Thirteen young singers in two divisions have been named finalists in the 41st annual Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition. The singers will perform Sunday afternoon in the Grand Finals concert at the Kravis Center. The competition began this week with 47 semi-finalists selected from an initial field of 259. The finalists will be vying for a total of $78,000 in donated prize … [Read more...]
PB Opera cast, conductor see continued vitality in ‘Carmen’
The young Frenchman Jean-Luc Tingaud is the associate conductor at the venerable Opéra-Comique in Paris, the same theater (though not the same building) where the opera Carmen premiered in March of 1875. Three months later, Carmen’s composer, Georges Bizet, died of runaway strep throat at the tragically young age of 36. Tingaud says the theater still has the original … [Read more...]
Sarasota Opera’s ‘Giovanna’ revealed Verdi gem
The Sarasota Opera likes to say that no other company in the world will have completed a Verdi cycle – a complete survey of all the composer’s stage works -- when it comes to an end in 2013 on the 200th anniversary of Verdi’s birth. The company’s just-ended production of Giovanna d’Arco (Joan of Arc) was the 29th opera in the cycle, and its boast of exclusivity is a strong … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: March 5-9
Art: The Palm Beach Fine Craft Show opened today at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach for a three-day run that features artists from 28 states offering museum-quality art objects, couture art-to-wear, and handcrafted furniture. Clothing designers are also attending the show, which runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. … [Read more...]
Second cast excellent in PB Opera’s original, stimulating ‘Giovanni’
Like it or not, the cutting edge of European set and stage design came hurtling into Palm Beach Opera for its production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Stefano Poda’s creation arrived simultaneously with a cold blast of fresh air. It is visually stimulating and wholly original. The company took a chance on hiring this gifted young Italian director, 39, whose splendid costumes … [Read more...]
PB Opera’s bold, radical ‘Giovanni’ stumbles without statue
s Chekhov’s rule in theater was this: If you’ve got a gun on stage, you’re going to have to fire it at some point. By the same token, if you promise people a monster, you’re going to have to show it. But the Palm Beach Opera’s new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, which opened Friday night at the Kravis Center, dispenses with the climactic theatrical device of the opera … [Read more...]
PB Symphony to play score during ‘Potemkin’ showing
Ramón Tebar has worked with demanding sopranos, played as a soloist and chamber musician, and conducted orchestras in symphony, ballet and opera. But for the 30-year-old Spanish conductor, directing an orchestra as the accompaniment to a soundtrack is the hardest thing he's ever done. "The main reason is that, as a conductor, I don't have the freedom and flexibility that … [Read more...]
PB Opera’s Beethoven sometimes messy, but packs a wallop
Seeing the gigantic forces arrayed on the stage of the Kravis Center, one couldn't help wondering whether the audience was about to hear a performance of the Mahler Eighth Symphony. But all those people were there Friday night for Beethoven's Ninth, which was the season opener this year for the Palm Beach Opera, in lieu of a fourth staged production. With no less than four … [Read more...]
At Bard SummerScape, a stunning ‘Les Huguenots’
Every summer for the past 20 years, the private liberal arts school of Bard College, two hours north of New York City near Annandale-on-Hudson, has taken it upon itself to perform operas, choral works, dance and drama, many of them offbeat or seldom performed. This year's SummerScape festival saw a complete, 4 ½-hour production of Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera Les … [Read more...]