By Ava Figliuzzi Caught between two days of Barber Violin Concerto performances with the Modesto (Calif.) Symphony, Simone Porter says she embraces her inner spontaneity when playing the same work two nights in a row. "I try to make an entirely fresh performance. If I try to re-create anything that happened the previous night, that's where the danger starts happening," … [Read more...]
PBO’s non-edgy ‘Butterfly’ nice, but not challenging
By Márcio Bezerra A 15-year-old geisha is bought in marriage and later abandoned by an American naval officer in — of all places — Nagasaki. The storyline of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly is ripe with political and gender-related controversies. Yet, most traditional productions avoid tackling the problematic subjects head-on. That was the case with Palm Beach … [Read more...]
At Four Arts, Calidore String Quartet turns in knockout performance
By Ava Figliuzzi Name any major U.S. chamber music competition, and it has likely been won in the past by the Calidore String Quartet. The New York City-based ensemble was the recipient of a 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant, a 2017 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, and the winner of the 2016 M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition. Their 2022-23 season balances … [Read more...]
Atlanta Symphony delivers outstanding evening of Beethoven, Sibelius at Kravis
By Márcio Bezerra As the most prestigious musical institution in the Southeast, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra needs no introduction. For 78 years, the orchestra has established itself as a major American ensemble and one hopes that, under the new leadership of Music Director Nathalie Stuzmann, it will be able to expand its musical horizons by featuring a more varied … [Read more...]
Ulysses Quartet effective, unified in diverse program at Duncan’s Stage West
By Ava Figliuzzi The Duncan Theatre's Stage West, a charming, small venue on the campus of Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth Beach, opened its Classical Café Series on Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 11) with the young Ulysses Quartet. Founded in 2015, the Ulysses Quartet has garnered top prizes at the Schoenfeld and Fischoff competitions and held recent fellowship … [Read more...]
At Four Arts, pianist Ax lets Schubert speak for himself
By Márcio Bezerra Acclaimed pianist Emanuel Ax was the feature of a sold-out recital Jan. 8 at The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach. Playing a mostly Schubert program with some touches of Liszt, the venerable artist displayed a total commitment to serving the composers’ intentions, with little space for personal eccentricities. Following Arthur Rubinstein’s … [Read more...]
PB Opera takes on cultural clash in ‘Madama Butterfly’
The opening of Japan to Western trade in the 1850s engendered a flurry of exotic-themed art in Europe and the United States. Painters and interior designers, dramatists and musicians created numerous works that evoked the mysteries of the land of the Chrysanthemum Throne. Many of these works examined the clash of East and West, including a French novel, an American short … [Read more...]
Double Roads Tavern returning to Jupiter in new year
Baby Boomer nostalgia seems to be fueling a lot of modern leisure and entertainment, especially in South Florida, but there are some things that can't be brought back. Like Double Roads, the area along the ocean north of Marcinski Road in Juno Beach. That's where teens, many of whom are now in the Boomer age bracket, once congregated from the 1960s through the 1980s. There … [Read more...]
Northwood entrepreneur dreams of Wynwood vibe in West Palm
Location, location, location. It's recurrently stressed as the prime factor in real estate and startup businesses, but always with an eye toward the present. Joe DeStephan, on the other hand, has both eyes fixed on the future. His Northwood Art & Music Warehouse in West Palm Beach is situated in an industrial region several blocks west of the Northwood section's … [Read more...]
Symphonia’s opener not very fiery, but Cárdenes offers excellent Mozart
By Dennis D. Rooney The Symphonia opened its new season at St. Andrew’s School’s Roberts Auditorium on Nov. 13 with a program that featured guest conductor Andrés Cárdenes, who was also the soloist in the program’s final selection, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 (in A, K. 219), which has the nickname “Turkish” due to an A minor episode in the finale that emulates Janissary … [Read more...]