Critic’s Choice
“Ah, so you’re the composer of The Barber of Seville,” Beethoven supposedly said to the young Rossini, at a meeting in the great man’s squalid Vienna rooms. “I congratulate you. It will be played as long as Italian opera exists. Never try to write anything else but opera buffa. Any other style would do violence to your nature.”
Whether Beethoven was right about Rossini’s limits is unclear, but his prediction of the opera’s staying power has been borne out. The opera will receive its umpteenth South Florida performances this weekend from Palm Beach Opera at the Kravis Center.
A mostly young cast will sing its way through the famous arias, with their dazzling melodies, incomparable verve and timeless comic irony. The cast also includes the Italian comic opera vet Renato Girolami, a baritone who will sing the role of the pompous Dr. Bartolo.
Palm Beach Opera will perform Rossini’s Barber of Seville 7:30 Friday, 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. pbopera.org.
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The Tenth National Chopin Competition continues this week in Miami, with performances live-streamed at chopin.org.
Competitors have been vying all week, and the finals will take place Saturday and Sunday with performances of Chopin piano concertos with the University of Miami’s Frost Symphony Orchestra. The awards ceremony will take place after the 3 p.m. Sunday finals concert. A full schedule of performances is available on the website.
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Thu Feb 27, 2020
at 3:40 pm
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