Editor’s note: Here are late reviews from three concerts held earlier this month. Adaskin String Trio (Jan. 10, Flagler Museum) The Adaskin String Trio did something at its Flagler Museum concert that only the better chamber groups do: Play unusual, rarely heard material with the same kind of commitment they expend on the standards. In its program Feb. 10 at the … [Read more...]
FGO production makes a strong case for ‘La Rondine’
The soprano who created the role of Magda in Giacomo Puccini’s La Rondine said late in life that the composer died “with the wound of ‘Rondine’ in his heart,” having never gotten over the opera’s mixed record of success and failure. In its first-ever mounting of the bittersweet opera Puccini wrote for a Viennese commission, Florida Grand Opera has taken an important step … [Read more...]
Ballet Memphis show celebrates togetherness
If it’s true, as Sartre said, that Hell is other people, it isn’t a message that will find much support at Ballet Memphis. The dance company, now celebrating its 25th year, brought four dances to the Duncan Theatre on Friday night in the first of two performances (the show is repeated tonight). Twelve members of the 23-person troupe from the blues capital were on stage for a … [Read more...]
Violinist Hou branches out into show creation
Crossover is something that Yi-Jia Susanne Hou believes in, and not just in music. The Shanghai-born Canadian violinist, who played a solo recital in the Flagler Museum’s music series in 2009, is perhaps best-known for her work as a featured member of Bowfire, a multimedia fiddle extravaganza founded in 2000 that’s sometimes referred to as “Riverdance with violins.” Hou … [Read more...]
Two world premieres: One chamber, one symphonic
The Fifth String Quartet of American composer Kenneth Fuchs, which had its world premiere Sunday afternoon at the Colony Hotel in Delray Beach, is an effective piece of dramatic music first and foremost, with a big-boned grandeur that shares sonic space with an intense and hearfelt elegy. Fuchs, a professor of composition at the University of Connecticut, grew up in Fort … [Read more...]
Music roundup: Forceful quartet, innovative choir, impressive pianist
Here are brief reviews from three recent concerts: Delray String Quartet (Dec. 11, Colony Hotel, Delray Beach): This foursome is on something of a roll as it enters its eighth season of concertizing. Next month it will give the world premiere of the String Quartet No. 5 by Kenneth Fuchs, and will contribute that work to an all-Fuchs disc for Naxos. It’s just released a … [Read more...]
PB Opera opens 50th season with beautiful ‘Butterfly’
In the world of Madama Butterfly, it’s all about her, with the occasional supporting character coming in now and again to move the plot along. But Palm Beach Opera’s current presentation of Giacomo Puccini’s Japanese opera is noteworthy for the strength of its supporting cast overall, and with a fine performance at its center plus a tasteful, intelligent staging, this … [Read more...]
Violinist Fain shines in Prokofiev at Boca Symphonia
There is a kind of intense, high-energy sound that is ideal for the special lyricism of Sergei Prokofiev, and Tim Fain has it. The American violinist gave a riveting performance Sunday afternoon of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto (in G minor, Op. 63) as the Boca Raton Symphonia opened its seventh season at the Roberts Theater. Fain, 35, who’s been celebrated recently for … [Read more...]
Handsome, well-sung ‘Luisa’ at FGO hampered by weak score
Florida Grand Opera’s first-ever zarzuela production, of Federico Moreno Torroba’s Luisa Fernanda, is a handsome thing in many respects. In a production that originated at Madrid’s Teatro Real, Emilio Sagi effectively uses a simple color scheme of white, black, orange and green, plus old-fashioned theater tricks (think hand shadows on the wall of your bedroom after lights out) … [Read more...]
‘Magnificat’ strong and sturdy as Master Chorale hymns holidays
In its concert this past weekend of J.S. Bach and holiday music, the Master Chorale of South Florida both continued in its traditions and explored a newer path that may pay bigger dividends for the group in the future. In its first appearance under its new director, Karen Kennedy, the chorale offered up a seasonal program that began with J.S. Bach’s Magnificat (BWV 243), … [Read more...]