped with pure butter cream frosting which melt in youi mouth. I completed 1 Birthday Cake Special I (Most just day) Priced to fit all budgets BEST PRICES IN TOWN! 4b7-9bO- m Hours:' SUN. 12 to 8 PM MON. Thru THURS. 5:30 to 9 PM GOOD SUN. THRU THURS. GUARANTEED: YOU CAN'T EAT ALL WORK FULLY AT HOME FOR LESS! FH.aU or Holidays GUARANTEED! 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