Estonia was one of the three Baltic states suppressed by Soviet Russia in 1940. Thursday night at the Kravis Center, this tiny state of 1.5 million people sent a credible symphony orchestra of 76 players to perform music by Tormis, Dvořák and Brahms in the Regional Arts Concert Series. Independent since 1991, Estonia is closer to Finland geographically than Latvia and … [Read more...]
Opera on the Road: An astonishing rarity at Bard Summerscape
Forget Kirov, forget Bolshoi: We may one day have our own Russian opera company in New York state. Bard Summerscape, now in its 10th year delivered a magnificent performance of Sergey Taneyev’s Oresteia, premiered in 1895, which I saw on Aug. 4. The Annandale-on-Hudson festival is fast becoming a rival to Wagner’s Bayreuth as the place to be. Production values are very … [Read more...]
Orchid City Brass Band gives promising nod to British institution
The concert by Palm Beach County’s new Orchid City Brass Band at the Duncan Theatre on Saturday had the title Brassy Britannia: an offhand compliment to this very British institution ― all brass instruments, no woodwinds. Military bands and concert bands mix brass and winds, delicate reed-driven things needing far too much attention for the likes of working-class lads and … [Read more...]
PB Symphony’s Spanish evening ends season sensationally
The Palm Beach Symphony closed its 39th season in stunning fashion Tuesday night at the Kravis Center with a night of music inspired by Spain. The orchestra had 87 players, double its usual size, with a pianist, Tao Lin, and eight percussionists. The ensemble was led by its conductor, Ramon Tebar, a native son from Valencia, Spain, a city that can be justly proud of his recent … [Read more...]
Delightful ‘Wonderland’ brings zaniness of ‘Alice’ to dance
Ballet Palm Beach: Let me be among the first to tell you that this is the new name of the 12-year-old Florida Classical Ballet Theatre. Artistic Director Colleen Smith announced this from the stage of the Eissey Campus Theatre at Palm Beach State College before the premiere of the company’s new ballet, Wonderland, on Saturday. It is a clever adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s … [Read more...]
Miró Quartet ends Flagler series in brilliant fashion
“I think we saved the best ’til last,” said Flagler Museum Director John Blades, at intermission of the Miró String Quartet’s concert Tuesday night, the final one of the season in the Flagler’s music series. They had just played Franz Schubert’s Quartettsatz and the third Rasumovsky Quartet of Beethoven (Op. 59, No. 3, in C) and were impressive. Sentiment ran high at the end … [Read more...]
Elegant setting enhances richness of Beethoven
In olden days, the Elector of Cologne nurtured the young Beethoven and gave him the opportunity to play in his Bonn Court Orchestra. The nobility, back then, knew that cultivation of the arts made for a happy populace: Music-making reflected well on them. Jump to the 21st century and we find another kind of nobleman, billionaire Donald Trump, baron of all he surveys, placing … [Read more...]
Vienna Piano Trio polishes program to gold
The Vienna Piano Trio came to the Flagler Museum and with their excellence showed that European instrumentalists of this caliber play on a level a couple of notches higher than most. The refinement, the polish and the sensitivity (and showmanship) they brought to their concert of music by Haydn, Beethoven and Saint-Saens was like burnished gold. They have won prizes galore, … [Read more...]
PB Symphony beautifully evokes intimacy of Viennese chamber society
Monday night’s Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra program was a tribute to the chamber music concert series founded by Arnold Schoenberg in Vienna in 1919, in which the enfant terrible modernist of his day established a way to try out new music in private, and hear large orchestral works in chamber arrangements. Thus it was Monday night, as a small band of just 11 players played … [Read more...]
Pulse brings considerable artistry to Gardens
Introducing the chamber music group Pulse in its Palm Beach County debut, Alan Bowman, director of the Music at St. Patrick’s series at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Palm Beach Gardens, described this pianist, violinist and clarinetist as a virtuoso trio – and indeed they are. Pianist Maria Radiushina won the Horowitz International competition in Kiev, clarinetist Margaret … [Read more...]