(Illustration by Pat Crowley)
By Greg Stepanich
With the addition of a new performing arts center in southern Palm Beach County (and a major new hall on Miami Beach), the 2010-11 classical music season in South Florida looks a little stronger than it did last season, and that impression is fortified by the unusual fact of there being two performances each of major Romantic masterworks: The Verdi Requiem, and the Fifth Symphony of Gustav Mahler.
Meanwhile, the other chief arts venues offer a full and active season of orchestral, choral, and chamber music concerts, with visits from rising soloists and old friends making return appearances to familiar halls. The Festival of the Arts Boca, which last year featured soprano Renee Fleming, will return March 5-12, but details won’t be firmed up until mid-October, said festival co-founder Wendy Larsen.
Here’s a selective list of some of the notable performances headed our way:
ORCHESTRAS: The new Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University in Boca Raton stands to become an important regional place for concerts in the coming years, but in the immediate future, the opening of the center in October is a boon for the university’s conservatory orchestra. It’s a good hall with up-to-the-minute acoustics that can be precisely adjusted for many different kinds of concerts.
Perhaps acting on the theory that you might as well go big if you’re going to go at all, the Lynn Philharmonia opens the hall and its six-concert season with the Mahler Fifth, a gigantic work that will tax the players to their limit but should provide an impressive start to this new era in the life of that university and this area’s concert scene. Standout violinist and Lynn faculty member Elmar Oliveira also solos in the much-beloved Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Albert-George Schram conducts (Oct. 9-10).
The conservatory’s New Music Festival this year welcomes composer Gunther Schuller, who will lead the Lynn orchestra in the world premiere of a work chosen from the school’s call for scores, while festival founder Lisa Leonard solos as pianist in the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1 on a program that also features the Brahms Third Symphony. (Jan. 29-30).
In addition to the Lynn’s usual concerto competition concert, featuring contest winners (Dec. 4-5), there also will be performances of the Beethoven Fifth Piano Concerto with Lynn faculty member Roberta Rust (Feb. 19-20), and at season’s end, the Master Chorale of South Florida joins forces with the orchestra for the Verdi Requiem (March 26-27). Soloists are Amanda Hall, Christin-Marie Hill, Scott Ramsay and Wayne Shepperd. [See the Opera preview in this issue for information about another area performance of the Verdi Requiem on Jan. 16 in West Palm Beach.]
Schuller also is in town in late January to guest-conduct the Boca Raton Symphonia in his own music (Concerto da Camera), plus works by Ibert, Mozart and Prokofiev, as well as the Haydn Cello Concerto featuring the young cellist SuJinLee (Jan. 23).
Veteran French pianist and conductor Philippe Entremont leads the Symphonia in three other of its five concerts, including the opening program Dec. 4 in which he’ll be the soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 20 of Mozart. Also planned are Richard Danielpour’s Souvenirs, written by the Palm Beach County-reared composer for Entremont’s 75th birthday, and the Beethoven Fourth Symphony.
Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack sings Manuel de Falla’s El Amor Brujo on an all-Spanish concert (Feb. 20) that includes new orchestrations of works by Granados (Goyescas), Albeniz (Triana) and the Sortileges of Xavier Montsalvatge. And on March 20, Entremont is joined by violinist Ludwig Mueller and cellist Christopher Pantillon for the Beethoven Triple Concerto (in C, Op. 56), the Shostakovich Chamber Symphony (in F, Op. 73a, arranged by Rudolph Barshai from Shostakovich’s Third String Quartet), and the string sextet from Richard Strauss’ opera Capriccio.
Spanish conductor Ramón Tebar takes full control of the Palm Beach Symphony’s conducting duties this season, and he opens the five-concert series with an all-American program Dec. 15 at the Society of the Four Arts. Featured works include Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (soloist TBA), the Appalachian Spring suite of Aaron Copland, and the elegiac Adagio for Strings of Samuel Barber, the centenary of whose passing has been marked all this year.
As usual, the symphony will perform in several Palm Beach and West Palm Beach locales, with readings of the Schubert Symphony No. 6 on a program with Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro for harp and orchestra at Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church on Palm Beach (Jan. 24), and a season closer March 29 at the Flagler Museum with Darius Milhaud’s impish Le Boeuf sur le Toit on the bill along with the Variaciones Concertantes of Argentina’s Alberto Ginastera and the Beethoven Third Symphony.
The symphony also serves as the house band for the International Certificate for Piano Artists concerto concert Feb. 17 at the DeSantis Family Chapel on the campus of the host Institution, Palm Beach Atlantic University. Scheduled works include the Two-Piano Concerto of Mozart, the Two-Piano Concerto of Francis Poulenc, and the wonderfully weird Choral Fantasy of Beethoven.
Over at the Kravis Center, Zubin Mehta leads the Israel Philharmonic in the Mahler Fifth Symphony on Feb. 20, while on Jan. 12, conductor Peter Oundjian brings the Toronto Symphony to town with a work by Canadian composer Gary Kulesha (Torque) and the Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony; Canadian violinist James Ehnes solos in the Barber Violin Concerto. Young Polish soloists (violinist Marta Kowalczyk and pianist Jacek Kortus) appear for two concerts with the Opole Philharmonic of Poland (Jan. 25-26) that will include the almost-forgotten Piano Concerto of Jan Paderewski on the 25th. (The orchestra also plays Stuart’s Lyric Theatre on Jan. 31).
Alisa Weilerstein.Entremont leads his Deutsche State Philharmonic in two concerts on the Regional Arts series that include the Beethoven Second Piano Concerto with Sebastian Knauer (Feb. 7), and the Mahler Fourth Symphony (soloist TBA) on Feb. 8. Nikolai Alexeev is joined by pianist Nikolai Lugansky on April 6 for the Rachmaninov Second Concerto (in C minor, Op. 18) with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic , and Yuri Temirkanov leads the orchestra the following afternoon in the Shostakovich First Cello Concerto with the fine young American cellist Alisa Weilerstein.
One of the more unusual orchestral events promises to be the appearance of the Cape Town Philharmonic at the Society of the Four Arts on Feb, 16, and the Broward Center’s Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale on the 17th. This is the first time any South African symphonic ensemble has made a trip to the states, and the concerts under Bulgarian conductor Martin Panteleev feature the Russian violinist Philippe Quint in the Tchaikovsky Concerto and the Candide Overture of Bernstein.
One of the most important events in South Florida classical music takes place Jan. 25, when the new Frank Gehry building for the New World Symphony formally opens on Miami Beach in a concert that features the world premiere of a work by Britain’s Thomas Adès. Michael Tilson Thomas also conducts the orchestral academy in the Copland Third Symphony. The New World’s lineup of concerts this season is remarkably impressive, and includes two readings under Thomas of the Mahler Seventh Symphony on April 30 and May 1 at the new Gehry hall, composer John Adams on April 2 with his own City Noir, and violinist Christian Tetzlaff in the Bartok Second Concerto (Feb. 5-6).
The New World travels north to the Broward Center with Thomas on Oct. 18 for the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations with the veteran cellist Lynn Harrell on a program that also features American composer Steven Mackey’s Eating Greens and the Beethoven Seventh Symphony. The group also is at the Kravis Center on Feb. 18 with the great British conductor Neville Marriner and Dutch violinist Isabelle van Keulen in the Mendelssohn Concerto and the Tchaikovsky Fourth Symphony.
Not to be overlooked is the Cleveland Orchestra in its continuing Miami residency, which will have only one appearance this year by the orchestra’s music director, Franz Welser-Möst. He’ll lead the Ohio band and French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard in the Schumann Piano Concerto (Jan. 28-29), while the young German violinist Augustin Hadelich plays the Mendelssohn Concerto (March 4-5) under Giancarlo Guerrero of the Nashville Symphony. Pianist Horacio Gutierrez rounds out the series April 8 and 9 with the Rachmaninov Second Concerto under Czech conductor Jiri Belohlavek.
Further north, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra under Stewart Robertson opens with an all-English concert at its venues at the Waxlax Center in Vero Beach and the Lyric Theatre (Jan. 5, 7), while pianist Jon Nakamatsu solos in the Chopin First Concerto (Feb. 2, 4). The rarely heard Fourth Symphony of Denmark’s Niels Gade is heard March 2 and 4, and violinist Caroline Goulding solos in the Bruch First Concerto on March 31 and April 1.
Hilary Hahn.SOLOISTS: This season will see the return of frequent South Florida winter guests including violinists Joshua Bell (Jan. 18, Arsht Center, Miami; Jan. 19, Lyric Theatre) and Itzhak Perlman (Feb. 28, Broward Center; March 1, Kravis), flutist James Galway (March 16, Kravis; March 17, Broward Center), and pianists Andre Watts (March 29, Kravis) and Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Feb. 7, Broward Center).
One of the very finest violinists working today is Hilary Hahn, who has South Florida family connections and in years past made frequent appearances with the Atlantic Classical Orchestra. Hahn comes to the Lyric Theatre on Feb. 25, and veteran pianist Emanuel Ax comes to the same venue March 6 for a solo recital.
Russian pianist Vladimir Feltsman brings his stellar musicianship to a recital March 2 at the Society of the Four Arts, which also will welcome violinist Corey Cerovsek on Feb. 20 (with pianist Paavali Jumppanen). The rising young pianist Natasha Paremski appears March 2 in the Classical Café series at Palm Beach State College’s Duncan Theatre, and in the Kravis Center’s Young Artists series, it’s pianist Michael Mizrahi on April 12 in the center’s Rinker Playhouse.
The Key West-based South Florida Symphony brings its classical series for the first time to Palm Beach County this season, and the programs include first-tier soloists. Violinist Chee-Yun plays the Beethoven Concerto (Oct 6-7, 9) and violinist Lara St. John plays the Mozart Third Concerto (Dec. 1-2, 5) in Key West, the Broward Center, and the Lincoln Theatre on Miami Beach, and pianist Adam Golka plays the Tchaikovsky First Concerto (April 29, May 1-2) in the same three cities (with the Gehry campus substituting for the Lincoln). Irish pianist Barry Douglas brings the Brahms Second Concerto to the Kravis on Jan. 30 (he’s in Key West on Jan. 28, and the Broward Center on Feb. 1).
In addition to pianist Garrick Ohlsson in the Beethoven Emperor Concerto on May 7-8 at the New World, violinist Jennifer Koh plays the Bruch First Concerto on Nov. 16 with the Moscow State Symphony under Pavel Kogan at the Kravis Center; the expert American pianist Jeremy Denk solos with the same orchestra the next afternoon in the massive Second Piano Concerto of Sergei Prokofiev.
The Enso Quartet.
Chamber music: The Society of the Four Arts’ always-rich offerings include the St. Lawrence String Quartet (March 13), which gave a spectacular concert last season, and the Fry Street (Jan. 30) and Amernet (Jan. 16) quartets. The excellent New York-based string sextet Concertante is heard in music by Dvorak, Elgar and Brahms on March 20, and Spain’s Cuarteto Casals is joined by pianist Andreas Klein for a concert Feb. 27. The society also will host its annual visit from Miles Hoffman’s American Chamber Players on Jan. 9.
The Miami-based Amernet can also be heard on the Duncan Theatre series Feb. 2, and The Links, a trio featuring violinist Yuki Numata, clarinetist Bill Kalinkos and cellist Joshua Roman, appears Jan. 12. The Gould Piano Trio, a British ensemble, welcomes clarinetist Robert Plane for a concert March 16. Cellist Carter Brey and pianist Christopher O’Riley of From the Top renown perform in recital Dec. 19 at the Kravis, and the much-lauded young Morgenstern Trio of Germany gives a Young Artists concert at the Rinker on Nov. 30.
The Delray String Quartet, which expanded to Broward and Miami-Dade counties last year, continues this season with regular concerts at All Saints Episcopal in Fort Lauderdale and St. Stephen’s Episcopal in Coconut Grove in addition to its events at its home base at Delray Beach’s Colony Hotel. It has a new second violinist, Thomas Cotik, and also has added concerts at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach and Trinity by the Cove Episcopal Church in Naples.
American music is featured in two of the five concert programs, with the Fourth Quartet of Kenneth Fuchs on a bill with music by Haydn and Brahms (Dec. 3, 5, and 12) and the Second Quartet of Randall Thompson on a program with music by Borodin, Sibelius and J.S. Bach that also features pianist Tao Lin, a frequent Delray collaborator (March 6, 11, 13, and 20). The Shostakovich Seventh Quartet is heard on a concert with music by Beethoven and Arensky (Jan. 2, 9, 14; Jan. 16 in Naples), and quartets by Mendelssohn and Dvorak are featured in a program set for Feb. 13, 18 and 27.
The group ends it season with the Third Quartet of Schumann and the Second Quartet of Tchaikovsky (April 3, 8, 10 and 17).
John Blades at the Flagler Museum on Palm Beach has assembled a fine series of chamber music concerts in the Whitehall mansion’s ballroom, including the Enso String Quartet on Jan. 11, the Ying Quartet on Jan. 25, and the Alianza Quartet on Feb. 8. Rounding out the series is the Storioni Piano Trio of the Netherlands (Feb. 22), and Chicago’s Lincoln Trio on March 8.
Fort Lauderdale’s Chameleon Musicians series opens its ninth season at the Leiser Center near downtown with the Amernet Quartet and Chameleon founder Iris van Eck, a cellist, in quintets by Schubert and Sergei Taneyev (Oct. 24). Other programs include piano trios by Mozart, Ravel and Dvorak (Nov. 28), string trios by Beethoven and Jean Francaix (Feb. 6), and van Eck and pianist Kemal Gekic in a recital that includes the Sonata by the English composer Frank Bridge. The series ends with tenor Eduardo Aladren joining van Eck and pianist Misha Dacic (April 17).
Over at St. Paul’s Episcopal in Delray Beach, music director Keith Paulson-Thorp’s Camerata del Re, a Baroque music ensemble, plays music from France (Nov. 21) and Germany (Aug. 21), and Mexico’s Vitali String Quartet (Oct. 17) and Miami’s Bergonzi Quartet (April 10) also appear on the Sunday afternoon series. Wellington violinist Gareth Johnson is in recital Feb. 6 with pianist Tao Lin, and flutist Jeanne Tarrant is joined by pianist Fedora Horowitz on June 5.
Also on the series is the Paris-based early music ensemble Fuoco e Cenere, which performs a concert of Neapolitan music by Alessandro Scarlatti and Francesco Durante on March 6.
The Master Chorale of South Florida.Choral music: In addition to its performance of the Verdi Requiem, the Master Chorale of South Florida will open its season with Haydn’s great oratorio, The Creation. The group will be accompanied by the Miami Symphony Orchestra under conductor Joshua Habermann in concerts Nov. 19 at Trinity Cathedral in Miami, Nov. 20 at the Wold Center on the Lynn University campus, and Nov. 21 at the First Presbyterian Church in Pompano Beach.
The group’s season ends with the Miami Symphony, led by Eduardo Marturet, joining it for the Requiem of Gabriel Fauré on April 30 at Florida International University and May 1 at Gusman Hall on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables.
The Masterworks Chorus of the Palm Beaches sets out with a new director, Carl P. Ashley, in concerts featuring the Fauré Requiem and the Requiem of Maurice Duruflé (Nov. 21, Lakeside Presbyterian, West Palm Beach), and the traditional performance of Handel’s Messiah on Dec. 19 at the Royal Poinciana Chapel on Palm Beach. On April 10, it offers a tribute concert of choral favorites in honor of chorus founder Jack W. Jones, who retired from the post earlier this year.
The Delray Beach Chorale, another community singing group, plans the Vivaldi Gloria and the Mozart Te Deum on Dec. 4, and the Duruflé Requiem on April 3. A newcomer to the choral lists, George Sullivan’s Jupiter-based Counterpoint chorus, performs two concerts of music celebrating autumn and the holiday season on Nov. 6 at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens and Nov. 13 at the Duncan Theatre.
Miami’s only professional concert choir, Seraphic Fire, plans another ambitious season this year following a remarkable season that ended with the iTunes viral success of its recording of the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610. This year, the group plans the St. John Passion of J.S. Bach (March 18-19), Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana (Jan. 7-8), and Henry Purcell’s King Arthur (March 13-15), all at venues in Fort Lauderdale and greater Miami. Director Patrick Dupré Quigley also will lead the group in its annual concerts of Handel’s Messiah (Dec. 18-19), American gospel music (Nov. 3-7), and music from the Jewish diaspora (Feb. 9-10, 12-13).
Finally, Seraphic Fire’s Firebird Chamber Orchestra will be heard in the second concert in its Brandenburg Concerto series, this time with the Concerto No. 6. Also on the program is the Holberg Suite of Edvard Grieg.