Last season at about this time, the Symphonia Boca Raton brought Philadelphia Orchestra concertmaster David Kim to the conductor’s podium for an evening of Baroque showpieces, and in so doing, brought a new kind of energy to the orchestra’s profile. Kim was back again for a similar style program Saturday night at the Eissey Campus Theatre at Palm Beach State College in Palm … [Read more...]
Symphonia Boca Raton gets season off to boisterous start
An energized and muscular Symphonia Boca Raton opened its new season Sunday afternoon with a spirited appearance by a guest conductor and violin soloist who made the most of a mostly meat-and-potatoes program. Alastair Willis, who is closing his tenure this coming year as the conductor of the young Illinois Symphony (which plays in Springfield and Bloomington), led the … [Read more...]
Symphonia makes fine showing at Eissey with Platt, Schubert
It was a pleasure to see Alexander Platt back at the helm of The Symphonia Boca Raton last week, and to see the orchestra trying out a new venue at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens. But seeing the conductor who led the band for three of its nine seasons would not have been as pleasurable had the music not been as good as it was, in particular in his choice of a … [Read more...]
At the symphony I: Lovely Mozart at Boca Symphonia
Philippe Entremont closed out his tenure as director of the Boca Raton Symphonia on March 24 with a concert that included a flute concerto by Mozart and works by Respighi and Shchedrin. The French pianist and conductor will return for one concert next season, but conducting duties will be divided among three other maestros: Gerard Schwarz, Alexander Platt and James Judd. … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Feb. 18-20
Music: The music of Spain has long been a favorite of the conductor Philippe Entremont, and for this weekend’s concert by the Boca Symphonia, he’s commissioned new arrangements of familiar and not-so-familiar masterworks from the land of Cervantes. The Argentine-born mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack is the guest soloist for Manuel de Falla’s El Amor Brujo on a program that also … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Jan. 21-23
Theater: Although it is a little lighter than the usual fare at Coral Gables’ GableStage, the cutting edge company has a crowd-pleasing winner in Jane Prowse’s A Round-Heeled Woman, based on the true story of Jane Juska. In her mid-60s, she places an ad soliciting men to have sex with her, adding “If you want to talk first, Trollope works for me.” Of course, she attracts a … [Read more...]
Boca Symphonia enters Age of Philippe
The French pianist Philippe Entremont was born in 1934 in Rheims, France, to two musicians, and found fame early, entering the Paris Conservatoire at 12 and winning first prizes in solfège, chamber music and piano performance by the time he was 15. He made his American debut in 1953, and has enjoyed a career as one of the world’s leading pianists, with numerous recordings and … [Read more...]
Boca Symphonia, violinist make good case for Rorem concerto
There has been no shortage during the past century of American composers who have been willing to write violin concertos. But there has been a dearth of conductors and orchestras who have been willing to turn those concertos into repertory pieces (or at least try). A tip of the hat, then, to Alexander Platt and the Boca Raton Symphonia, who did their bit Sunday afternoon for … [Read more...]