What child prodigies turn into
At 25, pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa is a veteran
performer of the classical stage. Her professional
career began when she was only 8
years old, when she first performed
in public in her native
Romania and made her first
recording. At 13, she entered the
Vienna Conservatory under Heinz
Medjimorec, where she went on
to win first prize at the 1995 Clara
Haskil Competition and perform
at the International Festival in St.
Petersburg.
Her solo performances have
taken her around the world several
times, and she has sat in as a
guest pianist with the St. Paul
Chamber Orchestra, the Amsterdam
Concertgebouw Orchestra,
the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen,
the Vienna Symphony, the Bamberg Symphony
Orchestra and the Academy of St. Martinin-
the-Fields.
While she herself (and some badly informed
music critics) has derided her earlier works as
\"wild\" and \"uncontrolled,\" Ursuleasa\'s performances
could better be described as awash in
stormy, tempestuous energy and possessed of
absolute precision and steely restraint. She is,
quite simply, a technically proficient performer
who lets beauty and passion guide her through
even the most constrictive of pieces.
Those of you out there who are lucky
enough to catch her here
for the few scant days she\'s
in Minnesota will not be disappointed.
_ Thursday, Sept. 18, 11 a.m.
and Friday-Saturday,
Sept. 19-20, 8 p.m.
Orchestra Hall,
1111 Nicollet Mall.
$27 and up. 371-5642.
Star struck
Did anyone else out
there get a little thrill
in their pants the night
Reverend Horton Heat
appeared on the \"Drew Carey Show\"? It was
probably just me, but I thought that was kind
of cool, almost as cool as the night I saw the
guy who played \"Booger\" from \"Revenge of
the Nerds\" waiting in line at the concession
stand at L.A.\'s Silent Picture Show theater.
Through his music, the highly-stylized Reverend
Horton Heat has breathed new life into
the old themes of alcohol, recreational drug
use, cars, pretty women, God and Texas,
treating rockabilly as though it were a brand
new genre to work with instead of some tooironic,
campy joke to set dismal songs about
necrophilia to.
_ Wednesday, Sept. 17, 6 p.m.
First Avenue, 701 1st Ave. N.
$15 in advance, $20 at the door. 332-1775.
Back in the saddle
In the \'80s, local boys The Jayhawks\'
smooth blend of country, folk and bar-band
rock made them one of the most widely
acclaimed emerging artists from the alternative
country scene, inspiring hordes of similar-
sounding bands across the nation. While
their line-up has changed significantly over
the years, their focus and sound remain pretty
much the same - and after numerous latenight
TV appearances to showcase tracks
from their newest release, \"Rainy Day
Music,\" the Jayhawks are back in town to hit
the First Avenue stage for the first time in
what seems like much too long a time.
_Saturday, Sept. 20, 6 p.m.
First Avenue, 701 1st Ave. N.
$15 in advance, $20 at the door. 332-1775.
Holly Day can be reached at
