Something of a musical milestone took place the other day at Lynn University when the school’s conservatory orchestra, accompanied by two soloists and the Master Chorale of South Florida, gave two performances of Gustav Mahler’s gigantic Resurrection Symphony (No. 2 in C minor). These performances had actually been planned for the 2012-13 season, but Lynn’s hosting of one of … [Read more...]
Aggressive Vivaldi, joyful Bach at Firebird Chamber
Over the course of its 11 years, the Seraphic Fire organization has returned several times to the music of J.S. Bach: The Mass in B minor, the St. John Passion, the six Motets, the Brandenburg Concertos. Although the subject of its spinoff chamber group’s most recent concert is nominally Vivaldi, one of the Bach cantatas, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (BWV 51), plays just as … [Read more...]
Busy, smart ‘Giovanni’ ends FGO season in entertaining style
FORT LAUDERDALE – More so than most operas, Don Giovanni presents its audience with a puzzle: Is it a tragedy or a comedy? The Romantics of the 19th century saw it as an exercise in decadence and darkness, and until recently it was common to leave out the final scene, and end the opera with the licentious Don dragged screaming into Hell. But surely seeing it as a comedy, if … [Read more...]