The Palm Beach Symphony’s last concert this season April 10 suffered from a much-changed program, keeping the group’s largest public ever of 1,200 souls guessing. New insert programs lay in piles undistributed by the volunteer ushers at the Kravis Center. Lola Astanova, the highly regarded Russian-American pianist, was scheduled to play three solo pieces after her Mozart … [Read more...]
Near-flawless Hermès Quartet missing sense of fun
By Kevin Wilt Thursday night, the Hermès Quartet of Paris gave a near-flawless performance at the Eissey Campus Theatre as the debut of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach’s new Young Concert Artists Series. But despite their precision, which was much appreciated by the intimate crowd, it did not seem like the members of the quartet were having much fun. That seemed to … [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...]