Music: The very last concert Franz Joseph Haydn attended in his life was in March 1808, about a year before he died, when he was carried, seated on an armchair, into the University of Vienna to hear his oratorio The Creation, in a performance conducted by Antonio Salieri. Haydn was too ill to stay for the whole piece, but the reverence he was shown that day was due in part to … [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...]
Palm Beach Symphony launches season with rich menu of “pops”
By Dennis D. Rooney The term “Pops Concert” suggests to some a program in some way inferior to the program of a symphony orchestra, which unfortunately sometimes has been true when an orchestra is asked to play arrangements of music not originally for orchestra. But the term also particularly applies to orchestral music of a lighter character that is not often programmed … [Read more...]
Master Chorale gives glorious account of Brahms’s ‘German Requiem’
By Clare Shore At the end of a grueling week, on an absolutely gorgeous spring Friday evening in South Florida, one is not always keen on driving 40 minutes to sit inside for an hour and a quarter listening to a large-scale piece of music. But that’s what I did, and I left Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale on May 4 renewed and refreshed by Master Chorale … [Read more...]
Master Chorale takes step forward with Duruflé, new work
As it begins its 15th season of concerts, the Master Chorale of South Florida has added another element to its music-making, that of commissioner of new work. On Sunday, the community chorale presented the first piece in what promises to be an annual series of new choral works with a setting of John Donne’s "Death Be Not Proud," composed by James Kallembach, who heads the … [Read more...]
Late review: Despite flaws, Berlioz ‘Roméo’ marks a Lynn milestone
Guillermo Figueroa has been an advocate of the music of Hector Berlioz for decades, and in his time as the conductor of the Lynn Philharmonia, he’s pursued that advocacy with presentations of major works by the composer. A season ago, it was the song cycle Les Nuits d’Éte, and on Feb. 25, it was his hard-to-classify “dramatic symphony,” Roméo et Juliette. Joined by three … [Read more...]
Berlioz’s epic take on ‘Romeo’ set for weekend at Lynn
Sitting at a table in a new Boca Raton diner, Guillermo Figueroa opens his cloth-bound, dark blue Bärenreiter edition of the music and points to a page, marked with various colored pencils. The score he’s pointing to, explaining the perils of this or that passage, is the playbook for this weekend, when the violinist and conductor will lead the Lynn Philharmonia, the Master … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Dec. 16-18
Music: George Frideric Handel premiered his oratorio Messiah in April of 1742 in Dublin, where it was put on for a hospital benefit. It was an Easter piece, but over the years it’s become an indelible part of Christmas in the English-speaking world. There are several places this weekend to get your Messiah fix, with performances tonight at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in … [Read more...]
Master Chorale’s Bach largely a triumph
By any reasonable measure, staging J.S. Bach’s epic Mass in B Minor with a community chorus is a remarkable achievement. And Brett Karlin, who directs the Master Chorale of South Florida, was not to be deterred from mounting a performance of this, his favorite choral composition. He put his 121 singers through numerous extra rehearsals, brought The Symphonia Boca Raton in … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Nov. 19-20
Art: Surrealist art hasn’t been a current style for some time, but there are still practitioners out there, one of them being Jacques de Beaufort, who teaches at Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth. Last night, a retrospective of his work opened at the new Box Gallery on Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach, within shouting distance of the interstate and Dixie Highway. The Box … [Read more...]