The American composer Robert Ward lived a long, productive life, and by the time he died in 2013 at age 95, he had made at least one substantial contribution to the operatic repertoire. That work was his 1961 opera, The Crucible, based on the Arthur Miller play of the same name that allegorized the McCarthy “witch hunts” of the 1950s through the medium of the actual hunts … [Read more...]
Soloists, new work provide mega-meal at Miami Music Festival
MIAMI BEACH — You can’t say Michael Rossi doesn’t give you enough to listen to. Saturday night at the New World Center, the head of the Miami Music Festival presented an orchestral concert dedicated to the eminent Polish-born violinist Ida Haendel that featured parts and wholes of five concertos, a massive tone poem and a world premiere. In addition, there was a presentation … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: July 22-24
Art: As it since 1951, the Boca Raton Museum devotes its summer exhibition to the All Florida Invitational, which this year features 31 artists from around the state. Cognoscenti of the local art scene will recognize some familiar names, but there are also five early-career artists being singled out by the judges who chose the work for the exhibit. The Invitational opened last … [Read more...]
This could be the start of something Wagner-big
It’s been more than 20 years since Miami’s opera company did any works by Richard Wagner, and it’s been even longer for Palm Beach Opera, so it was something of a truly special event Saturday night when the Miami Music Festival gave the first concert by its new Wagner Institute. Designed by festival founder Michael Rossi to develop voices for the demands of Wagner … [Read more...]
Promising, but rough-edged, Mahler at Miami Music Festival
Yuriy Bekker MIAMI SHORES — It takes some serious ambition to open your first concert with a Mahler symphony, but that’s exactly what the students in the current Miami Music Festival did Saturday night. The orchestral program of the 3-year-old festival, which is presenting opera, chamber music and symphonic literature through July 31 at several Miami-area venues, made its … [Read more...]
Mezzo stands out in Ravel; cast charms in ‘Schicchi’ at Miami Music Festival
Isabel Signoret (center front) as The Child with the cast of L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. (Photo by Kristin Pulido) The operatic repertory is vast and rich, and some of its greatest gems can be found in shorter pieces. That’s not to say we hear them all that often in South Florida, so the Miami Music Festival’s mounting of two one-act masterpieces that almost never turn up … [Read more...]