One of my first experiences as a journalist with bassist Christian McBride (www.christianmcbride.com) wasn’t an interview with him, but rather one that partially turned out to be about him for Jazziz magazine in 2002. Keyboardist/vocalist George Duke (1946-2013) had recently released his 26th studio album, Face the Music (Big Piano Music). Duke’s lengthy solo career had … [Read more...]
Freshened-up ‘Turandot’ at FGO is largely successful
By Robert Croan In her first two seasons as general director of Florida Grand Opera, Maria Todaro has been particularly successful in enhancing the visual quality of her productions. Noteworthy were her opening Magic Flute in October 2024, a high-tech re-thinking by Jeffrey Marc Buchman of a standard classic; an updated Carmen staged by Todaro, once a successful … [Read more...]
A splendid ‘Creation’ at Symphony of the Americas
By Robert Croan An overture representing Chaos, as dissonant and murky as anything written by the 20th-century’s 12-tone composers, settling quietly into three C minor triads. Then, after a few words from a bass soloist representing the archangel Raphael, “there was light,” and the orchestra bursts into a magnificent C major fortissimo statement. And The Creation is on … [Read more...]
Jazz pianist Miwa spreads the musical wealth at sold-out Arts Garage show
For the past five years, Japanese jazz pianist Yoko Miwa (www.yokomiwa.com) has led her trio on annual trips to South Florida to perform at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach, gaining a growing following there in the process. Feb. 21 was Miwa’s latest installment, as the 55-year-old, classically trained pianist entertained a sold-out crowd during a two-hour show with … [Read more...]
Cellist Hersh stunning in Fauré sonatas
By Robert Croan Chamber music concerts are too infrequent in this area, cello recitals even rarer, and a program showcasing the two sonatas for cello and piano by French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) is quite extraordinary. Just about everything in the March 7 concert of Chamber Music at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, at the Community Church on Bougainville Drive, was in … [Read more...]
Violinist Kim spectacular in Sibelius concerto with SFSO
By Robert Croan Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto (in D minor, Op. 47), completed in its final version in 1905, is the composer’s only concerto, and one of the most technically challenging by any composer for this instrument. In performance with the South Florida Symphony Orchestra under its music director, Sebrina Maria Alfonso [seen March 12 in The Parker], 30-year-old … [Read more...]
Lang Lang, Mahler make for powerful Vienna Philharmonic return to Kravis
By Márcio Bezerra As if its visit in 2024 were not already a miracle (a fantastic coup by classical music artistic adviser Phillip Bergman) the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the world’s top musical institutions, returned to the Kravis Center for two sold-out concerts this month. On Monday, March 9, the august ensemble presented a program with two massive early modern … [Read more...]
Orpheus’s baffling program saved by Hamelin’s intervention
By Márcio Bezerra Transcriptions and arrangements of celebrated works were very common in the 19th century. In fact, it was through arrangements for piano duets that most people became acquainted with Beethoven’s symphonies. Young composers relied on income that such transcriptions brought in to sustain themselves at the beginning of their careers. As the century … [Read more...]
Concert’s offering of Philippine chamber music proves absorbing
By Robert Croan The second half of the program offered Feb. 21 by Chamber Music at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea — a concert series at the Community Church on Bougainville Drive — was devoted to original Filipino music by composers whom most American music lovers have not heard of: Nicanor Abelardo, Lucio San Pedro, Rodolfo Cornejo, Manuel Velez — and not least, Ernesto Vallejo, a … [Read more...]
SFSO makes adventurous mark with two cutting-edge works
By Robert Croan South Florida Symphony Orchestra’s music director, Sebrina Maria Alfonso, led one of her orchestra’s most adventurous and interesting programs ever (seen Feb. 18 at The Parker in Fort Lauderdale) with two nearly brand-new works by composers who are at the cutting edge of today’s classical music scene. Four Black American Dances, by Carlos Simon (b. 1986), … [Read more...]