In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times. -- Bertolt Brecht A somber tone dominated the sixth edition of the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, with the distinguished faculty focusing on “poems of witness” and elegies for the dead. Yet by Saturday, the busy last day of the festival, the atmosphere had turned almost … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2010
Arts feature: Poetry festival starts somberly, ends in joy
Poet Marie Howe.By Chauncey MabeIn the dark times, will there also be singing?Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times.-- Bertolt BrechtA somber tone dominated the sixth edition of the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, with the distinguished faculty focusing on “poems of witness” and elegies for the dead. Yet by Saturday, the busy last day of the festival, the atmosphere had … [Read more...]
Second cast outstanding in PB Opera’s ‘Otello’
Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello was the basis for the libretto Arrigo Boito wrote for Giuseppe Verdi, who at the time Boito approached him about the opera was 71 years old and considered himself retired. But three years later, in February 1887, Otello had its triumphant premiere at La Scala, and this work plus Verdi's final opera, Falstaff, are considered the pinnacle of the … [Read more...]
Opera review: Second cast outstanding in PB Opera’s ‘Otello’
Allan Glassman and Michele Capalbo in Otello.By Rex HearnShakespeare’s tragedy Othello was the basis for the libretto Arrigo Boito wrote for Giuseppe Verdi, who at the time Boito approached him about the opera was 71 years old and considered himself retired.But three years later, in February 1887, Otello had its triumphant premiere at La Scala, and this work plus Verdi's final … [Read more...]
M.C. Escher retrospective fascinates, overwhelms
A young man stands looking at a picture of a ship in the harbor of a small town with its little turrets, cupolas and flat stone roofs, upon one of which sits a boy, relaxing. Two floors below him a woman gazes out of the window from her apartment, which sits directly above a picture gallery, where a young man stands looking at a picture of a ship in the harbor of a small town. … [Read more...]
Art review: Escher retrospective fascinates, overwhelms
Rind (1955), woodcut by M.C. Escher.By Gretel SarmientoA young man stands looking at a picture of a ship in the harbor of a small town with its little turrets, cupolas and flat stone roofs, upon one of which sits a boy, relaxing.Two floors below him a woman gazes out of the window from her apartment, which sits directly above a picture gallery, where a young man stands looking … [Read more...]
‘Otello’ decent but spotty at Palm Beach Opera
For its first staged production of the season, the Palm Beach Opera on Friday presented a decent, if unremarkable, production of what is often considered Giuseppe Verdi's finest opera. Otello, which for the composer marked a bold advance toward a seamless fusion of music and drama, requires a kind of singing and acting that it only got intermittently on the Dreyfoos Hall … [Read more...]
Opera review: ‘Otello’ decent but spotty at PB Opera
Soprano Sabina Cvilak.By Greg StepanichFor its first staged production of the season, the Palm Beach Opera on Friday presented a decent, if unremarkable, production of what is often considered Giuseppe Verdi's finest opera.Otello, which for the composer marked a bold advance toward a seamless fusion of music and drama, requires a kind of singing and acting that it only got … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Jan. 22-28
Art: For the past 36 years, John McCoy has been teaching visual arts and art history to students at Florida Atlantic University. Many of his students now have successful art careers, and some of them have come together to celebrate McCoy's ceramics work in a retrospective exhibition. The list of exhibitors for John McCoy and Friends reads like a Who’s Who of South Florida … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Jan. 22-28
A teaset by John McCoy.Art: For the past 36 years, John McCoy has been teaching visual arts and art history to students at Florida Atlantic University. Many of his students now have successful art careers, and some of them have come together to celebrate McCoy's ceramics work in a retrospective exhibition.The list of exhibitors for John McCoy and Friends reads like a Who’s Who … [Read more...]