Violinist Jennifer Frautschi.By Greg StepanichPALM BEACH -- Crowded onto a relatively small stage at the Society for the Four Arts, the men and women of the Czech Symphony Orchestra made a casual night of it, dispensing with tuxedos and formal dresses as they presented an evening of attractive, familiar masterworks.But the concert Wednesday evening by the touring Ostrava-based … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2009
Theater feature: ‘Bridegroom’ playwright found story in Civil War families
Playwright Catherine Trieschmann.By Hap ErsteinThe irony of Catherine Trieschmann’s The Bridegroom of Blowing Rock, a post-Civil War tale of a romance and revenge, is that the playwright began with virtually no interest in The War Between the States. She started writing the historical drama, which has its world premiere Friday evening at Manalapan’s Florida Stage, in 2000, … [Read more...]
Music review: Frith’s ‘Lelekovice’ inspires on strong Calder Quartet concert
English guitarist, composer and educator Fred Frith.By Greg StepanichLAKE WORTH -- There are many ways to describe music, from the fanciful to the mundane, but Wednesday afternoon a young string quartet from Los Angeles compellingly brought an audience's ears back to the art's most fundamental identity: Sound.The Calder Quartet, a four-man group that likes to mix provocative … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks, Jan. 30-Feb. 2
Clarence Measelle, a painting and drawing instructorat Palm Beach Community College, stands withmodel Nieves Lopez, over whom he drapeda raw canvas and airbrushed paint to make Resonance.(Photo by Katie Deits) Sherry Stephens, a photography teacher at PBCC,and her husband Wayne, who teaches painting and drawingat PBCC. They're posing by New Look Salon Inside,an archival pigment … [Read more...]
ArtsBuzz: Quartet, violinist heat up classical week
The Calder Quartet.By Greg StepanichWe're in the thick of the season, and there are a few events in the classical music world that deserve mention:Calder Quartet: This Los Angeles-based string foursome -- violinists Benjamin Jackson and Andrew Bulbrook, violist Jonathan Moerschel and cellist Eric Byers --, fresh off an appearance with the band Airborne Toxic Event on The Late … [Read more...]
Art review: O’Keeffe-Adams show epic look at two artists of the West
Georgia O’Keeffe, The Black Iris (1926) Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, N.M.By Katie DeitsWEST PALM BEACH -- Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams were friends who shared a passion for the natural beauty of the American West.On Saturday, an exhibit chronicling that passion -- Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities -- opened at the Norton Museum of Art. The show runs … [Read more...]
Opera review: Swenson shines brightest in vigorous ‘Norma’
Elizabeth Blancke-Biggs as Norma.(Photo by Alissa Dragun)By Greg StepanichWEST PALM BEACH — The difference between the operas of the bel canto tradition and the operas of Giuseppe Verdi that followed them is one of greater psychological insight, surely, but more importantly, it's a difference of brute energy.The operas of a bel canto composer such as Vincenzo Bellini are … [Read more...]
Theater review: ‘Still Jewish After All These Years’ is a real Tales of Hoffman
Avi Hoffman scores inStill Jewish After All These Years!A Life in the Theatre.By Hap Erstein Avi Hoffman does not literally drag a trunk onstage, but for almost two hours the producing artistic director of The New Vista Theatre Company dips into a metaphorical trunk, sifting nostalgically through the milestones of his five decades in show business.Because such an exercise … [Read more...]
Commentary: Let the grousing begin over Oscar nominations
The late Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight.By Hap ErsteinThe Academy Awards went largely for dark dramas in its Best Picture nominations, announced this morning, but not dark enough to include 2008 box office champ The Dark Knight.Christopher Nolan’s somber, slam-bang latest installment in the Batman series had to settle for a few nods in the technical categories and … [Read more...]
Music feature: New area operetta company revives ‘Chocolate Soldier’
Lisa Allen MacMullen, Michael MacMullen and Jacqueline Pimientain a scene from The Chocolate Soldier.(Photo courtesy Palm Beach Light Opera Company)By Greg StepanichWEST PALM BEACH -- You could call Joseph Rubin the Michael Feinstein of operetta, and this week he will bring his passion for underappreciated music to area audiences.Saturday and Sunday will mark the inaugural … [Read more...]