Show ARTS The Salt Lake Tribune D3 Sunday March 15 1998 'f CITYVIEW CD REVIEWS BY JEFF MANOOKIAN SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE VIRTUOSO STRAUSS TRANSCRIPTION Piers Lane Pianist Hyperion CDA66785 The late 19th century was known as the Golden Age of the g Piano Concert pianists of that era took technical display to its limits Even though most of these pianists were not bona-fid- e composers they took existing times of the day and exhibitions transformed them into dazzling A favorite subject of transcription were the tunes of Johann Strauss Jr A number of these arrangements exist but pianist Piers Lane had to limit his inclusion of these to a mere 74 minutes This recording features the effervescent Strauss arrangements of Moritz Rosenthal Leopold Godowsky Carl Tau-si- g Ignaz Friedman and Schulz-Fvle- r Lane not only gives a technical performance worthy of the gods but his spontaneo will make this one of the most played recordings in your CD library After listening to this you will concede that Lane is one of the major talents of our generation This recording is a definite must-hav- e for not only piano-phile- s but all music-phil- e It takes the art of listening to an extraordinary level of delight and shear joy Hyperion is consistent in its ultra-higquality of sound barn-burnin- UP i Station A Rail Hub? All Aboard! r Unless Im much mistaken a citizens group linked to the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce has i I come up with a practical plan for ' linking all light rail and commut- er services at one location the I Union Pacific railroad station j built in 1908 at the end of South Temple Street at 400 West The sizable structure with French chateau-styl- e mansard roofs is the focus of vague plans for museum use But what better use for a railroad station (complete with murals depicting the driving of the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit) than as a transportation hub? The idea was proposed by Roger Borgenitch Jeff Agraz and fellow members of the Transportation Management Association They suggest placing commuter tracks below the street surface adjacent to the station The proposed commuter rail would use existing heavy steel rails from Brigham City and Ogden on the north to Payson and Provo on the south Railroad advocates of such a line say the old Rio Grande tracks from Salt Lake to Ogden and the Union Pacific freight route from Salt Lake to Provo are at present under-use- d and that passenger coaches using diesel power could be federally funded I i red-bric- h Jack Goodman Union Pacific station could become a hub for and light-rai- l passengers commuter-rai- l k Subway or Trench: The derground into the station where they could board light rail electric cars to journey to the U of U the airport or uptown or could walk to the Delta Center line The geography of the land around the Union Pacific station lends itself rather well to the idea If you have reached a certain age you may remember the odd and happy method by which Union Pacific redcaps handled passenger bagd gage intended for its fleet of or westbound trains You may even recall that the street level outside the Union Pacific building with its ticket offices waiting room restrooms (and in the early days eatery) was about 10 or 15 feet higher than the trackside platforms When you unloaded from a taxi the family flivver or even a trolley car you turned your bags to porters who tossed them onto heavy baggage carts There were twin ramps to and from trackside and station porters rolled those carts down the ramps around picket fences and through gates at amazing speed taking them right to your properly numbered car on the Pony Express Butte Special Los Angeles Limited or other fliers Union Pacific tracks on which those huge smoking-emittin- g steam locomotives rolled to a halt were 15 or 16 feet lower than the tracks-in-trenc- east-boun- com- - muter trains halting at the old Union Pacific station would run on new tracks placed in a 16-fo- deep subway or roofed-ove- b r trench Light-ra- il trains heading to Sandy from Delta Center station would be operating close by as would electric cars serving the Salt Lake Airport and the University of Utah Escalators would bring commuters up from the un street outside due to the way must not be called a depot since it is not at the end of the line And one never called it a train station It was a railroad station one of the largest and finest on the UPRR system There still is a domed ceiling rising three stories a room above the waiting room 100 feet long and equally wide Stained glass roundels aod the murals tell the story of transportation history But it would be the big train board passengers and folks who came to the station might remember best A stentorian-voice- d train announcer stood before the train-boar- d in the days prior to electronic amplification Referring to the painted and chalked board he would proclaim: Train number two the eastbound Overland Limited with stops at Ogden Evanston Rock Springs Green River Rawlins Cheyenne North Platte Grand Island Omaha and Chicago All ABOARD City Creek carried soil down from the mountains to the east Digging a trench through the soil shouldnt faze the engineers at all Protect Passengers: Track-sid- e in those days there were umbrellas long concrete and steel awnings that protected arriving or departing passengers from rain or snow when walking to or from their proper Pullmans or coaches The car porter would place an oddly shaped little portable step to help you climb up to your car The station porter handed up your bags then you would find a comfortable seat bed down in a spotless Pullman berth or walk through to the diner or bar car Rail travel was pleasant indeed in those days The Union Pacific station (in todays sketch) had two side wings off a central waiting room area The station was designed by a company architect DJ Patterson and a consulting engineer John D Isaacs Isaacs must have been responsible for those track-sid- e umbrellas which kept rain and snow off your noggin or a ladys fur coat The shelters somehow let smoke and steam rise skyward s Long ago the UPs man Joel Priest explained the Union Pacific station Both the UPRR and the are still with us (Amtrak uses the latter) Mass transit for the Wasatch Front D&RGW building could use the Union Pacifics solid old structure as Salt Lakes Grand Central Station for our new metropolitan era Jack Goodman has been associated icith The Salt Lake Tribwriter une as a staff or for 51 years public-relation- free-lanc- e Polands Wieniawski Youth String Orchestra to Perform in Utah prizes in European chamber-orchestr- a competitions Olga Osmonlinska daughter of the conductor and youngest constituent of the organization will be featured violinist in Vivaldis Violin Concerto in A Minor The eldest member of the Wieniawski Youth String Orchestra violinist Bogumita Dowlasz will play the solo part in Legend by Wieniawski In addition Panufniks Old Polish Suite and Orawa by Killar will be performed on the concerts BY JEFF MANOOKIAN SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE The Wieniawski Youth String Orchestra performs six times this week in Salt Lake Park City and Logan Founded in 1988 in Lodz Poland by its award-winnin- g music director Ryszard Osmonlinski the ensemble is comprised of players ranging in ages from 9 to 17 The group has toured Mexico Denmark Germany and Sweden and has garnered several Logan High School 1 pm Salt Lake: Friday March 20 Trolley Square South Stage at 7 Members of Polish State Television will be filming the performances as part of a documentary to be broadcast later this year in Poland Funding for the Wieniawski Youth String Orchestras United States trip comes from the Polish government and private compatriots The Wieniawski Youth String Orchestras Utah itinerary is: Salt Lake: Tuesday March 17 Temple Square Assembly Hall at 7:30 pm Logan: Thursday March 19 pm Park City: Saturday March 21 Mass performance St Marys Cathedral at 7:30 pm Sandy: Sunday March 22 Friendship concert with the Utah Suzuki Orchestra at Butler West Stake Center (1845 E 7200 South) at 6 pm All performances are free For additional concert information 1 contact Anna Olsen at 20TH CENTURY PIANO WORKS William Race pianist Elan CD82292 y The keyboard repertoire listed on the case of this recording is not so unique that the savvy classical CD shopper will say to himself Ive never seen this piece recorded before I should buy it just for the music The music by Medtner Hetu Prokofiev Kirchner and Bartok has all been recorded by other name artists What strikes you first even over the Races uneventful playing is the odd recorded sound that varies from track to track The liner notes hold an understated disclaimer: The works heard on this CD were recorded over a span under varying sound conditions Well maybe the pianist is somebody that we should know about and these are more or less historical performances Races printed and largely uninformative biography is exactly three sentences long he is a piano professor at the University of Texas at Austin There is nothing wrong with Races readings of the five piano compositions but there is nothing memorable about them either The impression youre left with is that of a pianist who plays very carefully nothing else Is this a vanity CD made and financed by Race himself? Surely a major recording label like Elan didnt go out of its way to underwrite the production costs of a CD that is destined to go out of print in a hurry 20th-centur- 15-ye- ar TRANSCRIPTIONS Arcadi Volodos pianist Sony SK 62691 Dont even finish reading this review Get out and buy this CD this instant! Hands down this is the recorded performance of the century Volodos Horowitz The Russian phenomenon now resides m Madrid Spain studymg at the Escuela Superior de Music a Reina Sofia Volodos must have sold his soul to the devil Buddha Zeus and the Liod King for his technique and musicianship Sony Classical had enough smarts to get Volodos in an exclusive recording contract This is the pianists debut CD Recorded sound is perfect and realistically places its listener vicariously in the front row of the concert hall Speaking of Horowitz Volodos presentation of Horowitzs own dazzling arrangements of Bizets Carmen and Liszts Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 will entice you to put away the elder Russians versions in favor of the younger In Cziffras transcendent transcription of the Flight of the g Volodos takes Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsako- v technique to nuclear level But it has a charm that will knock performance of the your socks off There is a Scherzo movement from Tchaikovskys Sixth Symphony arranged by Feinberg And Volodos finished his monumental with his own transcription of Mozart's Turkish March He makes this ditty of a tune a psychedelic display for your ears in the extreme Youll never take this recording out of your CD player extra-terrestri- bam-bumin- first-recordi- Jeff Manookian Intermountain Classical Orchestra tor is The Tribune s music critic conduc- 964-601- Z a-- SjLs If ' jiC v X r "if lti Ir- iV A) - r - X eJV iMsii mm IB a Irish folk music ip have The Chieftain years for w0rtdwide see the sroup craze sweeping the" au been entertaining pces ctewSt An Exotic Vacation in for your Taste Buds! ina hi I a 'i Classical Guitar on Wednesday Evening Live Jazz every Thursday Friday G Saturday Night! i " 111 'i ) Uf ii h-- t 8S FTiCJ f&irt? ii '4111 533-668- 'S' FT RU i fhenEmeraldisleII 'tag nf i55k4Li C? Qm t w " 3 io ' Friday March 20 Saturday LUNCH - S DINNER JUST NORTH OF FASHION PLACE st Patricks MALL pro March 21 Abravanel Hall U' X sponsored by --CSS Itm n Day |