By Dennis D. Rooney I described the PBCMF’s inaugural concert of its 26th season as a “feast.” The second program, which I heard Sunday at Delray Beach's Crest Theatre, seemed more like a tasting menu with a few amuse-bouches. An interesting Trio in C, Op. 33 No. 2 for bassoon, violin and cello by François-René Gebauer opened the program. The composer (1773-1845) was a … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival I: A rich, inventive program, excellently played
By Dennis D. Rooney The program of the inaugural concert of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival’s 26th season (which I heard Sunday at the Crest Theatre in Delray Beach) was opened by the organization’s three founders: flutist Karen Fuller Dixon; clarinetist Michael Forte; and bassoonist Michael Ellert, who performed a Divertimento in B-flat (Op. 12a) by Joachim Kötschau, … [Read more...]
PBCMF 4: Unusual Italian works come up short
By Kevin Wilt The Palm Beach Chamber Music Summer Festival recently ended its 25th season with an afternoon concert July 31 at the Crest Theater in Delray Beach. The program consisted of chamber works by composers associated with larger, often grander forms: Ottorino Respighi with his colorful orchestral tone poems, Gaetano Donizetti and Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari with their … [Read more...]
PB Chamber Fest 2: Rare Bruch and new McAlister
Over the past 30 years, the world of contemporary classical composition has moved, like so many things in our digital culture, into niches. There are hardcore atonalists, minimalists, New Romantics, and eclectics of every description vying for the ears of a busy audience. But in the United States, this flowering of different styles comes after the establishment in the … [Read more...]