A little Italian magic came as the most unexpected surprise Saturday night during the Palm Beach Opera’s presentation of Johann Strauss II’s operetta Die Fledermaus. Playing Prince Orlofsky en travesti was the celebrated mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, resplendent in Russian battle dress and a white beard. Pressed in Act II to sing something (itself an interpolation into the … [Read more...]
FGO’s ‘Frida’ a brilliant, energetic read on iconic Mexican artist
By Robert Croan Robert Xavier Rodriguez’s 1991 opera, Frida – based on the life of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo – requires only 15 singers (some in double roles) and an orchestra of six to 11 players, but the brilliant, kinetic Florida Grand Opera production that opened last weekend in the Miramar Cultural Center, seemed huge. The energy level soared from first note to … [Read more...]
Young, exciting Thalea SQ wows Flagler audience
Oh, to be a member of a young string quartet nowadays. A format that reached its first flowering in the days when leaders of Britain’s American colonies were looking for the exit sign is today a group synonymous with the kind of tight-but-exhilarating camaraderie that results from a small band of people attempting something Olympian while navigating concert-packed road … [Read more...]
Violinist Znaider thrills Broward audience at Brussels Philharmonic appearance
By Robert Croan A British critic has described Guillaume Connesson’s Flammenschrift (Written in Fire) as “Beethoven on speed,” not intending it to be taken as a compliment. On hearing the French composer’s nine-minute homage to Beethoven played by the Brussels Philharmonic in Broward Center (March 13), I would agree with the epithet – however, in an entirely positive, not … [Read more...]
A fine night of clarinet quintets at CityPlace
The two canonical clarinet quintets, and there are really only two, attain that status at least in part because listening to them, one wonders why such a beautiful combination isn’t regularly attempted by composers everywhere. For now, no one’s done it better than Mozart in 1789 and Brahms in 1891, and it was their respective clarinet quintets that occupied a program of the … [Read more...]
At Lynn, a laudable ‘Te Deum,’ compelling Copland
We are going to be treated to a lot of Berlioz at the Lynn Philharmonia over the next year or so, thanks to the championing of the French composer by its director, Guillermo Figueroa. Truth to tell, Berlioz has already loomed large on Philharmonic programs. Figueroa has presented the song cycle Les Nuits d’Été and the dramatic symphony Romeo et Juliette in previous seasons, … [Read more...]
Opera on life of artist Kahlo ‘bright and beautiful,’ soprano Jones says
By Robert Croan The turbulent life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-54) reads like a secular passion play about a troubled human being who suffered poverty, childhood polio and a horrific tram accident that left her in lifelong pain. In her paintings, Kahlo depicted herself as an anguished Madonna. No less important in her life, however, were her political views (a … [Read more...]
Akropolis Reed Quintet stellar at Flagler
The usual round of chamber music visits to South Florida in season favors assemblies of string instruments, sometimes with piano, and the occasional woodwind quintet. That’s part of what made the Feb. 19 concert by the Akropolis Reed Quintet at the Flagler Museum so special: Unlike a standard wind quintet of flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon, the Akropolis has oboe … [Read more...]
CSO, Muti show how Beethoven should go
By Dennis D. Rooney The audience in the Kravis Center’s Dreyfoos Hall to hear the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday night seemed the usual assortment of mostly middle-aged and older listeners. However, I do hope that some children and young people attended so that they might experience the sound of a major orchestra under an eminent conductor in music of Ludwig van … [Read more...]
Pink Martini and Nu Deco Ensemble: Bending genres, building community
By Christina Wood You won’t find many places where people of diverse opinions gather peacefully these days. Where young and old sit, amicably, side by side. Where people come together – regardless of labels or affiliations – to celebrate life. With Pink Martini and the Nu Deco Ensemble both performing, this year’s Festival of the Arts Boca might be an exception. The … [Read more...]