The American composer Peter Schickele has had a remarkable career in which he has managed to have his own compositional triumphs and an entirely separate career in musical parody, in which his compositional triumphs have been much more dubious. But that’s the sort of thing you’d expect me to say when we’re talking about Schickele’s creation, P.D.Q. Bach, whose scattered … [Read more...]
Nielsen symphony makes best impression at South Florida Symphony
By Dennis D. Rooney It was 85 degrees on Feb. 19 when I arrived at the FAU campus and entered the Student Union that houses Kaye Auditorium, a detail meaningful only on account of the first work on the ambitious program of the South Florida Symphony that I was there to hear: A suite from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Snegourochka (The Snow Maiden). An odd juxtaposition in South … [Read more...]
Violinist Lark shines in Korngold at SoFla Symphony
The South Florida Symphony is a musical organization that likes to think big. In the first classical concerts of the season (a pops concert took place in November), the Fort Lauderdale-based ensemble took on an echt-Romantic violin concerto, a world premiere score, and one of Richard Strauss’s enormous tone poems. Credit the group and its maestra, Sebrina María Alfonso, with … [Read more...]