The Poiesis Quartet made a sensational entry into the chamber music world at large after grabbing the top prize at the Banff International Chamber Music Competition last August. The foursome — which came together at Oberlin and has been in residence at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music — that was showcased in Alberta was a group of mind-melded musicians whose performances, … [Read more...]
Music online: Pianist Vlaeva plays Mainly Mozart Festival
Recent musical summers have become richer hereabouts with the programming of the Mainly Mozart Festival, a long-running concert series in Coral Gables that got fresh, innovative energy under the leadership of pianist Marina Radiushina. Unwilling to let this summer go, Radiushina is presenting her series online as we all wrestle with the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning with … [Read more...]
Classical music: The 2019 Summer Season
Although the wave of national tours that sweep South Florida during the regular season are over by April, there are several classical festivals that are regular features of the hot months afterward, when we’re all in need of some relief. Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival (July 5-28; West Palm Beach, North Palm Beach, Delray Beach) In the long-distant year of 1992, when … [Read more...]
Mainly Mozart finale featured fine playing, muddled concept
By Dennis D. Rooney The conclusion of the Mainly Mozart Festival’s 25th season, held July 8 at the University of Miami’s Gusman Auditorium, was a gallimaufry masquerading as a concept program. It would have been better dubbed “a bit of Mozart, but mostly Shostakovich.” The subtitle was “The Soul of Celebration” and included video accompanying the music, credited to Ali … [Read more...]
Summer season preview: Three classical festivals
Classical events during the high season are distinguished by big stars and ensembles coming through South Florida in times of chilly weather up north. And while the summer months have always had things going on if you knew where to look, these days there are bigger and more elaborate events that bring out the permanent residents. Here’s an overview: Palm Beach Chamber … [Read more...]
Mainly Mozart closes with evocative, engaging ‘Jewish Bride’
For the past four years, the Mainly Mozart Festival in Coral Gables has ended its summer concerts of chamber music with a multimedia, multidisciplinary finale that includes video, guest artists and world premiere dances choreographed by a member of the Miami City Ballet. For as ambitious as that sounds, it’s a workable formula. Audiences show up in large numbers on a late … [Read more...]
Eloquent Debussy stands out in pianist Salov’s recital
By Dennis D. Rooney A Ukrainian native now residing in Montréal, Québec, Serhiy Salov’s shoulder-length hair and all-black dress bore more than a casual resemblance to Franz Liszt. But that virtuoso pianist composer’s music was not on the program of Mozart and Debussy that Salov played at the Mainly Mozart Festival XXIV on June 11 at the Alhambra Ballroom in Coral Gables’s … [Read more...]
Violinist Gourdjia opens Mainly Mozart Festival with high style, elegance
One of the joys associated with the Mainly Mozart Festival, now in its 24th season in Coral Gables, is that it introduces audiences to rising players they are unlikely to have heard before. This past Sunday, for the festival’s opening, it was the young Russian-born violinist Liana Gourdjia, who studied in Moscow, the Cleveland Institute and Indiana University, and now lives … [Read more...]
Ambitious Mainly Mozart finale doesn’t always work
By Kevin Wilt The Miami Chamber Music Society closed out its 2015-2016 season with the Mainly Mozart Festival, which opened with the namesake composer, but featured many others. The first work on the July 1 program was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Exsultate, Jubilate (K. 165). Taking the stage for the performance was a string quartet made up of members of the Metropolitan … [Read more...]