6 Tuesday, October 2, 2012
PULSE
Michigan Tech Lode
Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra to Begin Season with Russian Music, Tour NICK BLECHA Pulse Editor The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra will perform its first concert of the 2012-13 season on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m. “From Russia With Love” will feature Russian music from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including the famous “Sleeping Beauty,” RomskyKorsakov’s Antar Symphony and Shostakovich’s infamous Ninth Symphony. The concert will also kick off the KSO’s first-ever concert tour. The Sleeping Beauty Suite is one of the most famous ballets ever performed. It
was written in 1889 and was the second of three ballets written by Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky (the other two being Swan Lake and The Nutcracker), adapted from the traditional “Sleeping Beauty” fairy tale. Today, the music from the ballet seems to be more popular than the ballet itself, which has been supplanted in the popular memory by Disney’s adaptation of the tale. Interestingly, Disney’s film borrowed some of the music from the ballet. The performance’s second work, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Antar Symphony, written about the legend of a man who is
permitted to receive life’s greatest pleasures. The first movement is about the legend as a whole, while the other three are each about one of the pleasures. The concert will only include the first movement. It was originally written in 1868, and revised in 1875 and again in 1897. The final version is mildly controversial due to R i m s k y- K o r s a k ov ’s redesignating the work as a “symphonic suite” instead of a symphony. The final work in the concert will be Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9. Premiering in 1945, during Stalin’s rule of the Soviet Union, the work was
written as a celebration of Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. While the symphony was well-received by Shostakovich’s peers, it had a poor critical reception both in the USSR and in the West, with both sides claiming it to be too “light” and “childish.” The work was actually banned in the Soviet Union for “ideological weakness” from 1948 to 1955. The tour version of the concert will contain one additional piece: the Peer Gynt Suite No. 1: Anitra’s Dance and Aase’s Death. The tour will run from October 2528, and will have stops at the Norway-Vulcan Fine Arts
Center in Norway, the Kaufman Auditorium in Marquette, and the William Oliver Auditorium in Escanaba. Tickets for the Rozsa performance are $18.75, and may be purchased at the Ticket Office in the SDC, by calling (906-487-2073), or at (rozsa.mtu.edu). Tickets for the tour stops may be purchased through those locations. Although the performance is suitable for all ages, it is recorded and audience noise may ruin the recording, so parents of very young children are asked to take that into consideration.
Illusionist Mike Super Coming to Rozsa COREY SAARI Lode Writer Appearing at the Rozsa Center Friday, October 5th at 7:30 p.m. is illusionist Mike Super. A natural born entertainer, he has the ability to captivate nearly any audience. According to information found on his website, He recognized early in life that entertaining people with magic was something he was good at. This occurred after a visit to Disney World as a small child. Mike Super is an accomplished illusionist, having earned multiple awards over his career. Some of those are Entertainer of
the Year, Best Performing Artist of the Year and Best Novelty Performer of the Year. If asked about these awards however, he would say that the loyalty of his fans outshines them all. This humility sets him apart from some of his peers in the entertainment industry. Quite apart from some other entertainers, His style of performing and personality is reputed to be “down to earth”. This has endeared him not just to younger people, but older ones as well. For the curious, “Super” is not part of his stage name, it in fact is his given last name. Various celebrities have attended his performances, including but not limited to, Kenny Chesney, Criss
Angel, Regis Philbin, Carmen Electra, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Jay Leno. Providing his opinion of a performance he attended, Criss Angel is quoted in a testimonial as saying, “Very entertaining! Very engaging! He connects to the audience!” The preceding information and much more can be viewed at his website, ( w w w. m i k e s u p e r. c o m ) . Links to his Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and email are also conveniently located there near the bottom of the main page. Tickets are priced at $10.75 each and can be purchased in person at the Rozsa Center or online at (rozsa.tickets.mtu.edu).
Renowned Illusionist to visit Tech October 5th. Photo courtesy of http://www.mikesuper.com/