I’m lucky enough to have heard three sets of piano duos in person in my lifetime: Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick in England; Arthur Whittemore and Jack Warren Lowe at a private concert given in honor of Alistair Cooke; and David Bradshaw and Cosmo Buono, who took Europe by storm in the 1980s with a little advice from yours truly. The young duo of Elizabeth Joy Roe and Greg … [Read more...]
Marvelous Romeros, Munich SO should have had larger house
There couldn’t be a more refreshing matchup than a symphony orchestra and four brilliant guitarists, which is what I heard Saturday night at the Kravis Center when the Munich Symphony Orchestra of Germany joined forces with the eminent guitar-playing Romero family. Together with his father Celedonio Romero, and brothers Celin and Angel, Pepe Romero, the soloist Saturday night, … [Read more...]
Marvelous lead performances stand out in powerful ‘Room’
There’s something inherently limiting about the movie screen that makes cinema a more claustrophobic medium than theatre. In theatrical sets, doors suggest a world beyond the confined drama, providing an escape from the demons, the embarrassments, the high jinks. Even if the characters don’t use them, it’s comforting to know they’re there. Movie screens, on the other hand are … [Read more...]
Romanenko provides a marvelous afternoon of Bach
The six cello suites of J.S. Bach are monumental in every significant way, which means that Saturday afternoon’s traversal of all six in a Lake Worth church was itself a monument for local audiences. And Alexei Romanenko, who brought these great works to a decent-sized pre-season crowd at Calvary United Methodist, showed that he has all the skill, taste and imagination he … [Read more...]