By Robert Croan Contrary to legend, and to Peter Shaffer’s iconic play Amadeus (along with the movie that followed), Italian composer Antonio Salieri did not murder Mozart — nor did he attempt to steal or to take credit for the composition of Mozart’s final, uncompleted Requiem (K. 622). The work was in fact commissioned by a wealthy nobleman, a Count Franz von Walsegg, … [Read more...]
Botanical beauty: The floating flowers of Rory McEwen
By Sandra Schulman Adrift in space, purple tulips waft in whiteness, red roses gleam in unseen sunshine, a red pepper shines with ripeness. These exquisitely painted flora by Rory McEwen are the subject of a current show at The Society of the Four Arts, Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature, which runs through March 30 in the Esther B. O’Keeffe Building. Presented … [Read more...]
London Symphony, violinist Jansen spectacular in Bernstein, Mahler
By Márcio Bezerra This writer had not had to park on the top floor of the garage of the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts for at least the past 10 years! After the big dip in attendance for classical music after the pandemic, it looks as audiences have come back to levels even higher than before the great recession. Thus, one should not feel annoyed, but rather … [Read more...]
Cellist Drachman superb in Brahms, Beethoven at FilAm
By Robert Croan An excellent series that has garnered too little attention is FilAm Music Foundation’s Chamber Music@ Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, at The Community Church on Bougainvillea Drive. The most recent event, on Feb. 22, was a superb recital by cellist Evan Drachman and pianist Victor Santiago Asunción, who is also FilAm’s founder and director. Drachman happens to be … [Read more...]
‘Traviata’ again proves a winner for Palm Beach Opera
By Márcio Bezerra It is always a special occasion when Palm Beach Opera stages the work that it started it all: Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. Since the company’s initial season in 1961, Verdi’s masterpiece has received a variety of treatments, from traditional to modernistic (anyone remember the mirrored stage?) with varied degrees of success. In its latest production, … [Read more...]
FGO’s ‘L’elisir’ nothing special, but fully satisfying
By Robert Croan After starting her tenure as Florida Grand Opera’s general director with a spectacular avant-garde, high-tech staging of Mozart’s The Magic Flute in November 2024, Maria Todaro followed with a traditional, well-sung if visually uneventful production of Gaetano Donizetti’s melodious, undemanding old chestnut, L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love) — seen Feb. … [Read more...]
Met Opera’s Lindemann Artists impress at Four Arts concert
By Márcio Bezerra The future looks (or, rather, sounds) bright, at least in the operatic field. That is the conclusion one would draw after the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Artists in Concert were heard at The Society of the Four Arts this past Sunday. Created in 1980, The Lindemann is the country’s (and perhaps the world’s) most prestigious young artist program in opera. … [Read more...]
Strauss-Berlioz program proves electric at South Florida SO
By Robert Croan Placing the works of the Frenchman Hector Berlioz (1803-69) and the German Richard Strauss (1864-1949) side by side, as the South Florida Symphony Orchestra did in this season’s third Masterworks concert (seen Feb. 12 at The Parker), makes good sense, although the two composers were stylistically and geographically disparate, and only barely overlapped in … [Read more...]
Violinist Shoji, conductor Wong make Cleveland Orchestra concert a standout
By Márcio Bezerra The procession of great orchestras at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts Classical Concert Series continued Jan. 27 with the revered Cleveland Orchestra. Featuring two widely divergent works of the standard repertoire, the orchestra, under the direction of guest conductor Kahchun Wong provided refined and, at times, spectacular moments to an … [Read more...]
Pianist Hough offers beautiful Chopin, Liszt to indifferent Four Arts audience
By Márcio Bezerra Distinguished pianist Stephen Hough gave a satisfying piano recital Jan. 26 at The Society of the Four Arts. Known for his sharp intellect, in addition to his fine technical skills, Hough presented a clever program centered on two major romantic works in the key of B minor, alongside some charming salon-music numbers. He started the program with works by … [Read more...]