The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 128

P8 Friday, Feb. 28, 1997 a WEEKEND PREVIEW The Atlanta Journal The Atlanta Constitution orary twist Lontemp Anne-Sophie Mutter eagerly embraces new challenge Dawn Upshaw Soprano in recital with pianist Richard Goode. 8:15 p.m. Saturday. Sold out.

Spivey Hall, Clayton College State University. 5900 N. Lee Morrow. 770-961-3683. A 4 I 1 1 1 i Si 4 km By Derrick Henry STAFF WRITER lamour.

Intellect. Charisma. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter has all those qualities and uses them to enhance her remarkable musicianship. Since Berlin Philharmonic music director Herbert von Karajan took her under his wing soon after her first recital, at age 13, Mutter, 33, has been in the international limelight. Yet the Munich-based violinist, who'll perform the three Brahms violin sonatas and youthful "Sonaten-satz" (sonata movement) tonight at Emory University, remains down to earth and an unusually frank and generous interview.

Here are a few of her observations. On how she came to wear off-the-shoulder concert gowns: "It started very early. Some of my colleagues play with a rest or pillow under the violins. That's how I started, but it fell apart; I guess I'm too temperamental. I glued a deerskin to the back of my violin because it kept slipping, but Scotch tape is not a good idea for a violin.

So I started taking my sleeve down, and found out that was even better. I like the contact of the violin with my skin." On her championing of contemporary music: "It was a conscious change on my part to start playing contemporary music. At first I felt alone and afraid; it was a language I did not know. But once you get beyond that it becomes an adventure, a chance to set new ground. Learning new music helps complete your personality as a musician.

It helps enrich and enlarge your coloristic palette and playing in general." On the three Brahms violin sonatas: "My favorite is the first, in major. It's a risk to BILL HAYWARD Special Dawn Upshaw, 36, prefers recording, recitals and chamber music and says she spends her time thinking of such projects. said he would conduct fewer concerts with me because he didn't want to have so much influence on my playing. I was sad at the time, but looking back I see he was very wise and generous." On remaining fresh: "I used to do 120 concerts a year and wondered why I was struggling so much. So in 1991 1 took a sabbatical when I had my first child.

It was good to get out of the pressure. Now I only do 50 to 60 concerts a year and am planning another sabbatical. I want to have time to read and to be mentally fresh." On her listening passions: "I admire jazz musicians. Currently I'm into Ella Fitzgerald craziness. I have most of her dis-cography.

The swing attracts me and the incredible warmth and flexibility and phrasing. I'm partial to listening to vocalists, because you want to learn how to make the violin sing." On extra-musical fun: "I like horseback riding and mountain climbing. I hate to get up early, but I love being on top of a mountain as early as possible when it is incredibly quiet and peaceful." "I like the contact of the violin with my skin." ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter Vonst in recital with pianist Lambert Orkis. 8: IS tonight. $23430.

Emory University, Glenn Memorial Auditorium, 1652 North Decatur Road. 404-727-5050. open this program with it, because it's so introverted and poetic. A friend of Brahms said it should not be played in public because it's so delicate and personal. The second one is very sunny and extroverted.

He composed it in Switzerland when he was in a very good mood, waiting for a visit from a woman. The last one is like a concerto. It's physically the most demanding, requiring a large range and passionate approach." On the influence of Karajan: "He was very important to my career. Because of him, I never had to play with medium-grade orchestras or fiddle around with uninteresting musicians. He set a standard.

I learned about phrasing and perfection, about reaching the highest level of your abilities. Karajan and I worked together for 13 years, but after the first three or four he If: If, An Evening Featuring ITZHAK PERLMAN Xr 'if; to the music, virtually becomes one with the music. "The more down to earth I bring everything, the more fun I have," she explains. "I want the audience to go home having been in some way touched by the music or performance so they can go home having felt something that connects with their own lives." Besides being personable, Upshaw is a musician of astonishingly wide taste and versatility. She's made a hit recording of songs by Rodgers and Hart.

And she maintains a close connection to a host of contemporary composers, including John Harbison, John Corigliano and Henryk Gorecki. Unlike some singers, Upshaw does not attempt a rigorous program of diet and exercise. "I do try to drink a lot of water, get a good night's sleep and do a little aerobic workout in the hotel room. But I'm much calmer and healthier since I've become more relaxed about what I eat. I think anxiety about such things can cause problems." Peachtree St.

N.E. 404-876-5535. Evensong Recital Series. John B. Haney, organ.

3:30 p.m. Free. Cathedral of St. Philip, 2744 Peachtree Road N.W. 404-365-1050.

Georgia State University Cello Choir. 3 p.m. Free. Georgia State University Concert Hall, Gilmer Street and Peachtree Center Avenue. 404-651-4636.

Kennesaw State University Community Brass Ensemble. 3 p.m. Free. Stillwell Theater, Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Road, Kennesaw. 770-423-6650.

The King's Singers. 3 p.m. $20 and $24. Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center, University of Georgia, 90 Carlton Athens. 706-542-4400.

Michael O'Neal Singers. 3 p.m. $15; $7.50 students. Spivey Hall, Clayton College State University, 5900 N. Lee Morrow.

770-961-3683. Peachtree Presbyterian Church. Peachtree Chancel Choir and Orchestra perform works by Faure. 5 p.m. Free.

3434 Roswell Road N.W. 404-842-5800. Agnes Scott College Community Orchestra. 8 p.m. Free.

Gaines Auditorium, Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Decatur. 404-638-6430. Alexander Shtarkman. Pianist.

3 p.m. 1 0. Pace Academy, 966 West Paces Ferry Road N.W. 404-355-1945. Compiled by Shane Harrison Sold out.

Ferst Center for the Arts, Georgia Tech, 349 Ferst Drive N.W. 404-894-9864. UPCOMING Us Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. All-male dance troupe presents a comic recital of classical ballet and modern dance. 8 p.m.

Thursday and March 7. Robert Ferst Center for the Arts, Georgia Tech, 349 Ferst Drive N.W. 404-894-9600. nmhlliM hu China i-lnrrltnn Soprano low-key as they come Dawn Upshaw keeps things in perspective By Derrick Henry CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC awn Upshaw is a prima donna who doesn't act like one, an opera star who prefers recitals and chamber music, a woman more concerned about her family than fame (she won't travel for more than two weeks without seeing her husband and two young children). This 36-year-old lyric soprano, one of the most creative and intelligent singers before the public today, returns to Spivey Hall on Saturday for her first recital in Atlanta since another Spivey Hall date in 1993.

Daughter of a Southern Baptist minister from Atlanta, Upshaw, 36, was born in Nashville and grew up in a Chicago suburb. "My love and commitment to the recital began long before I had much knowledge of opera," she says. "I went to a small college, Illinois Wesleyan, where they could only afford to put on one opera every two years. I came there having seen only one opera in my life, and not liking it very much. So I didn't have any interest in opera until I went to graduate school at the Manhattan School of Music.

Even today, I Impend more of my time thinking of recital or recording or chamber music projects than dreaming I of what opera role I want to sing." Saturday's recital is an all- TODAY "The Art of the Trouveres." Clayton College State University early music ensemble members perform music from the 13th to the 1 5th centuries. 8: 1 5 S.m. Free. Spivey Hall, 900 N. Lee Morrow.

770-961-3683. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. With conductor Yoel Levi, the ASO Chorus and mezzo-soprano Pam- -eta Dillard. The orchestra performs Prokofiev's score for Sergei film "Alexander Nevsky" while the film Is screened. 8 p.m.

Also, 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 Jlp.jrv Sunday. Atlanta Symphony Hall, 5, Woodruff Arts Center, 1 280 Peacht-W St. N.E. 404-733-5000.

CGeorgia State University Brass 'Ensemble. 7:30 p.m. Free. Georgia pState University Concert Hall. JTh'ePilgrlm'i Trail: Miracle Songs From Medieval Spain." Camerata Theatre and the choir of Cathedral of Christ the King present a theatrical concert with music drawn primarily from 14th-century songs for pilgrims going to the monastic shrine f.of Our Lady of Montserrat, near Barcelona, Spain.

8 p.m. 1 0. Also, Saturday. Cathedral of Christ the King, Peachtree Road N.E. ft: Academy Dance Company.

"Enchanting Dance." 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. $6 advance; $7 at the door. Cobb Civic Center, 548 S.

Marietta Parkway, Marietta. 770-578-8272. Festival of Life. Performers Include For- Company, AJpharetta Dance The- atre, Atlanta Dance Unlimited, ST" i German program of works Upshaw and her pianist, Richard Goode, hope to record. She'll sing Strauss' "Ophelia Iieder" (a work she performed in her senior recital) and Schumann's "Liederkre-is," plus songs by Schubert.

Goode, who will be performing for the first time on the Steinway piano he selected for Spivey, will also play Schumann's "Arabesque" and four selections from Brahms' Op. 118. A distinguished artist in his own right, Goode is typical of the musicians with whom Upshaw collaborates. "I like working with people who have a strong musical personality and not someone who wants to make things comforting for me," she says. "Richard is an amazing pianist.

I can have a great deal of freedom because he plays with such conviction. With him I can ride some fantastic waves." Anyone who attended Upshaw's last Spivey recital knows she does not subscribe to the stand-and-sing philosophy. She talks to the audience, moves Ann Riedel. Harpist presents a benefit for the German School of Atlanta, 8 p.m. $40.

Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, 980 Briarcliff Road N.E. 770-419-7964. SATURDAY Orchestra Atlanta. With conductor Philip Rice and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott. Michael Torke: "Bright Blue Dvorak: Notturno for Strings; Weber: Symphony No.

I Schumann: Piano Concerto. 8 p.m. $25. Roswell Municipal Auditorium, 950 Forrest Roswell. 770-992-2S59.

Dawn Upshaw and Richard Goode. Soprano and pianist. 8: 1 5 p.m. Sold out. Spivey Hall, Clayton College State University, 5900 N.

Lee Morrow. 770-961-3683. Windgate. A cappella vocal ensemble with guest artists 9 O'Clock Brass. 7 p.m.

Free. Peachtree City United Methodist Church, Peachtree Parkway South, Peachtree City. 770-631-8718. SUNDAY Atlanta Flute Ensemble and Marietta Flute Choir. Works by Mozart, Rossini, William Averltt and Jennifer Higdon.

4 p.m. Free. Sisters Chapel, Spelman College, 350 Spelman Lane S.W. 404-681-3643, Ext. 2226.

Peter Bild. 1 0-year-old Slovakian pianist makes his American debut in Atlanta accompanying his sister, Lucie Bild. 3 p.m. Free; offering will be taken. Peachtree Christian Church, 1580 Atlanta Jazz Theatre, Capital City Ballet, Roswell Dance Theatre, Kris Cangelosl Dance Project, Praise in Motion, Trinity Academy of Irish Dancing and others.

8 tonight. 1 1 0 students. Pro- ceeds benefit AIDS charities Absolutely Positive, Childkind and Jerusalem House. Roswell Auditorium Theatre, 950 Forrest Roswell. 770-594-6232.

Pilobolus Dance Theatre. Georgia Tech presents the modern dance troupe. 8 tonight-Saturday. With Yoel Levi And The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Atlanta Gvic Center 8:00 P.M. April 6, 1997 Tickets Now Available.

$36, $75, $150, $250 kW Wfo Cmtti Option For Further Information And To Order Tickets: (404) 633-1 132 Major tftdit cards wcepled. A portion of thi ticket price a tax daducttbte contribution to JNF. T771 fitJ I IV I THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION.