When Mlada Khudoley makes her debut as Vincenzo Bellini’s “Norma” with the Florida Grand Opera on Jan. 23, the young Muscovite soprano, who already has the roles of Sieglinde, Senta, Renata, Turandot, Cassandre, Aïda, Abigail and Richard Strauss’ Empress under her belt, will be facing her greatest test–measuring up to the ghosts of Norma’s past. […]
Article · January 15, 2016 by Sebastian Spreng
Photo: Art Basel Miami Beach 2015, © Art Basel. As the world grappled with shootings, bombings and elections, for a few days in December, Miami once again became the hub of the art world. For fans of contemporary art, the boundless Art Basel fair and its many satellites offer the best excuse to visit our […]
Article · December 22, 2015 by Sebastian Spreng
Photo: A Pairings @ Ted’s event featuring Illuminarts. Photo via Illuminarts’ Facebook page. There is so much classical material relating to witches, witchcraft, magic and terror that it would be a shame not to take advantage of it on Halloween. Amanda Crider, artistic director of 2015 Knight Arts Challenge finalist Illuminarts, did just that, teaming […]
Article · November 11, 2015 by Sebastian Spreng
This post has been updated. An unforeseen context surrounded the first concert of Seraphic Fire’s 14th season–one that ultimately enhanced its artistic value. Remarkable and deeply emotional, the concert was “fired up” by the memory of its benefactor, Ruth Sackner, who died three days before the event. From the beginning, Ruth and husband Marvin, creators […]
Article · October 26, 2015 by Sebastian Spreng
Photo: Nu Deco Ensemble. If you’ve ever wondered what it might have been like to hear Kurt Weill play ‘Berlin’ music in the city’s 1920s musical heyday, NuDeco Ensemble’s recent performance of ‘Miami’ music at The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse potentially offered a semblance of that experience. At the concert that opened this Knight […]
Article · October 7, 2015 by Sebastian Spreng
Photo: A New World Symphony Wallcast concert. Photo by World Red Eye. Early October signals the return of high-quality music to Miami stages. The upcoming season leans toward greater program variety with the intention–and the pressing need–to attract and expand audiences. It’s a tall order, made more challenging by the recent demise of Classical South […]
Article · October 6, 2015 by Sebastian Spreng
Photo: Soprano Christine Goerke, right, with Megan Barrera, taught a master class in July for the Miami Summer Music Festival. Photo by Synthia Steinman/Courtesy Miami Summer Music Festival A hurricane swept through Miami, but instead of leaving destruction and desolation in its wake, it left an unprecedented number of happy, hopeful faces. The hurricane had a […]
Article · September 4, 2015 by Sebastian Spreng
“Cold Mountain” by Jennifer Higdon. Photo by Ken Howard. Stravinsky and Georgia O’Keeffe were right in going crazy over Santa Fe. In fact, they were as sane as the visionary John Crosby, who, fascinated with the New Mexico desert, decided to start an opera company in an environment where silence rivals music. Crosby’s adventure in 1957 was highly successful, and today the Santa […]
Article · August 27, 2015 by Sebastian Spreng
Sensational Swede Nina Stemme will open the Met 2016-17 as Isolde. She died of love but is alive and kicking, all of 150 years old. No, she’s not the delicate Guatemalan maiden of José Martí’s poem (“The girl from Guatemala, The girl that died of love”) but a northern, and generally speaking more robust relative. […]
Article · August 27, 2015 by Sebastian Spreng
Sebastian Spreng is a South Florida visual artist and classical music writer Every time a theater, a library or, as in this case, a radio station devoted to classical music closes, a community and its people are bereaved. It sounds tragic because it is tragic, especially if the station’s finances were on the mend. After […]
Article · July 13, 2015 by Sebastian Spreng
Deborah Voigt opens the MSMF The ancients had a saying that when opportunity comes at you headlong, you have to seize it by the whiskers, because it’s bald in the back. Once it’s gone by, there is nothing to be done. And Miami, a booming city that aspires to become a cultural destination, with all […]
Article · June 29, 2015 by Sebastian Spreng