The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 5

Page 5 Saturday, October 6, 1984 The Lincoln' Star Chicago hits musical homer Puts together 90 minutes of solid entertainment for crowd LA. Piano Quartet performs brilliantly In it, Kodaly explores the epic strug ByJeff Bahr Review Of The Lincoln Star With Chicago Cub mania sweeping the nation, the members of the rock group Chicago would be foolish if they didnl take advantage of it If the Cubs happen to win the National League pennant, the musicians might consider changing the name of one of their hits, "Colour My World," to "Colour My World Series." And they'd be all set if the Cubs should happen to beat the San Diego Padres tonight by a score of, say, 25 or 6 to 4. But alas, although Chicago per- both of Review those Jib V'f WAX mm By Diane Wanek for The Lincoln Star The essence of champagne is its effervescence its characteristic straining against its confines. The same can be said of the finest music; those composers who have successfully challenged the strictures of the form have produced works that might be compared to fine champagne. The Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music sampled both in celebration of the opening of its 20th season at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery Friday night.

The Los Angeles Piano Quartet brilliantly performed works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Zoltan Kodaly and Johannes Brahms, a programming tour de force. of the quartet are Clayton Haslop, violin; Ronald Copes, viola; Peter Rejto, cello, and James Bonn, piano. BRAHMS'S THIRD "Pianoforte Quartet, Opus 60 in C-minor" received the warmest response from a warmly responsive audience. From beginning to end, the Brahms quartet is written with a technique far surpassing his first two piano quartets. No other works of Brahms, including his first and fourth symphonies, show such a diverse range of forms.

It is a most inconsolable, tragic piece, and the Los Angeles Piano Quartet's rendition was at once haunting and beautiful The first movement, with its unex-, pected questions and answers achieved gle for the perfect tone color and form through Instrumentation that is at once contrasting and yet parallel. And like the finest painters, Kodaly uses every inch of his "canvas" to good effect. The elaborate adagio and stormy passion of the second movement were given profound treatment. The two evinced the improvisatory manner of the third movement with virtuosity. Their approach to the last movement, a series of dances, was perfect: from the feverish pitch of the first theme through the distorted, syncopated dance of the trio through the frenzied game of recapitulation, Haslop and Rejto exhibited a keen understanding of Kodaly's work.

AN EARLY WORK of Beethoven, the "Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Opus 16," rounded out the concert. Its transparent quality, clear lines and sense of perfection are often compared to Mozart, but the young Beethoven shown here is already straining at the form's confines, producing a work of great vigor, rich melodies, no small amount of humor and, of course, largesse. The Los Angeles Piano Quartet easily achieved the rich sonorities, delicious melodiousness and delicate embroideries needed for this work. The show-stopper was the quartet's encore, the Finale: Presto from Brahms's "Quartet in G-minor," played with the audacious verve of true gypsies. through striking key changes, was performed with stirring depth.

The quartet's articulate phrasing and near-perfect tone production in the scherzo (second movement) were a truer approach to the intentions of Brahms, I think, than the strong attacks one often hears in this movement The sonata-form third movement, unusual in its major key, contains one of Brahms's loveliest and most original melodies. Though the acoustics of the hall somewhat deadened the sonorities, the quartet, and particularly the cello, performed with a naturally flowing grandeur. Perhaps the only problem with the piece was that the Finale: Allegro was taken too fast. Its guileless pathos and power evoke a sharp understanding of pure tragedy, and Brahms's tranquillo directions were not well heeded The Los Angeles Piano Quartet, nonetheless, exhibited beautiful ensemble and a great depth of feeling in its performance. THE BRILLIANT and difficult "Duo for Violin and Cello, Opus 7" of Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly was my personal favorite of the concert.

The rarely heard work, composed in 1914, is the first modern example of this once-popular combination. several other magic numbers at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Friday night, no mention was made of any World Series plans. The group did, however, put together a solid 90 minutes of entertainment before 8,499 people. The group is now 17 years old, but its nine members, most of whom looked ISli IillK41a Gailnirin'l inroln'Slar Cliivuyo tries out old favorites and new, MM surprisingly young in their short haircuts, turned in a youthful performance. Chicago's famous horn section sounded as good as ever, as did the familiar voices of Peter Cetera and Bobby Lamm.

Cetera's distinctive voice, in particular, was especially good. The group members were attired in ttaggy shirts and pants. A number of were outfitted completely in white, and the rest were dressed in bright pastels. The concert was performed on a crowded stage, on which the group's famous logo was prominently displayed. THE CROWD was fairly reserved during the early part of the show, but showed more interest as the evening wore oa The group performed such old favorites as "Make Me Smile," "If You Leave Me Now," "Beginnings," and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" But the evening also included a fair amount of newer material as well.

The group opened the show with "We Can Stop the Hurtin'," one of the songs on its latest album, "Chicago 17." The group also played "Along Comes a Woman," "Stay the Night," "Hard Habit to Break" Us latest hit and "Prima Donna' from the same album. "Stay the Night" and "Hard Habit to Break," as might be expected, were both well-received. But "Along Comes a Woman" and "Prima Donna," one of the songs from the movie, "Two of a Kind," were also surprisingly good. Among the other highlights of the evening were a superb performance of "Saturday in the Park" and "Beginnings," which featured outstanding percussion work by Danny Seraphine and the group's newest member, Kenny Cetera (Peter's brother). Also notable was "Satisfaction," a song from a solo album by group member Bill Champlin.

THE SHOW climaxed with the group's enthusiastic performance of "Stay the Night," during which the crowd rushed the stage. One female climbed onstage in the middle of the song, and another followed suit to hug Cetera after it was finished. Chicago followed that up with "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" and a short rendition of "Getaway" to end its regular set The group encored with "I'm a Man" and "25 or 6 to 4." The evening ended with another version of "Getaway." Alan Kaye, a comedian from Dallas, served as Chicago's warmup ad Al- though some of his material was starting to show its age, Kaye delivered a generally solid set, eliciting his biggest laughs with a bit about a car with a fe-. male personality. He also clicked with his impressions of such offbeat figures as Chuck Barris, Leon Redbone and Kenny Loggins.

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