A compelling reading of an important 20th-century organ concerto was a highlight Sunday afternoon (Nov. 23) of the opening concert of the 2025-26 season by The Symphonia, an event that made the most of its strings-only makeup with interesting repertoire choices. The concert, held at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church right behind Mizner Park in Boca Raton, was led by the chamber … [Read more...]
‘Silent Night’ opens FGO season in stellar fashion
By Robert Croan Florida Grand Opera has a real winner in its revival of Kevin Puts’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night, which opened at Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center on Nov. 15, and will be repeated in Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center on Dec. 4 and 6. Commissioned and premiered by Minnesota Opera in 2011, Puts’s opera is based on a real World War I event that inspired … [Read more...]
Bailey shines in Saint-Saëns at SoFla Symphony opener
By Robert Croan A bravura rendition by cellist Zuill Bailey of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor (Op. 33) was the highlight of South Florida Symphony’s season opener at The Parker on Nov. 5. It was an all-19th-century program, which also featured Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 in C minor (Op. 68) — solidly traditional in a season that has to be … [Read more...]
Three B’s concert with triple twist engagingly delivered by Frazier, SOTA
By Robert Croan For his second concert as artistic and music director of the Symphony of the Americas (seen Nov. 10 in Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater) Luke Frazier offered a program of the Three B's of classical music: Bach, Beethoven and Brahms at the Keyboard. That sounded trite at first, and the epithet may have been intended to attract a wider audience, but the … [Read more...]
The power of three: King’s X carves out its own uncompromising path
There’s a veteran rock act that emerged from Houston, one with style and staying power that’s literally both little and old. Just don’t confuse it with “that little ol’ band from Texas.” Because while ZZ Top was a force through the 1970s after coming out of the southeastern Lone Star State hub, that trio fell prey to 1980s video trappings and has become a caricature tribute … [Read more...]
Music of celebration gets loving treatment at hands of Master Chorale, Karlin
By Robert Croan Jubilant music for the coronations of kings and other autocrats was the unifying element in Master Chorale of South Florida’s Handel and Mozart program [seen Oct. 24 in Bailey Hall on Broward College’s Davie campus]. Artistic director Brett Karlin conducted Handel’s four Coronation Anthems, written for the coronation of England’s King George II in 1727. … [Read more...]
Met in HD series returns to local movie houses
By Robert Croan On Saturday, Fort Lauderdale native Nadine Sierra’s superlative portrayal of the eponymous Amina in Vincenzo Bellini’s La sonnambula (The Sleepwalker) opened the Metropolitan Opera’s 2025-26 Live in HD season — simulcast screenings of Saturday afternoon performances distributed by Fathom Events in cinemas worldwide. The series is a valuable part of South … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Symphony does right by young ones in family concert
The Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra scheduled Benjamin Britten’s A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra to begin an afternoon of music celebrating the culmination of a year’s teaching program. The Kravis Center was filled with children of all ages on Sunday, Oct. 5. I first heard this work in England in 1946. Senior High School classes from my birth city, Manchester, … [Read more...]
The season in jazz, 2025-26: Stalwarts keep essential American art form vibrant
In 1975, a song titled “All That Jazz” debuted in the musical Chicago. Fifty years later, in regard to the South Florida scene, its title could be amended to “Jazz — Is That All?” Without the few presenting venues and organizations here, and several of the artists who return every one to two years listed below, the genre would largely be missing in action for 2025-2026. … [Read more...]
Seraphic Fire sounds brilliant in opener, but varied program is uneven
By Márcio Bezerra Seraphic Fire, South Florida’s preeminent vocal ensemble, started its 23rd season this past week with a program billed as “The Best of Seraphic Fire.” Its performance on Sunday, Oct. 12, at Boca Raton’s St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church provided the audience with some old-time favorites performed with the usual technical accuracy and refined musicianship … [Read more...]