By Robert Croan The first-desk players of South Florida Symphony Orchestra are not an official ensemble, like, say, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center or the Beaux Arts Trio. They get together each summer for a series of three modest monthly concerts — each performed in two South Florida venues — which provide some of the best classical music to be heard in this … [Read more...]
Outlaw persona mixes with middling set for Elle King at SunFest
Ten years into her major-label recording career, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Elle King is probably best-known for two things, one good and one not so good. And both came up, whether literally or figuratively, during her performance at SunFest on May 4. The good one was “Ex’s & Oh’s,” the Grammy-nominated Top 10 single and provocative video from her 2015 debut album … [Read more...]
Zukerman-Forsyth duo bring stellar Brahms Double to SOTA finale
By Robert Croan Johannes Brahms’s “Double” Concerto for Violin and Cello (in A minor, Op. 102), is a gnarly, dense work, not at all an easy romp for performers or listeners. Under the deft fingers of violinist Pinchas Zukerman and his cellist wife, Amanda Forsyth, however — as it was in the season’s final concert by Symphony of the Americas (heard May 5 in Broward … [Read more...]
Standout Mimì lifts otherwise adequate ‘Bohème’ at FGO
By Robert Croan Florida Grand Opera’s 2024 version of Puccini’s La Bohème (seen May 2 at the Broward Center) was the 13th production since 1947, which makes it the most frequently performed opera in the company’s history. According to recent surveys, La Bohème is in the top three most frequently performed operas nationwide, as well, and the work lends itself to varied … [Read more...]
Appreciation: Remembering Carle Vickers, horn man for T’s Express
Horn players are often to jazz and fusion what guitarists are to popular music — attention-grabbing players who wait for their chance to speak through soloing rather than listening to their ensemble’s overall sound. Yet there are significant differences. Guitarists play chordal instruments, so there are far fewer lulls in their playing because they also have rhythmic … [Read more...]
Jordan’s tribute to Hendrix needs to dig a little bit deeper
Tribute act mania seems to know no bounds, as even established international baby boomer artists take stylistic detours to salute heroes from their youth. Many make sense. Bassist Will Lee, of countless recording sessions and David Letterman’s covers-heavy TV band, started the Beatles tribute Fab Faux. Guitarist Mike Keneally, of Frank Zappa’s band, joined both Zappa … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Symphony wraps season with sparkling Beethoven concerto, but uneven Ninth
By Márcio Bezerra Palm Beach Symphony ended its 50th anniversary season April 25 with an ambitious all-Beethoven program at the Kravis Center. Under the direction of Gerard Schwarz, the group started the evening with an early work, the Piano Concerto No. 2 (in B-flat major, Op. 19). This sunny concerto (actually the first the composer wrote, despite its misleading number) … [Read more...]
Appreciation: Remembering West Palm’s indispensable Allman brother, Dickey Betts
It’s safe to say that no one from West Palm Beach ever achieved more musical sales, awards, touring miles and accolades than singer, songwriter and guitarist Forrest Richard “Dickey” Betts. Especially someone from the city’s Westgate section, that small tract of diminutive homes and businesses just south of Okeechobee Boulevard between Congress Avenue and Military Trail. … [Read more...]
SunFest retools, regroups for a robust 40th anniversary
One of the most memorable hits and videos of the past half-century was the 1981 single “Once in a Lifetime” by the Talking Heads — in which vocalist David Byrne repeated the mantra of “same as it ever was.” That phrase doesn’t apply to SunFest, Florida’s largest waterfront music and art festival. For its 2024 installment, a floating SunFest Electronic Barge will … [Read more...]
Pianist Geniushene’s ‘Op. 1’ program intriguing, to a point
By Márcio Bezerra The Society of the Four Arts hosted pianist Anna Geniushene on Wednesday in a program of firsts. The young artist, whose career has been growing silver she won the silver medal at the 2022 Van Cliburn Competition, presented a clever program that consisted of several Opus 1 by composers from the classical period to the twentieth century. To be … [Read more...]