I first heard the Cuarteto Latinoamericano in 1984 making their New York City debut. They were managed by a friend I’d met years before at Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. My friend asked for a report and I was honestly able to say they had great promise, and that all their black shocks of Brylcreemed hair would certainly win over the ladies. Fast … [Read more...]
Music roundup: Haifa Symphony at Kravis; Philip Fowke at Lynn
By Rex Hearn The 75 musicians making up Israel’s Haifa Symphony Orchestra play with a refined sound that makes for a very good regional orchestra. Founded in 1950, two years after the declaration of the state of Israel, they were led on their appearance Tuesday night at the Kravis Center by their principal guest conductor, the distinguished Polish musician Boguslaw Dawidow. … [Read more...]
Music roundup 2: French Baroque beauty from Seraphic Fire; a mixed bag at Lynn Phil
The authentic-performance movement of three or so decades ago had several benefits other than just the experience of hearing familiar Baroque and Classical music in fresh guise. What it also did was open the doors to rediscovery of celebrated composers from the past whose work had been overlooked in modern times, and on Jan. 18 at All Saints Episcopal in Fort Lauderdale, … [Read more...]
Music roundup: Morris delightful at Four Arts; Han and trio shine at Flagler
Tenor Jay Hunter Morris would have you believe he’s one of the good old boys: A good-looking, sweet-talkin’ Southern Baptist boy from Paris, Texas, where Mom was choir director at church. At 40 years old, down on his luck after 20 years of singing roles like Alfredo (Traviata), Calaf (Turandot) and Cavaradossi (Tosca) in American regional opera houses, Mom suggested a choir … [Read more...]
Music roundup: SoFla Symphony, Delray SQ, PBAU Artists series
A very fine young cellist made an eloquent case Nov. 16 for an undeservedly neglected American concerto in the opening program of the South Florida Symphony’s concert season at the Crest Theatre in Delray Beach. Clancy Newman, a first-prize Naumburg Foundation Competition winner and a graduate of Columbia and the Juilliard School, tackled the Cello Concerto of Samuel Barber … [Read more...]
A radiant evening of Renaissance music
As intriguing as the upcoming Seraphic Fire concerts with the Firebird Chamber Orchestra are likely to be, there’s still something so purely beautiful about unaccompanied Renaissance polyphony that the listener feels he is in the presence of a rare and endangered animal, one content to be radiant, beautiful and unexampled. The Miami chamber choir opened its 12th season last … [Read more...]
‘Sound of Music’ gets Wick Theatre off to impressive start
When the Caldwell Theatre Company folded up two years ago, it seemed unlikely that the sound of music — or the sound of plays, for that matter — would ever ring out from its still-new playhouse in Boca Raton. When Marilynn A. Wick of Costume World announced that she was buying the theater for her costume museum and would — as an afterthought — begin producing shows for the … [Read more...]
On record: Local classical discs in review (Part 1)
One sign of the growing maturity of the area’s classical music scene is the appearance of recordings by local artists. Up until relatively recently, only the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival’s six recordings on the Klavier label and the first discs by the Delray String Quartet could lay claim to representing a substantial segment of local art music activity, although there … [Read more...]
Maltz’s ‘Music Man’ adds dance to Hill’s catalog of pizzazz
The Music Man, Meredith Willson’s valentine to America, small-town Midwest division, circa 1912, has captivated audiences since the 1956-57 Broadway season when it dominated the Tony Awards and beat out West Side Story. Known for Willson’s syncopated rhythms and trip-hammer lyrics, the show has never been considered a strong dance show. But, says choreographer Shea Sullivan … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2012-13: Classical season younger, fresher
South Florida has a remarkably active and diverse classical music season in general, and this year some of the younger musical organizations are showing some real depth and growth. Both the Boca Raton and Palm Beach symphonies have challenging, fresh programming throughout their seasons in Palm Beach County, and chamber music is well-represented in the Duncan, Flagler and Four … [Read more...]