Disc jockey Stu Grant.Disc jockey Stu Grant, host of the Jazz Impressions show on Saturday nights at WXEL-90.7 FM, is in limbo.The Boynton Beach-based station is set to be sold, which will make it an arm of American Public Media and change its call letters. And the future of Grant’s show has yet to be decided upon.“I’m hopeful that things will remain the same,” … [Read more...]
Opera review: Sometimes brilliant, sometimes silly, FGO’s ‘Carmen’ still bold, colorful
Kendall Gladen and Adam Diegel in Act IV of Carmen.(Photo by Gaston de Cardenas) By Greg StepanichThe Florida Grand Opera closed its 69th season Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale with a production of Georges Bizet’s Carmen that was sometimes brilliant, sometimes risible, but that also offered reliably good singing and enough dramatic punch to give it real … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: May 14-16
Jamey Sheridan and Steve Buscemi in Handsome Harry.Film: The big noise this weekend comes from Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, a far better movie than we expected, but if you are in the mood for something smaller and more low-key, head to Emerging Cinemas in Lake Worth or Mos’Art Theatre in Lake Park to see Handsome Harry, a drama about looking back over one’s life, … [Read more...]
Music review: Md. soprano, Ohio baritone take top honors at PB Opera contest
Soprano Corinne Winters sings Sempre libera, from Verdi’s La Traviata.By Greg StepanichThe annual Palm Beach Opera vocal competition Grand Finals concerts are notable each year for two things above all: The atmosphere of fun and interactivity in the audience, and the exceptional level of youthful talent that soon will be replenishing the stores of the opera houses … [Read more...]
Opera review: Second cast of PBO’s ‘Carmen’ features auspicious debuts
Madgalena Wór and Rafael Dávila in Carmen.(Photo by Alissa Dragun) By Rex Hearn I’ve seen Georges Bizet’s Carmen many times, but the second cast of the recent Palm Beach Opera production offered even a veteran operagoer fresh delights. Chief among them Saturday night was the Polish-born mezzo-soprano Magdalena Wór, who made a magnificent debut with this company, with her … [Read more...]
Opera review: PBO’s ‘Carmen’ alive to characters’ humanity, theatrical savvy
Viktoria Vizin as Carmen at Palm Beach Opera.(Photo by Alissa Dragun) By Greg Stepanich It’s tough to bring something new to a work as well-known as Carmen, but the current Palm Beach Opera production of Georges Bizet’s classic, if not groundbreaking, fills out the opera’s promise with just plain good theater. On Friday night, a stellar lead and a strong supporting cast, … [Read more...]
Opera review: Sarasota’s ‘Giovanna’ revealed Verdi gem
Cristina Castaldi as Giovanna and Rafael Dávila as Carlo(Charles VII) in Giovanna d’Arco.(Photo by Rod Millington)By Rex HearnThe Sarasota Opera likes to say that no other company in the world will have completed a Verdi cycle – a complete survey of all the composer’s stage works -- when it comes to an end in 2013 on the 200th anniversary of Verdi’s birth.The company’s … [Read more...]
ArtsPreview 2009-10: The season in opera
Carl Tanner as Otello. (Illustration by Pat Crowley)By Greg StepanichThe coming opera season has been scaled back somewhat in both of the major local companies, but opera devotees will still have plenty to look forward to.In addition to the seven local productions, there will be five others from two different trunk companies, and 11 high-definition broadcasts of live … [Read more...]
Opera review: At Bard SummerScape, a stunning ‘Les Huguenots’
Erin Morley as Marguerite de Valoisin Bard SummerScape's production of Les Huguenots.(Photo by Stephanie Berger)By Rex Hearn Every summer for the past 20 years, the private liberal arts school of Bard College, two hours north of New York City near Annandale-on-Hudson, has taken it upon itself to perform operas, choral works, dance and drama, many of them offbeat or seldom … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Aug. 21-23
The Boys With the Big Beaks Play All Night, by Suzette Urs. Art: You’d never know that it is still summer, as the local art community appears to be in full swing from Northwood in West Palm Beach to downtown Lake Worth and on south to Boynton Beach.This photomontage by Sue Stevens is offered in an edition of five.At the EG2 Northwood gallery, three “under 30” artists -- Carolyn … [Read more...]