The third free opera concert at the waterfront given by Palm Beach Opera was an artistic success. But who were the artists? Getting off to a good start with the national anthem and Bernstein’s Candide overture, conductor Greg Ritchey then introduced the wonderful Metropolitan Opera baritone Michael Chioldi and the next singer, Robert Watson, but forgot to name the other … [Read more...]
Ex-NEA chief Gioia to highlight 11th Palm Beach Poetry Festival
To anyone who knows Miles Coon, the founder and director of the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, it should come as no surprise to learn that Coon starts off a phone conversation with a recitation of “A Lock of Her Hair,” by renowed American poet Robert Wrigley. Wrigley is one of the luminaries — including Chard deNiord, Linda Gregerson, Thomas Lux, Maurice Manning, Molly Peacock, … [Read more...]
At the Four Arts, pages of faith, pages of light
If Hollywood can bring us a Noah with special effects, monks should be able to bring us a radiantly abstract Bible. And that’s exactly what they have done. After 15 years, elegantly crafted pages of gigantic size and glowing imagery are spreading the light. As far as the message goes, time will tell. The Saint John’s Bible is the first illuminated handwritten Bible to be … [Read more...]
Music roundup 2: French Baroque beauty from Seraphic Fire; a mixed bag at Lynn Phil
The authentic-performance movement of three or so decades ago had several benefits other than just the experience of hearing familiar Baroque and Classical music in fresh guise. What it also did was open the doors to rediscovery of celebrated composers from the past whose work had been overlooked in modern times, and on Jan. 18 at All Saints Episcopal in Fort Lauderdale, … [Read more...]
Sundays: What we hath wrought
By Myles Ludwig Everything falls apart. Guaranteed. Here we stand on the threshold of the Age of Entropy rather than what we hoped might look like a renewal of the Age of Good and Plenty. And the view ain’t pretty. Entropy abounds. Find its ugly Medusa head of snakes in the electronic looting of Target; the bureaucratic, who me? boondoggle that crashed the Obamacare Website: … [Read more...]
Sundays: What made, and didn’t make, the Cloud in 2013
By Myles Ludwig The annual list of best and worst seems lame. I prefer a listicle of the Liked, UnLiked, ReLiked, Archived, Deleted, Spammed and Trashed. It seems more appropriate. As the pope noted, who am I to judge? But if not me, then who? Liked Edward Snowden Pope Francis Claire Danes Don Jon and Barbara Sugarman Michelle Obama Justin Timberlake Kate … [Read more...]
Jackie Tufford: When the objects become the art
By Colleen Dougher As a college student, artist Jackie Tufford wasn’t sure about trying to make a living as an artist. So while majoring in anthropology and psychology, she continued studying art and eventually realized that the elements that drew her to her majors were the same things she loved about art. “It just boiled down to [being] very interested in understanding … [Read more...]
Violinist St. John follows her own sharp instincts
When Lara St. John graduated from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia at age 16, she hit the road, in search of travel and new musical experiences. That quest led the young Canadian violinist to, of all places, what was then the Soviet Union, where she took up post-graduate study at the Moscow Conservatory. “And I learned so much there, about songs, about Gypsy culture … it … [Read more...]
On Broadway: What to see, what not to see
From a whirlwind Broadway trip in which I saw 12 shows in eight days, here are my views on what to head to New York to see, what to look forward to catching on tour and what to avoid at all costs: THE PLAYS Other Desert Cities (A) ― The consistently intelligent Jon Robin Baitz (TV’s Brothers & Sisters) has often trod dysfunctional family territory, but rarely with as much … [Read more...]
What-if meeting of minds inspired ‘Freud’ playwright
A meeting between Sigmund Freud -- the father of psychoanalysis and a staunch atheist -- and C.S. Lewis, a convert to Christianity and author of the series of religious allegories, The Chronicles of Narnia. There is no evidence that such a match-up ever took place, but it is the basis of Mark St. Germain’s what-if drama, Freud’s Last Session, opening Friday at West Palm … [Read more...]