By Dennis D. Rooney Lynn University’s music conservatory inaugurated its 2018-19 series of concerts Sept. 8 in it its usual fashion, with a concert by its wind ensemble. “Crossover Concerti” was the title of the program, entirely devoted to concertos for woodwind and brass. Five composers were represented, four of them born between 1946 and 1973. The fifth was Igor … [Read more...]
From a South Florida condo, the blues reaches the world
Along with popular and country music, blues is now a booming, modern audiovisual industry. Particularly since the mid-1980s, when a young guitarist/vocalist from Texas named Stevie Ray Vaughan interrupted the decade’s synthesized, video-driven pop trends by blending rock swagger and blues rhythms to help create an ongoing roots music revival. A sizable, pre-existing subset … [Read more...]
PB Opera offers nights of song and fun for the summer
By Dale King Summers are usually fairly quiet for the Palm Beach Opera, much less hectic than the regular season that will launch in December with a rising-stars concert followed after with three mainstage opera productions of works by Verdi, Mozart and Johann Strauss II. But this summer, the company is making its presence felt with a new series called Summer Opera … [Read more...]
PBCMF IV: Charming American work tops festival finale
By Dennis D. Rooney The fourth and final program of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival’s 27th season was composed of a local premiere and two works of 20th-century composers on its first half, and Schubert’s Trout Quintet on its second. Clarinetist Michael Forte’s prefatory remarks mentioned that Piotr Szewczyk (b. 1978), composer of Three Summer Sketches that opened … [Read more...]
Pumpkins rise to the occasion even as Corgan snubs audience
Bands that formed in the mid-1960s and beyond capitalize on nostalgia tours, and Chicago-spawned alt-rock icons The Smashing Pumpkins reached their commercial and critical peak a full 30 years beyond that time frame. When lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and band leader Billy Corgan was able to rein in original members James Iha (guitar, vocals) and Jimmy Chamberlin … [Read more...]
PBCMF III: All-American program features promising new nonet
By Dennis D. Rooney The Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival’s third concert of its current summer series, seen July 22 at the Crest Theatre in Delray Beach, was an “all-American” program. Works by three American composers, two of them living, and the American String Quartet (No. 12 in F, Op. 96) by Dvořák. Music by Eric Ewazen (b. 1954) opened it. Mosaics, for flute, … [Read more...]
Even with faults, Miami Music Fest’s double dose of Wagner enchants
By Dennis D. Rooney For its public concert July 14, the Miami Music Festival’s Wagner Institute presented the second acts of two of Richard Wagner’s operas: Lohengrin (1850) and Die Walküre (1870), providing a generous portion of contrasting music. The singers, chorus and orchestra, all drawn from the participants in this year’s institute, were conducted by its artistic … [Read more...]
PBCMF, Program II: Prodigy’s quartet shines in Latin-flavored program
By Dennis D. Rooney “Latin Flavors” was the theme of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival group’s second program of its 27th season. It opened and closed with wind quintets, one original, the other a transcription. Belle Epoque en Sud-America, by the Brazilian composer and conductor Júlio Medaglia (b. 1938), is a suite composed for the Berlin Philharmonic Winds Quintet, … [Read more...]
Mainly Mozart finale featured fine playing, muddled concept
By Dennis D. Rooney The conclusion of the Mainly Mozart Festival’s 25th season, held July 8 at the University of Miami’s Gusman Auditorium, was a gallimaufry masquerading as a concept program. It would have been better dubbed “a bit of Mozart, but mostly Shostakovich.” The subtitle was “The Soul of Celebration” and included video accompanying the music, credited to Ali … [Read more...]
Miami Music Festival’s ‘Walküre’ sees directorial debut by composer’s descendant
Sitting alone deep in the ancient cedar forests on the Japanese island of Yukushima, Antoine Wagner came in direct contact with his quest for silence. “You spend three days living in a dense forest in tents, and then suddenly the guide says, ‘You have to stay here for an hour, someone will come get you,’” he said. “There’s not a single sound in the forest, and you feel like … [Read more...]