Archive for April, 2009

From humpback whales to Broadway swagger, New World closes chamber season with genuine American diversity

Anyone looking for a common musical thread in the five American works served up by the New World Symphony in its final chamber program of [...]

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Tue Apr 28, 2009
at 5:45 pm
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Canadian soprano nabs top prize in Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition

 [L to R: Palm Beach Opera General Director Daniel Biaggi, Advanced Division 1st place winner Yannick-Muriel Noah, Conductor Eve Queler, and Junior Division 1st Place [...]

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Mon Apr 27, 2009
at 12:01 pm
2 Comments

Chinese soprano is unforgettable in Florida Grand Opera’s shattering “Butterfly”

Seconds after the curtain fell Saturday night, a male usher at the back of the Ziff Ballet Opera House had his glasses off, and was [...]

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Sun Apr 26, 2009
at 1:32 pm
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Financially pressed Florida Grand Opera ditches its concert series after just one season

Florida Grand Opera is pulling the plug on its Superstar Concert Series, a project launched with much hype and lavish promotion this season, due to [...]

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Sat Apr 25, 2009
at 4:01 pm
9 Comments

Master Chorale closes season with American music

 
Joshua Habermann assumed the post of Master Chorale of South Florida artistic director last summer, and it has been intriguing to see his influence on [...]

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Sat Apr 25, 2009
at 2:39 pm
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At 70 (no, really), Ellen Taaffe Zwilich remains as energetic and youthful as her music

 
The first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music will turn 70 on April 30, a significant anniversary that most people would probably find [...]

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Thu Apr 23, 2009
at 3:33 pm
6 Comments

Sunday Afternoons of Music to open 2009-2010 with McDuffie

 
 Sunday Afternoons of Music will serve up yet another varied lineup of vocal, instrumental and chamber events in 2009-2010.
 Doreen Marx will open her 29th season [...]

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Thu Apr 23, 2009
at 12:36 pm
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Boca Symphonia wraps season with guest conductor and new concerto

The Boca Raton Symphonia closed its season Sunday at the Saint Andrew’s School with a contemporary Violin Concerto by Jonathan Leshnoff (b. 1973), composer-in-residence of [...]

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Mon Apr 20, 2009
at 10:35 am
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New World goes Dutch in modern style with conductor de Leeuw

 
Reinbert de Leeuw’s annual appearances with the New World Symphony have proven to be among the most enlightening and enjoyable events of the Miami Beach [...]

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Sun Apr 19, 2009
at 4:07 pm
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Frost Symphony rises to the challenge with a stirring Mahler Fifth

 
Despite the massive orchestral forces and fortissimo climaxes, Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 abounds with intimate, exposed passages performed by just a few instruments.  It offers every [...]

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Sun Apr 19, 2009
at 12:59 pm
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Seraphic Fire offers sacred and scary takes on motherhood

One reason Seraphic Fire’s performances have remained fresh and stimulating for seven seasons is because Patrick Dupre Quigley’s programs have consistently defied expectations and challenged [...]

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Sat Apr 18, 2009
at 2:32 pm
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Met’s fascinating documentary wins “The Audition”

A valuable group of films documenting the backstage of classical music is part of the legacy of the media explosion from the eighties and early [...]

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Thu Apr 16, 2009
at 12:31 pm
17 Comments

Cellist Weilerstein provides intense advocacy for Golijov

The New World Symphony program served up last weekend provided a conspicuous example of just why the Miami Beach orchestra has become the leading classical [...]

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Sun Apr 12, 2009
at 3:03 pm
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Spivakov, virtuosic Russian orchestra bedazzle the Arsht Center audience

The final season of the Concert Association of Florida was, fittingly, framed by Russian orchestras: Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra last November and Vladimir [...]

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Sat Apr 11, 2009
at 4:49 pm
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Arsht Center to launch new classical series this fall

 The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts will launch a new classical music series next season that will offer a range of national and international [...]

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Fri Apr 10, 2009
at 3:02 pm
1 Comment

Bryn Terfel’s voice and magnetism provide a memorable night

 
There is charisma and there is star power.  And then there is Bryn Terfel.
The celebrated opera singer is a force of nature, possessing an ample [...]

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Tue Apr 07, 2009
at 1:26 pm
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Sublime to ridiculous, Miami Symphony offers a movable feast

 
The Miami Symphony Orchestra’s performance Sunday night proved just how playful the orchestra can be under conductor Eduardo Marturet.
 The night started with Reynaldo Hahn’s rarely [...]

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Tue Apr 07, 2009
at 12:36 pm
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Delray Quartet closes season with the darker side of Mendelssohn

Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in A Minor is a warhorse of the novice repertoire, a work heard most frequently in performances by platoons of Suzuki violin [...]

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Mon Apr 06, 2009
at 12:02 pm
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French soprano lifts Palm Beach Opera’s “La Boheme”

 
The artists shivered in their garret, snow fell on the Café Momus and Mimi dropped her muff and died, as Palm Beach Opera put on [...]

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Sat Apr 04, 2009
at 2:59 pm
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Violinist’s Brahms sparks Cleveland’s final season stand

As with wine and relationships, the Cleveland Orchestra’s Miami residency has required something of a maturation process to find its footing. In its first two [...]

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Sat Apr 04, 2009
at 2:11 pm
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