First, let wide acclaim go forth to this crop of Palm Beach Opera’s Young Artists, who took Ned Rorem’s difficult music for Our Town and made it palatable. Each and every one of them sang splendidly in librettist J.D. McClatchy’s adaptation of one of America’s most popular plays by Thornton Wilder. Brilliant direction by Fenlon Lamb gave real meaning to this excerpted and … [Read more...]
PBO’s ‘Macbeth,’ second cast: Check’s Lady is a powerhouse
Palm Beach Opera’s production of Verdi’s Macbeth, based on Shakespeare’s drama of the same name, won thunderous applause Saturday night. Hardly uplifting, with so many murders and blood everywhere, it is the music that carries it along and raises it to exultant levels of high art. Shakespeare’s view of Macbeth has little historical basis in fact. Verdi was 33 when he wrote … [Read more...]
Music roundup: Morris delightful at Four Arts; Han and trio shine at Flagler
Tenor Jay Hunter Morris would have you believe he’s one of the good old boys: A good-looking, sweet-talkin’ Southern Baptist boy from Paris, Texas, where Mom was choir director at church. At 40 years old, down on his luck after 20 years of singing roles like Alfredo (Traviata), Calaf (Turandot) and Cavaradossi (Tosca) in American regional opera houses, Mom suggested a choir … [Read more...]
Soloist, orchestra, conductor soldier on during a deluge
Rain dominated the Palm Beach Symphony’s performance Jan. 9 at the Flagler Museum. Just when I thought artistic director Ramón Tebar had gotten it right by choosing only string music for the acoustically ripe “Railway Hall” (aka the pavilion on the grounds that houses Henry Flagler’s private rail coach), pouring rain, of enormous volume, hit the glass roof incessantly … [Read more...]
Shanghai Quartet sublime in Flagler opening concert
The Shanghai String Quartet opened the Flagler Museum’s chamber music series Tuesday night, and is brilliant playing from the start set this group apart from all others. Formed in 1983, the Shanghai have a discography of 25 recordings and hold guest professorships at three universities, Montclair State in New Jersey and two in China. Leading off with Joseph Haydn’s Op. 76, … [Read more...]
Peace-inspired piano duo leaves hard-to-please audience shortchanged
Invited to come together in 2008, in a concert for peace in Oslo, Norway, Yaron Kohlberg and Bishara Haroni, gifted Israeli and Palestinian pianists, respectively, decided to concertize together on a more permanent basis in 2011. Active in bringing the two opposing factions closer in peace, they have played around the globe, forming a cultural club for both nationalities in … [Read more...]
A remarkable night with a young trio
Brilliance comes in threes, it appears. Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago, in the second concert of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, three young men — Doori Na, violin; Joseph Lee, cello; and Sean Kennard, piano — thrilled the many concert attendees with their music-making. And indeed, their musicianship was remarkable. Coming together as individuals of astonishing skill … [Read more...]
PB Opera opens season with a grand afternoon of singing
The weather gods looked favorably upon Saturday’s festive gathering at the Meyer Amphitheatre on Flagler Drive. The sun shone behind clouds, and cool breezes from Lake Worth fanned across the gladed greenery. Even better, the Palm Beach Opera’s 2013-14 group of seven Young Artists made a positive impression, breathing new life into old arias. Distinguished tenor James … [Read more...]
PB Symphony in fine form for 40th season launch
The Palm Beach Symphony is celebrating 40th year, which means that the numbers 4 and 40 will appear regularly in this season’s programs. For any arts organization to have lasted this long, the credit belongs to its members, supporters, donors, management and yes, the wonderful players. Instrumentalists come and go, but the cohesive body of musicians that made up this orchestra … [Read more...]
Miloš holds inaugural Chamber Society audience spellbound
The Troubadour, with his slung guitar and singsong voice, came to Palm Beach last Thursday to the Crystal Room of Mar-a-Lago. This time it was the handsome 30-year-old guitarist Miloš Karadaglić who gave the inaugural concert of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach’s Great Performers series, a newly formed cultural venture led by Michael Finn, formerly the executive … [Read more...]