By Myles Ludwig What best defines an American Legend? Why, it’s Chrysler, of course. The car company (a division of Fiat, by the way) has now placed itself firmly in the pantheon of American idols — movie stars and musicians — with its Super Bowl commercials spieled by first Clint, now Dylan, people so famous they need be known by only one name, like Picasso or Madonna. Or … [Read more...]
Symphonia makes fine showing at Eissey with Platt, Schubert
It was a pleasure to see Alexander Platt back at the helm of The Symphonia Boca Raton last week, and to see the orchestra trying out a new venue at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens. But seeing the conductor who led the band for three of its nine seasons would not have been as pleasurable had the music not been as good as it was, in particular in his choice of a … [Read more...]
Good year for movies means good contest for Oscars
What would the Academy Awards be without nomination snubs? Just ask Robert Redford, Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey and Emma Thompson, some of the prominent stars expected to be in this year’s Oscars race who were missing in action when the dust cloud from Thursday morning’s announcements settled. By most accounts, it was a good year at the movies, with a diverse crowd of popular and … [Read more...]
A new, exciting chapter opens for Master Chorale
Something very important happened here last week for the classical music scene in South Florida: One of its performing organizations came into its own. The Master Chorale of South Florida, which rose out of the remains of the Florida Philharmonic some 10 years ago, has presented some fine programs over that time and enjoyed regular gigs backing Italian poperatic singer Andrea … [Read more...]
For Deborah Voigt, a time of giving back and looking ahead
On Deborah Voigt’s Twitter feed, amid the family and dog pictures and shout-outs to friends, you’ll find the occasional reference to her most familiar public identity. “The women of the young artist program sang me the hojotohos!!” she writes about her late October visit to South Florida to be honored as the special guest of the Florida Grand Opera. “Hojotoho” is the cry … [Read more...]
Stepping in for Mozart, composer forges a fresh connection with the past
The first thing Gregory Spears wants you to know is that he’s not trying to complete the Mozart Requiem. Even though he has. The American composer sees his three new movements for the iconic work, which have their world premiere Friday, less as a solution to a Mozart puzzle then as a continuation of a dialogue with Mozart and with the continuum of Western sacred music. But … [Read more...]
For grieving daughter, modern medicine was the villain
Eleven years ago, doctors told retired Wesleyan University professor Jeffrey Butler that he needed a pacemaker to ensure that his heart did not stop during hernia surgery. So he was outfitted with the device, which kept his heart going, “while doing nothing to prevent his slide into dementia, incontinence, near-muteness, misery and helplessness.” A year earlier, Butler had … [Read more...]
Sundays: A song for autumn
By Myles Ludwig There’s a certain sweetness to autumn. Can’t deny that. Yes, summer days have dwindled into September, leaving a soft sense of sadness and broken promises trailing in their wake. Over much too soon. We didn’t have enough fun. But, at the same time, that feeling of loss, that nostalgic mourning, seems to gin up a burst of renewal, of beginning again. And … [Read more...]
PB Chamber Fest makes a promising new beginning
When the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival got started back in July of 1992, its organizers were pleasantly surprised to see so many people in that first audience at the Duncan Theatre. Perhaps that will be the case when the festival looks back on its first fall series, which opened earlier this month at Lynn University and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Lake Worth. The … [Read more...]
‘Sound of Music’ gets Wick Theatre off to impressive start
When the Caldwell Theatre Company folded up two years ago, it seemed unlikely that the sound of music — or the sound of plays, for that matter — would ever ring out from its still-new playhouse in Boca Raton. When Marilynn A. Wick of Costume World announced that she was buying the theater for her costume museum and would — as an afterthought — begin producing shows for the … [Read more...]