Abegg Trio
Wednesday, October 10, 1984/THE BLUE BANNER/I I
By Shawn Wickham
Lipinsky Auditorium came
alive Sunday afternoon as
an audience of about 150
people awaited the begin
ning of the Abegg Trio
concert.
At precisely 4 p.m., the
auditorium lights diflined
and a sudden hush fell.
The Abegg Trio, two men
in black tails and a woman
in a floor-length dress,
mairched across the stage
with heads high, backs
straight, and faces even
straighter than their
backs.
It was like watching a
scene from "The Carol
Burnett Show" in which
Harvey Korman steps from
behind the curtain, throws
his tails back, and seats
himself at the piano.
Gerrit Zitterbart, pian
ist, and violinist Ulrich
Beetz seated themselves,
Korman-style, as Birgit
Erichson settled her 155-
year-old violoncello be
tween her knees.
Zitterbart touched mid
dle C on UNGA's grand
piano, and Beetz tuned his
252 year-old violin to the
note, as Erichson tuned
her violoncello.
Without warning, a C ma-
j or chord burst from the
piano as Zitterbart began
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's
Trio No. 6.
The first movement was a
vital allegro (very live
ly)-
Zitterbart*s hands glid
ed swiftly across the key
board, picking out all the
right notes.
It seemed that the only
time he noticed the music
before him was when the
page turner looked to him
for a nod of approval.
Even in the second move
ment, which was slower
than the first and third.
Abegg Trio rehearses for Sunday coooert in Lipinsky.
the audience could feel
the lively spirit of the
performers.
Beethoven's Trio No. 3
in C Minor was the second
program selection. Once
again, the trio arrested
the crowd's attention with
a resounding opening
chord.
The second movement
sounded especially lovely
as Erichson and Beetz
plucked their strings.
After intermission, the
trio performed a piece by
modem con^)oser Wilhelm
Killmayer entitled BrafaaB-
Ixildnis. According to Zit
terbart, the piece is " an
imagination of Brahms."
It is a twentieth cen
tury piece in which the
coiBposer uses angular
tones which don't seem to
fit together. There are no
movements and no real form
Staff Photo by Sylvia Hawkins
holding the piece togeth
er.
Appropriately, the next
piece the trio performed
was by Johannes Brahms,
his Trio Ho. 3 in C Minor.
According to their bro
chure, the Abegg Trio has
recorded an album entitled
HAKMONIE DER WELT.
They have won many a-
wards, including prizes at
the international Chamber
Music Competitions.
Grateful Dead dazzles ‘Deadheads’
By August West
Many of the UNCA stu
dents who attended the
Grateful Dead concert in
Charlotte last Friday
were introduced to a
little-known musical phe
nomenon that has existed
in the United States and
Europe for nearly twenty
years.
Springing from the "acid
rock" scene in the Haight-
Ashbury days in San Fran
cisco, the band evolved
into a self-sufficient
cult, largely due to their
grass-roots attitude to
wards their audience and
their refusal to "sell
out" conmercially.
All over the country,
thousands of Dead fans,
or "Deadheads," travel
long distances to see
their favorite group. For
some, it is a permanent
way of life, paid for by
selling bootleg Grateful
Dead paraphernalia in
parking lots before the
shows.
What kind of performance
could attract such a fol
lowing? Those who came to
listen on Friday night
found out, and I guarantee
at least half will return
to Dead concerts within a
year.
Before the concert, peo
ple dressed in bright tie-
died shirts and sporting
huge smiles gathered in
the parking lot to party
with fellow Deadheads.
Having loosened up, they
entered the coliseum and
were confronted by the
band's massive sound sys
tem, probably the cleanest
amplification on tour to
day.
A bunch of dumpy-looking
hippies strode out onto
the stage and began tuning
their instruments. Grins
radiated all around as the
rumble inside increased.
To the surprise of the
newcomers, the band began
playing with no warning or
announcement. The attuned
fell in step with the var
ied rhythms as the band
embarked on its musical
journey.
Bertha, a bouncy coun-
try-flavored song, started
the show. Elvis Presley's
ProaoLsed Land came next,
followed by Hast L.A.
Fadeaway, a slow funk-
blues tune which Jerry
Garcia, lead guitarist and
songwriter, embellished
with searing fretboard
runs.
Next, Bob Weir, rhythm
guitarist, led the band in
Uttle Red Rooster, an old
Willie Dixon number which
the Dead stepped up to in
terstellar heights, taking
ay head along for the
ride. Weir's scorching
slide work became almost
obnoxious as the note fre
quency climbed to a pierc
ing scr.eam, relieved only
by Brent Midland' s solid
organ work and Garcia's
ever-flowing leads.
Thirty minutes later,
the second set took off
with China Cat Sunflofier,
connected by Garcia's li
quid in?)rovisations to I
Know You, Rider, a hard-
driving Hank Williams
classic.
Indeed, by the time the
chorus reached its cres
cendo, the audience was on
it's feet and roaring.
Come to think of it, I
didn't sit down the entire
show.
Next, Weir screeched his
way through the reggae-
based Estimated Prophet,
which ran into Eyes of the
World, possibly the best
version I have heard yet.
The Dead's tendency to
go into songs withoij^t
stopping stems from their
ability to converse music
ally with each other.
Each musician sticks to
a basic pattern (i.e. time
and key notation), but is
permitted enough freedom
to develop his own theme,
allowing enough coherence
to keep the song together
and flexibility to change
when desired.
I was soon dancing again
as the band broke into Skr*
gar Magnolia and ended
with Johnny B. Goode.
Possibly the prettiest
song of the night was Bob
Dylan's It's All Over Noif,
Baby Blue, softened by
Ifydland's bell-like key
board trills.
How good was tbiis show?
In conparison to the more
recent concerts I have
been to, like Yes in
Greensboro and Neil Young
in Atlanta, the Dead in
Charlotte outdid them
selves .
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