Editor’s note: Here are late reviews from recent concerts: Cleveland Orchestra (Jan. 25, Kravis Center) Slowly and surely since his death in 1975, the music of Dmitri Shostakovich has established itself as a vital and permanent part of the canon, with music from almost every genre in his output – with perhaps the exception of operetta and film scores – getting regular … [Read more...]
Music roundup: The Adaskins, Hye-Jin Kim, and ‘Semele’
Editor’s note: Here are late reviews from three concerts held earlier this month. Adaskin String Trio (Jan. 10, Flagler Museum) The Adaskin String Trio did something at its Flagler Museum concert that only the better chamber groups do: Play unusual, rarely heard material with the same kind of commitment they expend on the standards. In its program Feb. 10 at the … [Read more...]
Music roundup: Weiss offers rare, worthy toccatas; Zukerman leads splendid RPO
It isn’t every pianist who’s going to encore with a Keith Jarrett improv from the early 1980s, but Orion Weiss has the kind of omnivorous approach to music that makes such things possible, and enjoyable to boot. In his recital appearance Wednesday afternoon at the Duncan Theatre’s Stage West, the 30-year-old pianist from suburban Cleveland gave his appreciative audience not … [Read more...]
Music roundup: Forceful quartet, innovative choir, impressive pianist
Here are brief reviews from three recent concerts: Delray String Quartet (Dec. 11, Colony Hotel, Delray Beach): This foursome is on something of a roll as it enters its eighth season of concertizing. Next month it will give the world premiere of the String Quartet No. 5 by Kenneth Fuchs, and will contribute that work to an all-Fuchs disc for Naxos. It’s just released a … [Read more...]
MCB’s Program I electrifies at Kravis
Miami City Ballet opened its 26th season at the Kravis Center this weekend with a rousing performance of four diverse, contemporary works that ended with a standing ovation Friday night from a near-capacity crowd. The evening began with George Balanchine’s Square Dance. This high-energy, technically challenging ballet was perfectly danced: Jeanette Delgado was the … [Read more...]
Music roundup: Adventures in new music at Lynn, Arts Garage
New Music Festival: Thomas McKinley (Nov. 10, Lynn University) For six years now, Lynn University’s Lisa Leonard has been running a weeklong fall-season festival devoted to new music and to the work of a featured composer. Past composers have included Gunther Schuller and Kenneth Frazelle, but this year, Leonard stayed close to home by choosing Thomas McKinley, a Lynn … [Read more...]
Music roundup: Orchestras stand out in Shostakovich, Mendelssohn
Boca Raton Symphonia (Sunday, March 20, Roberts Theater, Boca Raton) The Boca Raton Symphonia closed its most recent concert Sunday with one of its better recent performances, one that seemed well-suited to the orchestra’s current period of experimentation and expansion. Philippe Entremont, in his first year as conductor of the group, also appeared as piano soloist in the … [Read more...]
Music roundup: A fine young violist, two admirable quartets
Peijun Xu (Feb. 10, Steinway Gallery, Boca Raton) If the concertgoing world doesn’t fully appreciate the variety that a viola can bring to a recital, that won’t be the fault of Peijun Xu. The Shanghai-born musician performed two local recitals this week for the Kronberg Academy, an organization based in that German town near Frankfurt (the city that Xu now calls home) that … [Read more...]
Music roundup: A powerful premiere at Lynn; evocative Ravel at PB Symphony
Lynn Philharmonia/Gunther Schuller (Jan. 29, Wold Performing Arts Center, Boca Raton) “I am Chiayu!” the small woman wearing a red dress jacket almost shouted to the audience at the Wold Performing Arts Center as she took the stage at Lynn University in Boca Raton to introduce her new composition. Chiayu Hsu, a Taiwan-born composer who earned her doctorate at Duke University, … [Read more...]
Music roundup: Lyrical Haydn, revelatory Korngold, daring Links
Boca Raton Symphonia (Sunday, Jan. 23, St. Andrew’s School, Boca Raton) The eminent American composer and educator Gunther Schuller was joined by a very young cellist Sunday afternoon in a concert by the Boca Raton Symphonia that was one of the most polished this group has offered in some time. From the tightness of the Cosi fan Tutte overture that opened the concert at St. … [Read more...]