The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 71

ENTERTAINMENT Isasaa. THE BEACON JOURNAL SUNDAY, OCT. 14, 1990 A great time for pianists Ax respected in two genres By Elaine Guregian Beacon Journal music writef When Emanuel Ax makes his Tuesday Musical debut on the opening performance of the 1990-91 series this week, you can bet that many pianists in the area will be on hand. Ax is riding on a crest of success as a solo pianist who is equally recognized for his skills as a chamber musician. Pianists who can draw audiences to their performances in both genres have always Will past outshine future? been rare.

Vladimir Horowitz stuck to solo playing; and of today's most notable r'iMUfcltaMMMeW 'muniiiiil tmimii J--- i in 1 nianists. manv S-yw Claudio AifroH By Bob Dyer Beacon Journal staff writer 1 ALAN FREED was the father of rock roll, a then Akron's Bernard Berk was the grandfather. Berk, the late founder of radio station WAKR (1590-AM), ran Freed out of town by enforcing a clause in Freed's contract prohibiting him from working for a competitor within one year after leaving WAKR. When Freed finally managed to land another radio job, it was the graveyard shift at nmrolanrl'e Beacon Journal photoSiwan KMcman Bob Friend works inside broadcast booth at WAKR, a station that changed the face of Akron radio years ago for a nifty $70 million. But the saga of WAKR is about far more than boffo business deals.

The station transformed Akron radio. Almost from the moment WAKR switched on its power 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, 1940, with staff announcer Stanley Peyton it offered two things the other stations did not: local news and community Berk was looking backward on the eve of a broadcasting milestone: Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of WAKR's first day on the air. And Berk was enjoying the view.

Although WAKR lost Freed, in almost every other way the station was a smash hit. Using WAKR as the foundation, the Berks built an eight-station radio empire that they sold four involvement. "The local stations did not have their own newsrooms until Mr. (Bernard) Berk put a newsroom into WAKR," recalls Phyllis Simms, secretary at the station from 1949 until it wai sold. "Then everybody saw it was going great guns and knew they'd better do it, too." In fact, local stations were largely content to be conduits for their networks rather than provide local programming.

Opening a full-fledged newsroom wasn'jt simply a matter of hiring a couple of reporters. It was an adventure in technology. "We had to send an engineer out with a reporter," says Berk. "They radioed it in (using See WAKR, page F5 Bernard Berk WJW (now WRMR), where he launched his MoondogRock 'n'Roll Party the show that spawned rock radio and turned Freed into a national superstar. "That contract was what made him," quips Berk's son, Roger Berk who is hereby proclaimed the grandson of rock 'n' roll.

Brendel, Maurizio Pollini, Martha Argerich, Krystian Zimerman and Mitsuko Uchida, to name a few perform only in solo settings. Ax is one of a small number of pianists at the top of the heap who are as well-respected for their chamber music. When Ax won Grammy Awards in 1985 and 1986 for his collaborations with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, it only added luster to an already glowing reputation. Talking by phone from Harrisburg, where he was getting ready to perform Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos with his wife, Yoko Nozaki, Ax reflected on the state of the recital. "The recital series used to be on a much smaller scale.

When you have a recital in a place which seats 3,000 people it's a different concept altogether than a recital series in a 500-seat hall, which is what I think the recital is all about, actually. What I think we really need is a return to that: a return of the recital series at the university which is not, perhaps, in a large hall but is actually in the recital hall." "It's a better experience for everyone, and then people begin to realize the excitement and the beauty of hearing a solo recital, more so than seeing one person take the place of perhaps a whole symphony orchestra." Some musicians make names for themselves by immersing themselves in a single composer, becoming specialists and recording the complete works. Ax says he's not likely to do that simply because "I prefer doing whatever I like at the time." Right now that includes the weighty Liszt Sonata in minor and some Brahms pieces. He'll be performing the world premiere of a piano concerto by Ezra Laderman next year. And he would like to work with composers Jacob Druckman, John Adams and Corigliano "a lot of people, a lot of good composers," he says, reluctant to stop the list there.

"1 think composers are more interested now in writing music that's more accessible, and I think people (audiences) are also trying to get away from the idea of the hundred greatest hits. It's a propitious time from both sides." Ax is as open to the sounds of other pianists as he is See PIANIST, page F6 Contract clause led to Freed's fame By Bob Dyer Beacon Journal staff writer Ml LAN FREED, the pioneering rock jock profiled in the 1977 Beacon Journal story. Today, Roger Berk who was in his mid-20s at the time, says he doesn't remember the exact episode, but adds: "He was flaky. He probably didn't show up for two or three nights. Or two weeks." However, Berk adds, Freed's audience appeal was unmistakable.

"He was very popular and had a great personality. He was really the first of the disc jockeys. "He didn't have much character as the years went on. He did when he was young. "He lived in Westgate Apartments out on West Market Street, and he had his girlfriend, a dancing teacher, right across See CONTRACT, page F6 movie American Hot Wax, was referred to in a 1957 Beacon Journal profile as "a tie-less, nervous, gum-chewing sort." Not a pretty picture.

Especially in those days, when tielessness was generally equated with godlessness. People who knew him don't have particularly fond memories, either. Freed, a WAKR disc jockey from 1945 to 1950, was temporarily fired in 1948 for "flagrant violation of studio rules," according to another Flto photo Pioneering rock DJ Alan Freed, working for WAKR in 1947 Bnside: Radio Bob Dyer: Nowadays you can drive from city to city to city and hear pretty much the same Rockin' in Rio Plans for Rock In Rio II the souped-up-south-of-the-border shindig set for Jan. 18-20 and Jan. 23-27 in Rio de Janeiro are rolling along.

Among the 35 performers announced so far for the eight-day bash which is expected to attract more than a million fans to Maracana Stadium (the world's largest soccer arena) and another 200 million via live TV broadcasts are George Michael, Guns 'N Roses, Lisa Stansfield, Run DMC, David Lee Roth, Billy Idol and INXS. Better yet, tickets, scheduled to go on sale next month, are only $10 and $15. Of course, transportation may be another matter. Stalking beast Clint Eastwood has reigned as one of the world's top box-office attractions for 25 years. He's the producer, director and star of the new film White Hunter, Black Heart, which opened this weekend.

The film tells the story of one man's passionate obsession with killing the largest animal on earth, the African elephant. Eastwood has directed 14 films, including everything from Play Misty for Me, Firefox and The Eiger Sanction to High Plains Drifter, The Gauntlet end Bird (the homage to genius sax man Charlie Parker). He next directs and stars in The Rookie, his 21st collaboration with W'arner Bros. Pssst! Manilow a little envious Singer Barry Manilow demonstrates that he's aware of his middle-of-the-road, white-bread image in an interview in Rolling Stone magazine. Would that he were Sting, says the wistful Manilow.

"He's on his own path. I wish I could be as brave as he has been with his career and his life." His second choice would be Tom Waits. Never far from church William Hurt likes to stay close to the phone since answering the Lord's call, say reports from Australia, where Hurt is filming a movie. To meet his demand that he always have access to a house of worship, a private jet is reportedly kept on standby to whisk Hurt to church. Father-to-be Kristina Fulton, who stars in Oliver Stone's film The Doors, due cut in March, says she will bear a child fathered by Nicolas Cage in November.

From Beacon Journal wirt report! basic radio schtick from disc jockeys who are more or less going with the flow. PAGE F2 Coming Attractions: The Cocktail Party and Woody Guthrie 's American Song among upcoming events. PAGE F2 Art Review: Exotic African art invites close inspection. 4 i V- PAGE Country: Nashville's Kathie Baillie's no fool. PAGE F8 Clint Eastwood in White Hunter, Black Heart.