The organ at Bethesda-by-the-Sea.By Greg StepanichIt's a busy week on the music front, with several events over the next two days worth noting:Organ concerti: Tonight at Bethesda-by-the Sea Episcopal Church in Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Symphony presents an entire evening of music for organ and orchestra with Hal Pysher, the church's organist and choir director, as soloist. … [Read more...]
Music review: Seraphic Fire gives moving tour of Eastern Orthodox music
Seraphic Fire.By Sharon McDanielThe names Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and even Ippolitov-Ivanov would raise few eyebrows among classical music lovers.But pair the Romantic-era Russians with two modern minimalists -- England’s John Tavener and Estonia’s Arvo Pärt -- and watch the confused looks proliferate.For direction, though, look not merely toward musical but the spiritual … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Feb. 12-15
Jake Ehrenreich.Theater: The multi-talented, ingratiating Jake Ehrenreich has returned to West Palm Beach’s Cuillo Centre for another winter season of his nostalgic one-man show, A Jew Grows in Brooklyn. He draws on his memories of his East Flatbush neighborhood in the 1960s in an evening that is part stand-up comedy, part musical and part tribute to his family — both … [Read more...]
Music review: Fresh programming enlivens Boca Symphonia concert
Boca Symphonia principal conductor Alexander Platt.By Greg StepanichBOCA RATON -- At a time when the sound of belts tightening across the land would seem to invite cultural groups to play it safe, you have to hand it to the Boca Raton Symphonia for putting art first.On Sunday afternoon at St. Andrew's School, the chamber orchestra that's now in its fourth season of concerts … [Read more...]
Music review: Lupu haunting in late Schubert
Pianist Radu Lupu.By Greg StepanichPALM BEACH -- It was a Schubert of half-light, of sketched thoughts and mental wanderings, and while completely unconventional, Radu Lupu's performance Wednesday night of the last piano sonata of the doomed Austrian master stays in the memory, even if it haunts instead of sings.The legendary Romanian pianist came to the Society of the Four … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Feb. 6-8
An octopus tries to keep his beloved from becoming dinner, in Julien Bocabeille's Oktapodi, a French animated feature. Film: One of the most frequent questions I am asked about the Oscars is “Where can I see the nominated short films?” There has not been a good answer to that until Emerging Cinemas in Lake Worth, the best place around to see non-studio releases, both … [Read more...]
Music review: Prima Trio offers revelation at Flagler concert
The Prima Trio in concert Tuesday night.(Photo by David Carson; copyright 2009 Flagler Museum)By Greg StepanichPALM BEACH --- Chamber music has its origins in pieces written for intimate spaces, and that can mean a sedate concertgoing experience even when the art form leaves home to mingle with a larger crowd.But take that same kind of music and give it to three young, … [Read more...]
ArtsBuzz: Sleeper finds challenge in new string quartet
Composer Thomas Sleeper.By Greg StepanichDELRAY BEACH -- Thomas Sleeper finds it difficult to describe music in words, but he knows what appeals to him about the genre of the string quartet."I find it very challenging," said Sleeper, whose String Quartet No. 3 will have its world premiere Sunday afternoon at Delray Beach's Colony Hotel. "You've got four colors which are so … [Read more...]
Music review: Czech Symphony too hasty, but Frautschi shines
Violinist Jennifer Frautschi.By Greg StepanichPALM BEACH -- Crowded onto a relatively small stage at the Society for the Four Arts, the men and women of the Czech Symphony Orchestra made a casual night of it, dispensing with tuxedos and formal dresses as they presented an evening of attractive, familiar masterworks.But the concert Wednesday evening by the touring Ostrava-based … [Read more...]
Music review: Frith’s ‘Lelekovice’ inspires on strong Calder Quartet concert
English guitarist, composer and educator Fred Frith.By Greg StepanichLAKE WORTH -- There are many ways to describe music, from the fanciful to the mundane, but Wednesday afternoon a young string quartet from Los Angeles compellingly brought an audience's ears back to the art's most fundamental identity: Sound.The Calder Quartet, a four-man group that likes to mix provocative … [Read more...]