By Robert Croan Jubilant music for the coronations of kings and other autocrats was the unifying element in Master Chorale of South Florida’s Handel and Mozart program [seen Oct. 24 in Bailey Hall on Broward College’s Davie campus]. Artistic director Brett Karlin conducted Handel’s four Coronation Anthems, written for the coronation of England’s King George II in 1727. … [Read more...]
Master Chorale’s ‘Elijah’ a thriller from start to finish
By Robert Croan In brief but informative prefatory remarks about Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Brett Karlin — conductor and artistic director of the Master Chorale of South Florida — described this grand oratorio as a 19th-century equivalent of a modern Broadway spectacular. It is certainly a major undertaking for a community-based choral organization, and the Chorale’s … [Read more...]
Master Chorale’s Verdi Requiem deeply satisfying
By Robert Croan You don’t have to be Christian, or even religious, to appreciate Giuseppe Verdi’s magnificent Requiem. The composer himself was essentially agnostic – something more significant when the work was composed in 1874, than it would be today. The effect of this great masterpiece for double choirs, four soloists and large orchestra, commemorating the death of … [Read more...]
Master Chorale’s Turing cantata makes moving, powerful impression
By Robert Croan It’s an encouraging sign, that the Sept. 18 concert by Master Chorale of South Florida was sold out. It was a free event in Fort Lauderdale’s Sunshine Cathedral, sponsored by the Our Fund Foundation in partnership with Stonewall National Museum and Archives, but reservations were required and there was an overflow at the door, with people hoping for … [Read more...]
Soloists enliven muted ‘Carmina Burana’ at Master Chorale
By Dennis D. Rooney It was a Saturday in the spring of 1957. I was at my high school, doing some sort of extracurricular project, which took place in the auditorium. The Glee Club director had put on a recording of music I didn’t recognize but whose sound and character were captivating. From time to time, someone would tap out one of the catchy rhythms that sprang up as … [Read more...]
Clarinetist, Palm Beach Symphony pay sublime tribute to Mozart
Into this crazed COVID world of variants popping up ad infinitum, there came a sublime evening of music-making given by the Palm Beach Symphony under the leadership of conductor Gerard Schwarz on Dec. 2 at their permanent new home: The Kravis Center. It was dedicated to four works written by Mozart in his last year of life, 1791. Each of the four pieces selected had special … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2021-22: The season in classical music
The classical season looks mostly normal this year, with COVID protocols in place and venues opening back up. There are a host of major artists and groups coming to the county this year, from established veterans to exciting new talents. Although some usual season players are missing as of this writing (the Flagler Museum has not yet said whether its chamber music series … [Read more...]
At Lynn, a laudable ‘Te Deum,’ compelling Copland
We are going to be treated to a lot of Berlioz at the Lynn Philharmonia over the next year or so, thanks to the championing of the French composer by its director, Guillermo Figueroa. Truth to tell, Berlioz has already loomed large on Philharmonic programs. Figueroa has presented the song cycle Les Nuits d’Été and the dramatic symphony Romeo et Juliette in previous seasons, … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Symphony launches season with rich menu of “pops”
By Dennis D. Rooney The term “Pops Concert” suggests to some a program in some way inferior to the program of a symphony orchestra, which unfortunately sometimes has been true when an orchestra is asked to play arrangements of music not originally for orchestra. But the term also particularly applies to orchestral music of a lighter character that is not often programmed … [Read more...]
Master Chorale gives glorious account of Brahms’s ‘German Requiem’
By Clare Shore At the end of a grueling week, on an absolutely gorgeous spring Friday evening in South Florida, one is not always keen on driving 40 minutes to sit inside for an hour and a quarter listening to a large-scale piece of music. But that’s what I did, and I left Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale on May 4 renewed and refreshed by Master Chorale … [Read more...]