By Robert Croan After starting her tenure as Florida Grand Opera’s general director with a spectacular avant-garde, high-tech staging of Mozart’s The Magic Flute in November 2024, Maria Todaro followed with a traditional, well-sung if visually uneventful production of Gaetano Donizetti’s melodious, undemanding old chestnut, L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love) — seen Feb. … [Read more...]
Met Opera’s Lindemann Artists impress at Four Arts concert
By Márcio Bezerra The future looks (or, rather, sounds) bright, at least in the operatic field. That is the conclusion one would draw after the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Artists in Concert were heard at The Society of the Four Arts this past Sunday. Created in 1980, The Lindemann is the country’s (and perhaps the world’s) most prestigious young artist program in opera. … [Read more...]
Strauss-Berlioz program proves electric at South Florida SO
By Robert Croan Placing the works of the Frenchman Hector Berlioz (1803-69) and the German Richard Strauss (1864-1949) side by side, as the South Florida Symphony Orchestra did in this season’s third Masterworks concert (seen Feb. 12 at The Parker), makes good sense, although the two composers were stylistically and geographically disparate, and only barely overlapped in … [Read more...]
Violinist Shoji, conductor Wong make Cleveland Orchestra concert a standout
By Márcio Bezerra The procession of great orchestras at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts Classical Concert Series continued Jan. 27 with the revered Cleveland Orchestra. Featuring two widely divergent works of the standard repertoire, the orchestra, under the direction of guest conductor Kahchun Wong provided refined and, at times, spectacular moments to an … [Read more...]
Pianist Hough offers beautiful Chopin, Liszt to indifferent Four Arts audience
By Márcio Bezerra Distinguished pianist Stephen Hough gave a satisfying piano recital Jan. 26 at The Society of the Four Arts. Known for his sharp intellect, in addition to his fine technical skills, Hough presented a clever program centered on two major romantic works in the key of B minor, alongside some charming salon-music numbers. He started the program with works by … [Read more...]
Legendary drummer Appice, now of LWB, to play two Vanilla Fudge shows in Boca
Before he became a western Lake Worth Beach resident, drummer/vocalist Carmine Appice (www.carmineappice.net) was part of one of the all-time great live shows in South Florida. At the venue formerly known as the Hollywood Sportatorium in 1977, the New York City native played an out-of-control concert with Rod Stewart while touring in support of the vocalist’s rocking, Tom … [Read more...]
PB Opera’s ‘Roméo et Juliette’ impresses with fine cast, lovely production
By Márcio Bezerra Palm Beach Opera launched its 63th season with a solid production of Charles Gounod’s perennial favorite Roméo et Juliette. Featuring a handsome set by Opera Utah and dazzling costumes from Opéra de Montreal, the well-attended opening night had all the right ingredients for a satisfying experience, from both dramatic and musical points of … [Read more...]
Beast Mode Trio does South Florida proud with powerful rock-jazz fusion
Power trio. It’s a tag generally applied to rock acts like the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, or Rush. Piano trio. It’s a tag generally applied to jazz acts led by the likes of Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, or Chick Corea. Beast Mode Trio (beastmodetrio.com) is a South Florida collective that split the differences during its 70-minute show for a three-quarter capacity … [Read more...]
Muti and Chicago revelatory at sold-out Kravis concert
By Márcio Bezerra The revered Chicago Symphony Orchestra returned to a packed Kravis Center for the Performing Arts for an enlightening Friday evening concert. The first sold-out classical performance in a long time, it featured the Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti, whose conducting was a veritable masterclass of technique and musicianship. The somewhat … [Read more...]
South Florida Symphony’s glittering ‘Candide’ a triumph
By Robert Croan This month, the South Florida Symphony Orchestra attempted one of its most ambitious projects to date — a semi-staged concert version of Leonard Bernstein’s 1956 operetta Candide — and came through with flying colors. The local performances (seen in Broward Center’s Au-Rene Theater on Jan. 16) were staged with endless creativity by Dan Wallace Miller, … [Read more...]