By Márcio Bezerra With more than 250 appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, five Grammy awards, the U.S. National Medal of Arts and even a national anthem performance at the Super Bowl, Renée Fleming surely deserves the title of “America’s Soprano.” Her gorgeous voice and alluring-yet-approachable stage presence were the main reasons the Kravis Center for the Performing … [Read more...]
Florida drummer’s new fusion trio comes to Boca club
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be drummers in South Florida. Miami-born Jonathan Joseph has toured and recorded with vocalists Ricky Martin and Joss Stone — two pop artists with oversized name recognition — but even that hasn’t made him a comparable star despite his own oversized technique, taste, and speed around the drum kit. The 58-year-old Port St. … [Read more...]
Curtis Symphony, soloist Chen in glorious form at Kravis
By Márcio Bezerra Among the benefits of the immigration waves of late 19th through early 20th centuries in this country was the building of classical music institutions that still benefit our society. Despite her younger age and lack of governmental support, America has some of the best orchestras, opera companies, and music schools in the world. Of those, none has a more … [Read more...]
Kavakos stellar with PB Symphony; the mics, not so much
By Márcio Bezerra The Palm Beach Symphony continued its parade of world-class performers on Dec. 10 with Leonidas Kavakos performing the Violin Concerto by Johannes Brahms at the Kravis Center. It is truly remarkable that, since the arrival of conductor Gerard Schwarz, this “3.0” version of our local orchestra has been able to engage internationally acclaimed soloists … [Read more...]
FGO’s gaming-inspired ‘Magic Flute’ a brilliant take on Mozart
By Robert Croan For her first production as general director and CEO of Florida Grand Opera, Maria Todaro came up with an original, innovative concept of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) by Jeffrey Marc Buchman, in which the protagonists were present-day teenagers playing immersive fantasy role-playing board games --- something like Dungeons and Dragons, according … [Read more...]
South Florida jazz duo has been ‘running toward the art’ for 30 years
Perhaps the preeminent jazz duo of all time, and definitely the top historic vocal-and-guitar jazz duo, was the pairing of singer Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) and guitarist Joe Pass (1929-1994). The two larger-than-life artists primarily led successful separate careers, other than occasional live performances together, releasing only four duo albums between 1973 and 1986 … [Read more...]
Master Chorale’s ‘Elijah’ a thriller from start to finish
By Robert Croan In brief but informative prefatory remarks about Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Brett Karlin — conductor and artistic director of the Master Chorale of South Florida — described this grand oratorio as a 19th-century equivalent of a modern Broadway spectacular. It is certainly a major undertaking for a community-based choral organization, and the Chorale’s … [Read more...]
Batiashvili, Mäkelä shine with Concertgebouw at Kravis, but program fell short
By Márcio Bezerra After the once-in-a lifetime appearance of the legendary Vienna Philharmonic last season, the Classical Concert Series at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts scored another point by securing the no less prestigious Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam to open the current one. Led by the celebrity conductor Klaus Mäkelä, the ensemble has … [Read more...]
Blues trailblazer Samantha Fish heads for Boca bash
It’s probably safe to say that the blues world never saw Samantha Fish (www.samanthafish.com) coming. The 35-year-old emerged from the historic Kansas City, Missouri, music scene 20 years ago with her ample vocal chops, heady songwriting and incendiary guitar playing, aided since by an attention-grabbing pinup gal sense of fashion. She’s appeared on a dozen albums, most … [Read more...]
SOTA opens its season with impressive tour of ‘The Planets’
By Robert Croan Gustav Holst’s The Planets is one of the great orchestral showcases, and one of the most difficult for any orchestra to carry off. It’s a mammoth hourlong work for large orchestra, usually of close to 100 players, so it was remarkable to see it on the docket for the opening concert of Fort Lauderdale’s Symphony of the Americas on Oct. 6 in Broward … [Read more...]