Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, which I heard Saturday at Palm Beach Opera, had a last-minute replacement tenor, Richard Troxell, filling in for the indisposed Bruno Ribeiro. The high tessitura of Romeo’s part proved difficult for Troxell on occasion, especially in the first two acts. However, he rallied and won the hearts and minds of the audience with a courageous second-half … [Read more...]
Violinist Fain shines in Prokofiev at Boca Symphonia
There is a kind of intense, high-energy sound that is ideal for the special lyricism of Sergei Prokofiev, and Tim Fain has it. The American violinist gave a riveting performance Sunday afternoon of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto (in G minor, Op. 63) as the Boca Raton Symphonia opened its seventh season at the Roberts Theater. Fain, 35, who’s been celebrated recently for … [Read more...]
Clooney gives breakthrough performance in riveting ‘Descendants’
For an actor as compelling as George Clooney, he’s the kind of matinee idol who has been asked only on the rarest of occasions to stretch his abilities behind his chiseled-hunk personality type. My two favorite performances of his – in Michael Clayton and Up in the Air – were both Clooneyfied: minor deviations from his smooth, fast-talking persona. Even his Batman was less … [Read more...]
Colossal Verdi ‘Requiem’ at PB Opera proves hugely enjoyable
Even if you hear it by playing a YouTube video through the tinny speakers built into your laptop, Giuseppe Verdi’s Messa da Requiem makes an overwhelming impression. So much more overwhelming was it, then, to see the massive chorus and orchestra lined up on stage Sunday afternoon at the Kravis Center for a full-on performance of what many experts continue to think of as … [Read more...]
Second cast outstanding in PB Opera’s ‘Otello’
Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello was the basis for the libretto Arrigo Boito wrote for Giuseppe Verdi, who at the time Boito approached him about the opera was 71 years old and considered himself retired. But three years later, in February 1887, Otello had its triumphant premiere at La Scala, and this work plus Verdi's final opera, Falstaff, are considered the pinnacle of the … [Read more...]