In this summer’s version of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, the music ranges widely from canonical string and piano quartets to rarities for unusual combinations of instruments, as well as major utterances from overlooked composers of the past. In short, it contains all the elements listeners have come to expect from this festival, whose 28th anniversary season begins … [Read more...]
Classical music: The 2019 Summer Season
Although the wave of national tours that sweep South Florida during the regular season are over by April, there are several classical festivals that are regular features of the hot months afterward, when we’re all in need of some relief. Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival (July 5-28; West Palm Beach, North Palm Beach, Delray Beach) In the long-distant year of 1992, when … [Read more...]
PBCMF IV: Charming American work tops festival finale
By Dennis D. Rooney The fourth and final program of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival’s 27th season was composed of a local premiere and two works of 20th-century composers on its first half, and Schubert’s Trout Quintet on its second. Clarinetist Michael Forte’s prefatory remarks mentioned that Piotr Szewczyk (b. 1978), composer of Three Summer Sketches that opened … [Read more...]
PBCMF III: All-American program features promising new nonet
By Dennis D. Rooney The Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival’s third concert of its current summer series, seen July 22 at the Crest Theatre in Delray Beach, was an “all-American” program. Works by three American composers, two of them living, and the American String Quartet (No. 12 in F, Op. 96) by Dvořák. Music by Eric Ewazen (b. 1954) opened it. Mosaics, for flute, … [Read more...]
PBCMF, Program I: Bubbly Bellini and strong Mendelssohn
By Dennis D. Rooney “Not a millennial in sight,” observed an elderly man whom I encountered on my way into the Helen K. Persson Concert Hall on the campus of Palm Beach Atlantic University last Friday. I had to agree. “Yes,” I replied, “the median age definitely skews older.” And it was an old audience who attended the inaugural program of the Palm Beach Chamber Music … [Read more...]
Summer season preview: Three classical festivals
Classical events during the high season are distinguished by big stars and ensembles coming through South Florida in times of chilly weather up north. And while the summer months have always had things going on if you knew where to look, these days there are bigger and more elaborate events that bring out the permanent residents. Here’s an overview: Palm Beach Chamber … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival 4: A satisfying roundup to the 26th season
By Dennis D. Rooney How many composers were born in a church tower? I only know of one, Bohuslav Martinů, who arrived on December 1890 in the tower apartment of the St. Jakub Church in Polička, a town in Bohemia, close to the Moravian border. His family was allowed to live there because his father Ferdinand, a shoemaker, also worked as the church sexton and town fire … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival 3: Welcome rarities, smartly played
By Dennis D. Rooney For the third program of its 26th season, which I saw Sunday at the Crest Theatre in Delray Beach, the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival presented three works that each featured a founding member of the group. Karen Fuller Dixon performed Mozart’s Flute Quartet No. 1 (in D, K. 285) with violinist Dina Kostic, violist Rene Reder and cellist Susan … [Read more...]
PB Chamber Music Festival 2: An attractive buffet of small plates
By Dennis D. Rooney I described the PBCMF’s inaugural concert of its 26th season as a “feast.” The second program, which I heard Sunday at Delray Beach's Crest Theatre, seemed more like a tasting menu with a few amuse-bouches. An interesting Trio in C, Op. 33 No. 2 for bassoon, violin and cello by François-René Gebauer opened the program. The composer (1773-1845) was a … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival I: A rich, inventive program, excellently played
By Dennis D. Rooney The program of the inaugural concert of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival’s 26th season (which I heard Sunday at the Crest Theatre in Delray Beach) was opened by the organization’s three founders: flutist Karen Fuller Dixon; clarinetist Michael Forte; and bassoonist Michael Ellert, who performed a Divertimento in B-flat (Op. 12a) by Joachim Kötschau, … [Read more...]