The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 123

Viet Memories Still Alive Books if I 4 hr Vs! fv, life: ANDRE PREVIN 7 WINNERS AND LOSERS, by Gloria Emerson. Random House. $10.95. BY MARCIA BIDDLE We've forgotten, a lot of us. Not the facts, perhaps but the feelings.

Gloria Emerson was in Vietnam in 1956 and then in 1970-72 as a war correspondent for the New York Times. And she can't forget anything. "GETTING BACK was not good," Ms. Emerson says. She couldn't communicate nobody listened or wanted to.

"In New York a pleasant woman asked me what I had worn to officers' dances; the question did not make me smile." No one meant to be cruel, but "I did not want people to tell me over and over to have a nice day." She was still inside the war, she felt, and couldn't get out. So Gloria Emerson traveled, visiting 28 states taping hundreds of interviews with people who were affected in many ways by the Vietnamese war. (And some who weren't affected at all, like the travel agent who saw the war's end as opening up new opportunities for swinging vacation trips to Saigon.) This book is a kaleidoscopic impression of Ms. Emerson's journey around America recording the memories, emotions and reactions she found, mixed with vivid vignettes of Vietnamese children, tiger cages, Khe Sanh, or Hill 547. Many reactions are amazing, the total effect is stunning, depressing a study of human nature deceiving itself.

A FORMER CIA man interviewed "spoke of the war as if it were a wild, good-natured kind of a poker game. Heinz Hall favorites team up in Rachmaninoff concerto. Previn's Magic Wand Brings xSwan' To Life people who dropped the past and then could not remember where it had been put." For that reason, her record, as one who holds strong opinions on a subject she knows well, is a valuable, but very painful, one. As Ms. Emerson says, Vietnam taught some of us more than we perhaps ever wished to know." lM.iJc' 'f''ih4 UV'p.

By WILLIAM ALLAN Press Features Editor Peter Hitch Tchaikovsky was master of ballet music and Andre Previn is rapidly establishing a reputation for conducting it. The two come together in a new Angel release, the complete "Swan Lake," which just happens to be the most popular of the Tchaikovsky ballets (SCLX 3834), a three-disc set. Previn's magic with ballet stems from bis ability to project a mood, to communicate, whether directing a crescendo or following a filament of spider silk on some dewy twig at daybreak. His "Swan Lake" is dramatic and polished, vital and sensitive. The London Symphony is in fine voice and is well recorded.

Angel has produced the complete ballet both on discs and cassette tape, offering another dimension. Which is better will depend upon your equipment. Both discs and tape carry plenty of fidelity and stereo separation. Tape (4X3S 3834) seems to have a place with ballet music. PREVIN and Alicia de Larrocha, a couple of Heinz Hall favorites, have teamed up on a lyrical, poetic Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.

3. While not as popular as the Second Piano Concerto Moon and Empty the Third is quite melodic. It calls for so much power and technique that Horowitz owned it for years. Miss De Larrocha is not lacking in either, and Previn, as usual, proves an excellent accompanist. London's engineers recorded it brilliantly, London (CS 6977).

RUBINSTEIN AND REINER, a couple of Syria Mosque giants, put together a Brahms First Piano Concerto that 'They kept upping the ante until we didn't have any more cards to play He soon turned to the Monday night football game, though, muttering, "I don't want to remember." She talked with veterans, one who had thrown his medals at the Capitol building, another who said he wouldn't have missed being in Vietnam for the world. As do most of her interviewees, Ms. Emerson seems still bewildered, her tone ironic. "Again and again," she says with an almost audible sigh, "there is someone to say we have always been with its greatest appeal. Their courage comes in many sizes, shapes, styles and colors.

Sarah Winnemucca, for instance, was the daughter of a Paiute chieftain. She crept unarmed into a hostile tribe's camp to rescue captured members of her own tribe, including her father and brother. Eighty-one-year-old "Mother" Jones walked mountains, waded streams and talked her way past machine guns to organize West Virginia coal miners striking for better working conditions In a less physical kind of courage, Dr. Frances Kelsey of the Food and Drug Administration withstood 18 months of pressure from a pharmaceutical company demanding she approve their wonder pain-killer for release in America. Month after month, she called for more tests, and thus single-handedly saved the American public from the wholesale horrors of thalidomide.

Margaret Truman's style is direct, personal and clear, making this a highly readable account of human courage. Music 1 Pittsburgh Press H-7 Feb. 13, 1977 Wright Formula Wrong7 By PETE BISHOP When a formula spawns a hit, flog that formula again and again. Any more hits in there? Not in Gary Wright's case there aren't. Half of the 10 songs on "The Light of Smiles" (Warner Brothers BS 2951) follow the "Dream Weaver" recipe: shimmering, ethereal, keyboard-laden verses, semi-tough rock choruses and spaced-out lyrics.

None has the musical appeal of "Dream Weaver," and the words, apparently influenced by one Parama-hansa Yogananda, are so spaced-out they're vapid. i But Wright had a second biggie last year, "Love is Alive," and when he concentrates on movin' and groovin' like that (one wishes for a bit funkier singer, however), the results Fury," "Are You Weepin' are much better. The tender "Who am is a nice ballad, too. Indeed, the album sounds good because Wright and friends can play all their fancy gadgets, but further trips into the meaning of it all run the risk of rivaling Yes at its most lyrically insipid. And the musicianship isn't that high nor the arrangements that imaginative.

PHIL LYNOTT, Thin Lizzy's lead singer, seems to have taken the voice lessons this column recommended he do more than two years ago. On "Johnny the Fox" (Mercury SRM-1-1119), he rarely pushes it (yelling only accentuates his natural husk) and interprets the material better. The GARY WRIGHT So spaced-out he's vapid. yield, hard rockers "Don't Believe a Word" and "Massacre" and ballad "Sweet Marie," is impressive. And when it comes to tight, tough rock, Thin Lizzy, guitarists Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham leading the way, can do.

"Johnny" and "Rocky" are other examples of that, although that's when Lynott pushes and sounds like Bruce Who? "The Boys are Back in Town" hit for Thin Lizzy last year; "Don't Believe a Word" or "Massacre" could follow up. This improving quartet is one to watch in 77. SPLIT ENZ, conversely, is a band not to watch or hear, either. "It is music and mirth from the enz of the earth" is how they describe "Mental Notes" (Chrysalis CHR 1131); "junk" would be just as accurate and less verbose. Musically, it's arty-arty, look how progressively decadent we are in our goofy makeup, clown suits and outlandish hairdos, a cloddish Genesis, a muddled Queen.

There's nothing approaching a strong singer, so the words (which aren't printed) are lost in the clutter of every sound they can think to dump in. Some people can play, though, notably sax man Robert Gillies and pianist Edward Rayner. This New Zealand septet seems so engrossed in parodying whatever it is they're parodying they lose all traces of their subject and wind up parodying only themselves. "Mental Notes" is one to leave in the store. Top Records Wanted' Searches For Nazis WANTED! THE SEARCH FOR NAZIS IN AMERICA, by Howard Blum.

Quadrangle, $8.95. It's been over 30 years since World War II, yet the world is still learning that many former Nazis who committed crimes against humanity, remain free. Some reside as respected citizens of the United States, a fact that Howard Blum writes about in "Wanted! The Search for Nazis in America." TO BLUM and Americans like Anthony DeVito, who want to expose and deport these convicted criminals to countries which want them, it is unbelievable that the U.S. government attempts to cover up and, in some cases, hinder deportation. Blum centers on DeVito, an Immigration Service investigator who, despite obstacles and interference from his superiors, manages to uncover the true identities of these men and women who lied about their World War II background to gain entrance to the United States.

"Wanted" tells about only a few of the 59 Nazi war criminals DeVito has identified. It also tells about Americans like Harold Goldberg, Dr. Charles Kremer and Kurt Wassermann, who can't forget about these crimes, and practically devote their lives to apprehending these criminals. Among the subjects are Hermine Braunsteiner Ryan, a New York housewife, who was a guard and supervisor of concentration camps where Jews died. There is also "Bishop" Valerian Trifa, never ordained as a priest, but who assumed the role as part of his existence in the United States.

Trifa is better known for his role with Romania's Iron Guard which killed thousands of Jews and Romanians. ANOTHER IS Andrija Artukovic, living in California, who is charged by the Yugoslavian government for lulling Jews in Croatia. And there is Boleslavs Maikovskis, living in Mineola, N. who was convicted by the Russians for his war crimes. All the convicted criminals ciaiu they are anti-Communists and political refugees from the Communists.

The list seems never-ending of former Nazis living here, but so are the efforts of DeVito and other Americans seeking justice. This is a true story. And to Blum and this reviewer, truth seems stranger than fiction. MARGARET TRUMAN Spans 200 years of U.S. history in vignettes.

xWomen Of Courage' An Appealing Tribute Corea's xSpanish Heart' Near Classic Recording ALICIA DE LARROCHA stood second to none in a day of giants. It was released 20 years ago as a monaural album, but RCA also recorded a stereo version a few months later at a concert, in Chicago's Orchestra Hall, and because the stereo still is of high quality, RCA is releasing the Rubinstein-Reiner collaboration (ARL1 2044). As you might suppose, it is a powerful recording, and powerful proof that great recordings neither die nor fade away. NICOLO PAGANINI'S Third Violin Concerto and Sonata for Grand Viola have been twinned on one disc by Deutsche Grammophon (2530 629). The concerto is performed by Salva-tore Accardo, with Charles Dutoit conducting the London Philharmonic.

Paganini commissioned Berlioz to write a piece for the viola so he could perform it in public, but when the draft didn't suit him he wrote his own. It is a sonata for viola and orchestra, quite melodic and, here, performed by Dino Asciolla, again with Dutoit conducting the London Philharmonic. Apparently Berlioz was not too concerned. He retouched the "concerto" here and there and renamed it "Harold in Italy." RADU LUPU and Szymon Goldberg have recorded Volume One of the Mozart Sonatas for Piano and Violin for London (CSA 2243). Included in the two-disc album are the Sonatas in Major (K.

306), Flat Major (K. 481), Major (K. 376), Major (K. 303) and Flat Major (K. 454).

RUSSELL SHERMAN has recorded Liszt's Transcendental Etudes, along with the "Dante" Sonata and "Les Jeux d'Eaux a la Villa d'Este" for Vanguard (SRU 354 SD). ble album, excess on "My Spanish Heart." The longer compositions, "El Bozo" and "Spanish Fantasy" come across as a testing ground for Corea's more abstract impulses. They contain some imaginative moments but don't sustain any warmth or personality. But Corea deserves credit for following his own creative instincts and ignoring the almighty disco dollar. He is concentrating more on serious composition, particularly for acoustic instruments, and has all but abandoned the electronic experiment that made "Return to Forever" a commercial success.

Like Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life," Corea's "My Spanish Heart" falls just short of being a classic. Maybe next time. IN PITTSBURGH, there is no group better than the Frank Cunimondo Trio when it comes to playing music to drink cocktails by. Its popularity in some of the city's more stylish clubs is due, no doubt, to its enjoyable, but unobtrusive, music. But "Sagittarius" (Mondo 105), presents a different side of the trio one that would definitely disturb the stupor induced by a half dozen drinks.

The focus, of course, is on Cunimondo, whose lively keyboards provide the spark for the title cut, which he wrote, and an entertaining arrangement of Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon." Lenny Rogers' responsive drums and Ray Russell's energetic bass give the necessary' dimension to the limited tonal range of Cunimondo's electric keyboards. But the trio's fans would be better served by shortened versions of "Sagittarius" and "Slalom," another Cunimondo composition. Both run over 12 minutes and neither has enough fresh ideas to challenge a band, particularly a trio. Nevertheless, the album overall is a solid effort. 'Spearmint' Composer Celebrates 90th Ernest Breuer, composer of such American classics as "Does The Spearmint Lose Its Flavor On The Bedpost celebrated his 90th birthday in Pompano Beach, recently.

Breuer is reported in excellent health Born in Koblenz, Germany, he is a charter member of the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers, which was founded in 1914. WOMEN OF COURAGE, by Margaret Truman. Morrow. $9.95. By POLLY McKNIGHT In "Women of Courage," Margaret Truman has spanned 200 years of American history to present lively vignettes of 12 women who either physically or morally manifested conspicuous courage.

Some are well known. We read, for example, of Dolley Madison saving George Washington's portrait as the British close in on the White House or Susan B. Anthony stoically going to jail because she had dared to vote. Others are virtual unknowns, and it is these women who provide the book Author Pens Sad xSong' TORCH SONG, By Anne Roiphe. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $8.95.

By BARBARA PAUL This one's a downer. I'd like to tell you it's bad and to skip it, but it's good. It's intensely felt and vividly expressed and, frankly, depressing. I believed every word of it. It's a story about obsession.

Why would an intelligent, well-to-do, young woman volunteer as a slave to a thoroughly contemptible man who humiliates and debases her? Because she's short, dumpy and has frizzy hair. BECAUSE HER parents' marriage is a desperately unhappy one and she's being trained for marriage. Because her childhood nurse somehow always managed to hurt her. Because the history books all tell of a centuries-long hatred of her race. Because of the thousands of other things that go into the warping of a young life.

Saturated with feelings of worthless-ness, heroine Marjorie Weiss finds the perfect way to punish herself; she unerringly picks the one man who will unashamedly degrade her. Jim Morrison is a writer a selfish, destructive, seriously disturbed young man. Marjorie totally effaces herself in the process of nourishing Jim, helping him to realize his potential. The sick nursing the sick. She follows him to Europe; they marry.

Marjorie becomes a skilled practitioner in the art of self-deceit, making excuses for Jim's outrageous mistreatment of her, his sexual perversion, his greed. She lies and steals for him. BUT WHEN Marjorie bears a child Jim doesn't want, she begins to change: for the first time in her life she loves someone who loves back. Marjorie eventually makes her escape from degradation, but it's a close call. The scales could have tipped either way.

By RANDY RIELAND It certainly won't have the impact of Alex Haley's saga, but Chick Corea's version of root-digging is almost as impressive. His latest double album, "My Span- iau neat i (Polydor 2-9003), according to Corea, was inspired by a recent visit to Spain. Whatever the inspiration, the LP includes some of his best work as both a pianist and composer since he helped form "Return to COREA Forever" several years ago. His second solo album since the group disbanded, "My Spanish Heart" removes Corea even further from the jazz mainstream. Jazz influences are noticeable, but it's Latin textures and rhythms that dominate the music.

AS USUAL, Corea is best when the music reflects his playful and romantic personality. "Love Castle," for example, sounds like a Latin-flavored Charlie Brown soundtrack and neither Corea's switch to electric keyboard in mid-song nor Gayle Moran's wailings dampen its festive mood. Even more stimulating are the hand-clapping rhythms of "Armanda's Rhumba," which features strong, swaying solos by Jean Luc-Ponty on violin, Stanley Clarke on bass and Corea on acoustic piano, and "Night Streets," a bouncy, infectious samba pulsed by the multi-talented Steve Gadd on drums and Don Alias on percussion. By contrast, "The Hilltop," the album's must sensitive song, shows Corea is as effective in his use of lyrical melodies and dynamics changes as he is with catchy rhythms. There is, as with almost every dou- Of The Week 9.

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