June LeBell

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Originally published in The Observer
Date: May 13, 2013
by: June LeBell | Contributing Columnist

We’ve seen this before. What looks good, interesting, possibly even revolutionary on paper, goes very wrong in real life. This is, unfortunately, what happened at the Sarasota Orchestra’s most recent foray into its Innovations Series when “Revolutions,” a program at the Opera House featuring a multi-media presentation with the Orchestra, two speakers (Joe Reed as Albert Einstein, and the Reverend Charles McKenzie as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), Miri Ben-Ari (a hip-hop violinist) and conductor Dirk Meyer, all went awry.

If you read this column regularly, you know I am a proponent of mixing things up at traditional concerts. But you also know I always push for reason. If videos are used with the music, they must enhance the music, not detract. If a so-called “pop” artist is the featured soloist, that person must be super talented in both classical and pop fields, proving that great music is great when performed with taste and ability. If a script is written, purportedly to hold the program together, it must be written with intelligence, wit and intellectual flair. And if someone reads from that script, he or she had better be a reader so good you forget the script is being read.

So, back to the unfortunate nature of Saturday night’s performance. It had none of these much needed characteristics and, as a result, had little character.

Ben-Ari, who played on an over-amplified violin, was the biggest misfit of the evening. Her original compositions were superficial, repetitive and simplistic, all sounding the same except her take on the holocaust, “Never Forget,” which slipped into a minor key and sounded like a page from “Schindler’s List” that didn’t make the film’s final cut. Hip hop is not exactly my specialty but whatever it is she writes is an insult to good music and, from the way she played, it was almost impossible to tell why Isaac Stern took an interest in her. (And mispronouncing the conductor’s last name brought forth gasps from both audience and musicians.)

The program, itself, was a good idea on that piece of paper, but just didn’t carry over the print. If the organizing glue was supposed to be a revolutionary theme, placing Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony on a program with Uruguayan composer Miguel Aguila’s “The Giant Guitar,” Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and Ravel’s “La Valse” was more like a small battle. Still, it might have worked better if Stephen Schlow, the writer and stage director, hadn’t dumbed down an already dumb concept. His script for Reed, in the ill-conceived form of Einstein, was peppered with lame jokes and an almost grammar school approach to music and history that would have made Leonard Bernstein cringe.

Meyer’s conducting of the four real pieces of music, while clear and forthright, was somewhat uninspired. The Beethoven felt rushed, without the breathing room it needs to be the heroic piece it is, while both the Stravinsky and Ravel were, at times, played slackly by the musicians, with more attention paid by Meyer to the notes than the music-making. Aguila’s piece — an interesting mix of percussive rhythms and pizzicato strings — was well presented but certainly not revolutionary in any way.

Then there were the slides and light show — yes, light show — that accompanied the music and readings. Many of the slides were ill advised and embarrassing (think “E=mc^2” that sat on the screen above Einstein’s head as he began speaking), while many others were either illegible or indecipherable. And the swirling lights on stage and around the sides of the Opera House were unnecessary and distracting while the colors, in many cases, seemed randomly chosen. It was like being part of a surreal elementary school disco with Beethoven in the background.

Was there anything good about the evening? Well, yes. The program and appearance of Ben-Ari brought in a new audience (that may or may not return) but at least was there, packing the house. Reverend McKenzie’s reading of the “I Have a Dream” speech was passionate, touching and resonant (until Ben-Ari’s over-amplified violin drowned him out). The Sarasota Orchestra proved it is open minded and willing to try new concepts. (You can’t move ahead without making a few mistakes now and then.) The program proved how important a new music director will be for future planning and programming. And, without an intermission, the evening was blessedly short.

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Originally published in The Observer
Date: May 8, 2013
by: June LeBell | Contributing Columnist

+ Indigenous is Ingenious
We’d heard about Indigenous but hadn’t managed to get there until recently, when we were out with Dick and Julia Hyman. The old farm-house setting, with a porch we’d all kill for, makes me feel as if I’m in my old Kentucky home that happens to have a gourmet kitchen, alcove rooms that, by candlelight, are more romantic than a French country inn, a couch and settee corner space that’s perfect for an amorous tête-à-tête and food to die for.

The ingredients are, like the name of the restaurant, homegrown and very original. My Uncle’s Burger, although more well done than I like, is the nouveau-comfort cuisine that’s making its way around the country. But the best thing on the menu the night we were there was a wild mushroom bisque that was so rich in loamy, earthy flavors with slices of textured mushrooms, it would make a meal in itself.

The menu changes with availability and market quality. The atmosphere remains consistently yummy. Whether seated on the porch or inside, this Towles Court piece of artistic gastronomy is Sarasota’s truly inventive side.

+ Updated menu and Full-Service Bar at Americano
Café Americano’s general manager, Diego Malatesta, has an operatic name and knows how to hook the music-and-art lovers of Sarasota for a good pre- or post-performance meal.

We happened in there the other night before attending one of La Musica’s concerts and noticed a brand-new menu and a sparkling new bar. The café, which used to serve only wines, has applied for a liquor license and is now serving cocktails and hard liquor to go with its savory dishes.

Malatesta informed us that the same people all own Café Americano, the rather mysterious Ivory Lounge next door and Sangria, the tapas bar across the street. Interesting, but each serves such distinctly different clientele and food. Even more interesting is that Americano has updated its already excellent menu to include many more inventive pastas, a mouthwatering array of meat and fish dishes and appealing soups and salads that are great as stand-alones or starters.

It’s funny to say an Italian restaurant is “gemutlichkeit,” but that’s exactly what Americano is — a friendly neighborhood hangout that is also a stylish destination for good food and drink.

+ Ophelia’s is a Best Bet for Food and View
We recently attended young Maria Wirries’ lovely recital at Siesta Key Chapel. It was a benefit for Haiti and the super-talented 15-year-old singer entertained and sang the socks off us. That kind of performance calls for a celebration, so we took off down Siesta to Ophelia’s on the Bay, got a great table outside, right near the dock, and watched the parade of water craft as we sipped martinis (a Shirley Temple for Maria) and dove into Blue Point oysters with blue crab, cognac and truffle butter, cider-cured bacon and grana padano crumbs that make my mouth water just thinking about them.

Ophelia’s is a classic. I used to go there with my mother in the early 1980s. But, unlike many classics, it’s updated and gotten even better than I remember. From the fresh, crunchy salads to the Pacific Sea Bream, ribeye of beef and breast of duck, it’s one of Sarasota’s finest. Best of all, inside or out, it’s spectacularly beautiful; a restaurant that looks like paradise.

A couple got engaged out on the dock while we were there and when he slipped the ring on her finger and they kissed, we all burst into applause. The bride-to-be cried. The future groom beamed. And they resumed their seats at a romantic table for two by the water. Ahhh …

+ TidBitlets
We probably spend more time at two Sarasota breakfast/lunch places than anywhere except home: Station 400 — we frequent the one at 400 North Lemon, although we do occasionally visit the Lakewood Ranch location— and, our home-away-from-home, The Serving Spoon, on Osprey Avenue.

We don’t talk about either one that often because, well, we sort of take them for granted. Yet, we can be found at both of them for late breakfasts and noontime lunches more than we care to admit. Why? They have the best food, the most comfortable settings and the most amiable staffs.

Station 400 on North Lemon has our favorite salads served at comfy tables in a garden surrounded by bougainvillea and serenaded by Jonathon Schwartz via Sirius Satellite’s top forties from the 1940s. On a sunny, balmy Sarasota afternoon, it’s pure bliss, especially since we’ve gotten to know the charming wait staff and they make us feel like family.

The Serving Spoon has been home for years — first in its old digs on Beneva and Clark, and now on Osprey where the walls are lined with family photos and the menu Craig and Natasha have put together makes us feel as if we’re home, but we don’t have to do the dishes. We love it. We love them. And we feel well fed, in spirit and body.

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Originally published in The Observer
Date: April 24, 2013
by: June LeBell | Contributing Columnist

I’m starting to feel as if I’m in a time warp. Having attended the first three programs of this season’s La Musica concerts at the Opera House, I feel I should be wearing my hair in a pageboy, bobbysocks and saddle shoes on my feet and gloves on my hands. I know times have changed since the 1950s, but being at La Musica’s concerts has taken me back to the good old days of music presented for the sake of music with little heed paid to the performers or, for that matter, the audience.

So, the question is, were those really the “good old days?”

La Musica’s audiences are dwindling and, from the way the illustrious organization’s programs are made and presented, it’s understandable. Times have changed and chamber musicians have begun showing their enthusiasm and love for their subjects. That doesn’t mean dumbing-down or cutting quality at all. It means more communication with the audience; bringing listeners into the experience; playing better than ever; programming with an eye to format and an ear to invention. La Musica isn’t doing that.

All three programs presented in the first week of La Musica’s festival presented the same old, same old. The performers — all string players with the exception of pianist Derek Han — rarely infused any joy or passion into their playing so everything sounded the same. That’s not to say the performances were bad. They were just, well, blah.

And there was little attention paid to blend. Violinist Laura Zarina, for example, tends toward a more modern, straight-toned sound. It’s lovely, clear and musical. Cellist Dmitri Atapine’s sound is lush, with a warm, round vibrato. And Han’s piano is edgy and forceful. Put them together in the Brahms “Dumky” Trio and you get a performance that’s all over the place and sounds under-rehearsed.

The best and most cohesive works on the three programs were the Ravel String Quartet, in which violinists Federico Agostini and Ruth Lenz, violist Daniel Avshalomov and cellist Julie Albers seemed very much at home stylistically and musically, and Tchaikovksy’s A Minor Piano Trio with Zarina, Atapine and Han, who — still not very well blended — came across with a compelling, convincing performance.

Then, there was the programming. Boccherini’s C Minor String Trio is a bland and dusty piece that’s usually relegated to “filler” music on a radio station. Agostini, violist Bruno Giuranna and Albers couldn’t make it come alive and we couldn’t help wonder, why try?

It was somewhat interesting to hear Richard Strauss’ “Metamorphosen” in its setting for seven instruments but there’s a reason the 23-part version is more popular. And even Rossini hated his Sonata a Quattro No. 3 in C, calling it part of “ … six horrendous sonatas composed by me …” at the age of 12.

La Musica has had a wonderful reputation for good reason. It presented interestingly varied programs played by world-class performers. Today, there are too many really good, exciting chamber ensembles and festivals presenting powerful, cogent programs infused with personality and vigor. Without dumbing down anything, La Musica needs to rethink itself. Chamber music is a specialty that we don’t want to lose and there’s no reason La Musica can’t get back in the race.

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Originally published in The Observer
Date: April 24, 2013
by: June LeBell | Contributing Columnist

+ Jack Dusty’s takes the edge off taxes
For those of us still reeling from the April 15 crunch, Jack Dusty’s, in the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, offered some relief — offering “Tax Day Cocktails” to take the edge off the last-minute rush to the post office. In case you missed out (on your taxes or the cocktails), they’ve given us the recipes so we may drink at the hot spot or in the privacy of our own homes.

The “Tax Man-Up” consists of Applejack, Maker’s Mark, maple syrup and coffee liqueur stirred and strained on the rocks into a large, double, old-fashioned glass with a baby apple for garnish.

The “Tax Day Sweet Relief,” on the other hand, is made of port wine, Disaronno, Frangelico and egg whites shaken well with ice, strained into a port glass and garnished with a sprinkling of cinnamon. Frothy and fragrant, a couple of these will give you sweet relief.

+ The Green Room at FST is open and informal
The season may be almost over but parking is still difficult, especially in the downtown theater district. Now that Florida Studio Theatre has so many stages, and they’re all going at the same time, getting to any one of them — even a half hour before curtain — can mean several trips around the block or a ride to the top of the new parking garage.

One way to beat the odds is to make a reservation at The Green Room, FST’s new café and bar, located in the new Hegner Theatre Wing, adjacent to the Gompertz. The menu is simple, with old standbys such as shrimp cocktail, burgers, sandwiches, quiche and salads so, unless you’re looking for a candlelit, gourmet evening, it fills the pre-performance bill with well prepared, satisfying, fun fare.

With an ambience similar to a Lenox, Mass., bistro or a West Village café, the drinks are large and well-made, the food fresh and the service pleasing and efficient. To make reservations, call the FST box office at 366-9000.

+ Morton’s Gourmet holds first ‘American Made’
Morton’s Gourmet Market is interested in more than gourmet food and fine wine. Morton’s also has a Culinary Education Fund, and a couple of weeks ago it invited wine enthusiasts to sample more than 40 different wines from around the U.S. and enjoy tastes of artisanal cheeses and other gourmet treats in what it promised is the first of many annual “American Made” events to benefit the fund.

Wines from Napa, Sonoma, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico and other grape-growing, wine-making areas of the country were available to participants, while Morton’s chefs stood at cooking stations around the market serving their own spin on classic American dishes.

There’s nothing like an in-house foodie fundraiser to draw crowds. We’ve been to some in New York City and we’ve never eaten as well. Morton’s, a place I think of as Sarasota’s Zabar’s, has been this town’s full-service specialty food shop for more than 40 years and its prime meats and seafood, bakery, deli, flowers, gift baskets, cheeses, pates and wines fill our refrigerator, freezer and cupboards more than any other market. It’s nice to know it is spreading the wealth.

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Originally published in The Observer
Date: April 17, 2013
by: June LeBell | Contributing Columnist

The Sarasota Orchestra and guest conductor, Peter Bay, offered a program of two blockbusters from a pair of countries that could be called the cornerstone blocs of the East and the West: Russia and America. In one corner — out of Russia and appearing as the heavyweight champion of the East — Pyotr Tchaikovsky. And representing the West — America’s all-time heavyweight champ — Aaron Copland.

A great admirer of both musical champions, I’d forgotten how much I loved Tchaikovsky’s B-flat Minor Piano Concerto and Copland’s spectacular, no, make that brilliant, Third Symphony.

It was the first piano concerto that raised Van Cliburn to prominence in 1958 at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, and it’s hard to hear that piece without picturing the tall, lanky Texan who won hearts around the world. Andrew von Oeyen, the soloist with the Sarasota Orchestra, is another long, lanky pianist with hands as big as Texas and technical skills and musicality to match. He and Bay offered a particularly satisfying performance with the Orchestra — especially the strings and winds — showing they could match their mastery of the work with major orchestras in this country and abroad. The rich cello solo in the slow movement was particularly beautiful, and the more than 30-minute work seemed to pass more quickly than a blink.

But, for me, it was the Copland that made the concert memorable. It’s been a while since I’ve heard it live and, not since the New York Philharmonic played it on a program with two other “Thirds” — William Schuman’s and the one by Roy Harris — have I heard it played this well. Bay led what I’d call an erudite performance, always allowing the music to breathe and always going beneath the score to bring out what the composer intended.

Of course, there’s the famous “Fanfare for the Common Man,” which Copland wrote about four years before he turned to this symphony and incorporated into its fourth movement with such skill it still sends shivers up my spine. It’s a brilliant work, and it was given a brilliant performance by the orchestra’s outstanding brass section, which really got a workout, and Bay, who kept everything in balance even though this is one of the loudest pieces, overall, I can think of.

Copland managed to use his distinctive mid-20th century musical language to paint classical music in the American tongue we’ve come to associate with this country. Open fourths and fifth predominate the landscape, sounding like the great outdoors and Rockies, while rhythms are syncopated in ways that paint portraits of our great cities: New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Hear Copland’s Third and you know you’re not in Europe any more. And hearing it played by the Sarasota Orchestra musicians so stylistically right, so brashly American, you knew you were in the presence of a truly excellent ensemble.

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Originally published in The Observer
Date: April 10, 2013
by: June LeBell | Contributing Columnist

The Chroma Quartet has been together since 2008, but it’s only this season the group really made a splash on the Sarasota music scene. The players — violinists Christopher Takeda and Jennifer Best Takeda, violist Michael McClelland and cellist Abraham Feder — are all members of the Sarasota Orchestra but, unlike several other chamber groups that are under the mantel of the orchestra, this ensemble is on its own. As a result, the members have had to fend for themselves in terms of fundraising, publicity and venues — and they’ve done really well.

This year, Chroma presented three concerts for the First Tuesdays at First Church series, appearing there to bigger and bigger audiences each time. And with good reason.

Chroma’s programs are unique and fascinating. Its last concert, about a week ago, was called “Seriously Joking!” and went from Haydn’s E-flat Quartet — known as “The Joke,” to Beethoven’s Quartet in F Minor, subtitled, “Serioso,” with a charmingly quirky, awaard-winning “Half-Diminished Scherzo,” by Piotr Szewczyk, in between.

Along with the clever programming, Chroma plays well. Haydn’s “Joke” is a serious work filled with insider music pranks along with some obvious gags that can put the audience in musical stitches. It’s also an extremely exposed piece that leaves intonation and blending vulnerable but, except for some rare balance nuisances, Chroma pulled it off with a pure, straight execution that had the audience chuckling along with the unexpected syncopations and multiple false endings.

The “Half-Diminished Scherzo” offers intricate rhythmic pulses, intriguing cascades of almost modal-sounding scales and a slow passage layered with shimmering intervals and tiers of colorful chords that were densely written but well-defined in the hands of Chroma. The late afternoon sun streaming through the church’s stained glass windows added a visual illumination that made this work particularly inspiring. And the sanctuary’s acoustics, unequaled in Sarasota, helped delineate the wondrous sound of this work, which has won awards for Szewczyk.

One of the inspired Chroma trademarks is that each of the group’s members speaks to the audience as an introduction to each piece. Charming, witting and informed, they add their own personalities to the mix of music, making these concerts enlightening as well as entertaining.

In an introduction to the Beethoven, Feder quoted Joseph Kerman, author of “Beethoven Quartets,” with the best description of the “Serioso” Quartet I’ve heard: “It’s impulsive, defiant, pained, adversarial … The F Minor Quartet is not a ‘pretty’ piece, but it is terribly strong — and perhaps rather terrible … Everything unessential falls victim, leaving a residue of extreme concentration … ”

Feder called the work “compressed music,” and the performance that followed was as expressive and descriptive in the Chroma’s playing as the words were in Feder’s introduction.

Chroma is an ensemble that jokes with charm while playing with great seriousness. The group will be presenting its second season —the first Tuesdays of February, March and April — next year in the Music Fine Arts series at the First United Methodist Church. I suggest you get a subscription before it sells out.

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Originally published in The Observer
Date: April 10, 2013
by: June LeBell | Contributing Columnist

+ Louies Modern Is Open for business
After months of squinting through cracks in the window coverings on the Palm Avenue side of the new parking garage downtown, the much-anticipated restaurant in that space has opened. Louies Modern, with its state-of-the-art open kitchen, wood-burning oven and grill, has finally opened its doors and, if we’re happy, the Seidensticker family — owners of Libby’s Café and, now, Louies — must be ecstatic.

The concept is modern and energetic. Unlike Libby’s, which is a casual neighborhood hangout (with great food), Louies aims for more advanced dishes prepared with contemporary techniques.

While Libby — the Seidensticker mother — liked to keep things simple, Louie — the family’s patriarch — fancied the finer things in life, particularly good food and drink. So Louies Modern will be more sophisticated and will offer a contemporary spin on “the good life,” where associates and families gather in a downtown social setting for great food and drink.

Louies is offering everything from snacks such as sunchoke fritti or smoked trout deviled eggs, and small plates — petite prime beef tartar or a country terrine — to flatbreads and pizzetti from the wood-burning oven, dinner-size portions of fire-roasted sea scallops or butcher’s bistro steak frites and even a “gluten free and simply wood fired” list of possibilities.

+ The Francis Is Open for business
Sitting right next door to Louies Modern, and also owned by the Seidensticker family, the Francis is also now officially open. This 300-seat special-events venue bears Steve Seidensticker’s middle name and, coincidentally, Executive Chef Francis Casciato’s first name.

Until now, there were only two or three venues that could be rented by arts and philanthropic organizations for major luncheons and dinners. The Francis, which was supposed to be open a couple of months ago, has managed to allow a few dinner parties through its doors but, until now, the bathrooms and ballrooms were barebones. Now, the paintings have been hung on the walls and the fixtures have been properly mounted, so Sarasota has a major venue for food and ambience right downtown. And, with the parking garage adjacent, it makes life easier for those of us toddling in with stiletto heels and minimal cocktail dresses. Good move.

+ DEREK’S CULINARY CASUAL IS A MOVER AND SHAKER
Now that Derek Barnes has announced he’s moving from the Rosemary District to Bradenton, he’s also announced plans to host a culinary excursion much farther afield — to Portland, Ore. Barnes, a semifinalist for the James Beard Best Chef South award for Derek’s and winner of Florida Trend’s Golden Spoon award, will be hosting a wine-and-culinary excursion to Portland with Admiral Travel International.

Kate Atkin, executive director of the Sarasota-Manatee Originals, says this marks the third such culinary tour the group has hosted since 2011. The program includes behind-the-scenes visits to top wineries, walking tours of downtown Portland, excursions to outlying areas, encounters with celebrated chefs and visits to off-the-beaten-path restaurants and farms.

“I’m really excited about hosting this trip,” Barnes says. “Willamette Valley is the largest wine-producing region in the state … That entire region is so lushly beautiful, it’s the perfect backdrop to enjoy fabulous food, beer and wine.”

For more information about the trip, visit AuthentEscapes.com or freshoriginals.com.

+ Eat Out by Stopping In
With the weather warming up, a day at the beach is within the realm of possibility and there’s nothing like a good sandwich to take to the sands of Siesta Key beach. The Crescent Beach Grocery, a staple of the community, has always made good take-out items but now it’s offering a bourbon bacon BLT with brown sugar mayo. Pick it up and take it with one of the unusual sodas you’ll find in the aisles and a bag of gourmet chips. You’ll lap it up as the Gulf of Mexico laps at your feet.

+ Carmel Café and Wine Bar Spices Up University Park
We had a fantastic dinner recently at Carmel Café, on Cooper Creek Boulevard. And while we were there, we heard about the café’s modern-looking, cozy but sleek plans for spring.

Stretch out in a comfy armchair and sample the refreshing texture, taste and colors of the spring pea bruschetta. Or have a charbroiled, smoke-infused flatbread of shrimp, red peppers, olives, tomatoes, English cucumber, fontina and feta cheeses and yummy pea shoots while looking out the window from a cozy booth.
My favorite dish was the ravioli verde: spinach and ricotta ravioli topped with fresh peas, portabella mushrooms, haricot verts and pea shoots. Tender and tasty, I could have made a whole meal out of these delicate morsels that seemed to have layers of flavors bursting from their delicate wrappers.a

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Originally published in The Observer
Date: April 3, 2013
by: June LeBell | Contributing Columnist

One of the greatest of all opera composers, Giuseppe Verdi, is having what would be his 200th birthday celebrated all this year, and Sarasota Opera, being one of the greatest proponents of his work, got an almost seven-month lead (his actual date of birth was Oct. 10, 1813) with a massive concert, at the Opera House, featuring some of his best and least known works.

One problem with a concert of operatic scenes is that there’s no time for the singers to get into character. There are also no costumes or scenery, so the singers are without their usual operatic accoutrements. Another difficulty is singers too often sing an excerpt from a role they’re not yet up to, vocally. (On the other hand, it gives younger, less experienced singers a chance to do a scene or two from an opera that may be fine for them in the future.) And subtlety often takes a backseat to enthusiasm.

Of course, having an orchestra on stage with them, especially one as excellent as the Sarasota Opera Orchestra, led by Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi, is a great support, as is the exceptional chorus of studio artists and apprentices.

The solo singers on stage were no slouches, either. A few did a bit of over-singing, pushing their resources to the very edge of their current abilities, but, for the most part, they came across well.

The Act I trio and Act II tenor aria, which Verdi cut from the original versions of “Un giorno di regno,” were wonderful examples of singers in evening dress suffusing their roles with character and charisma. Danielle Walker, Jennifer Feinstein and especially tenor Hak Soo Kim, were all in excellent voice and, without flailing or flaunting, managed to turn themselves, vocally and figuratively, into their roles.

Sean Anderson and Kevin Short managed a well sung but fairly wooden performance of the Act II duet between Rodrigue and Philippe in the French version of “Don Carlos,” while Walker and Heath Huberg gave a credible performance of the Brindisi from “La Traviata,” although neither is ready to take on the full role at this stage in their careers.

The excerpts from “Aida” were thrilling with full throttle singing from Jonathan Burton as Radames, Feinstein as Amneris, Short as Amonasro, Young Bok Kim as The King and William Roberts (a studio artist) as Ramfis.
Lindsay Barche, a Studio Artist, made a last-minute appearance for the ailing Brenda Harris in the title role. Although singing only excerpts, Barche, whose voice has grown considerably since appearing here in “The Crucible,” may want to be careful of the roles she accepts. A recent Internet blog dealt with this subject, with singers and managers weighing in on the dangers of singing roles one is not yet up to performing. Having a gigantic voice doesn’t mean one is ready to take on gigantic parts. Doing so could lead to gigantic vocal problems.

Subtlety was not the order of the evening, but extravagance of sound and enthusiasm were. Even more was this thought: Sarasota is blessed to have an opera company that can bring us such excellence. We’re also fortunate to have two such excellent orchestras — Sarasota Opera Orchestra and Sarasota Orchestra — living and performing in our midst. Very few cities, especially of our size, can boast such riches.

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Originally published in The Observer
Date: March 27, 2013
by: June LeBell | Contributing Columnist

The Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, on its current tour of the United States, made a stop last week in Sarasota and proved how different musical tastes can be with an ocean between. The more than 100-year-old orchestra brought an all-Beethoven program, starting with the rarely heard overture from the composer’s incidental music to “The Ruins of Athens.” The real meat of the program’s first half came with the Fourth Piano Concerto with Louis Lortie, the well-recorded pianist.

It seemed as though the conductor and soloist had different views of this concerto, and they never quite got together on their interpretations. Lortie’s over-pedaling gave the piano a blurred sound, while Music Director Stefan Blunier led the orchestra in a dry reading without much nuance. Occasionally, lines were taken out of context and phrases simply ended without being tapered or shaped.

The entire second half of the program was devoted to Beethoven’s great Symphony No. 7, and here the reading was so different from anything we’ve heard before that we had to think in musicological terms. Without going into a whole history of the metronome and the markings Beethoven used in his scores, it’s fascinating to look into some of the recordings made by the scholarly conductor, Roger Norrington. Whether you agree with the aggressively fast tempos, Norrington has been making a case for clear, clean, unromanticized sounds in music of the late-18th- and early-19th centuries.

We think this was what Blunier was striving for with this symphony, but he took the fast sections so fast they became a blur lacking definition and reason. If we thought the second movement, Allegretto, was fast, we could barely believe the tempo he took the finale, Allegro con brio.

Blunier also over-played the strings, so even the brilliant horns and brass in this symphony were overpowered and hard to hear. It was as if a whirling dervish had taken the podium and swept away the dots and syncopations of the Beethoven we know and left our ears in the dust.

It’s hard to know what to make of this performance. The orchestra has to be good to play anything at such a clip. Yet, there were ragged entrances throughout the concert and, for all the momentary sparks of brilliant playing, there were even more moments when the phrases were pulled out of context and lacked any real nuance and shading. Speed with style can be exhilarating. This was just exhausting.

Interestingly, the encore the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and Blunier chose, a Stokowski transcription of a Bach chorale, was the best played and interpreted piece on the program. Here, the phrasing was round and the tone rich. This is a terrific orchestra, but we have to question some of its music director’s musicological decisions.

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Originally published in The Observer
Date: March 27, 2013
by: June LeBell | Contributing Columnist

+ The Bunny Trail Is ‘Hoppening’
Kids and, well, older kids can celebrate Easter early with the 27th annual Easter egg hunt this Saturday, at the Sandbar restaurant. Bring your own basket and get to this fun Anna Maria eatery, right on the water, by 8:30 a.m. for some light refreshments. The hunt starts at 9 a.m. and is followed by a chance to see the Easter Bunny as he leads the parade down Pine Avenue for the Easter egg roll. At 10:30 a.m., stand by for the third annual Easter bonnet contest. Refreshments will be provided by the Sandbar and Anna Maria Donuts.
Mar Vista, on Longboat Key, is having its 25th annual Easter egg hunt at 10 a.m. Saturday, and it promises every egg found will contain a treat or special surprise.

+ The Bunny Trail Hops Up to the Bar
For a bit more epicurean sophistication on Easter Sunday, one of the best brunches around can be found at The Table Creekside, with mouthwatering dishes such as salmon pastrami bruschetta, bagel crostini, farmer’s cheese spread and caper berry mignonette, and restful waterside views and a chance to win a gift certificate or two.

Terry Ryan, founding partner of the urbane and cutting-edge Carmel Café, on Cooper Creek Boulevard., says, “Holiday brunches traditionally are when people leisurely gather to enjoy each other’s company while also enjoying great food.”

Carmel Café is offering its “Mod Med” cuisine with foods and flavors traditionally associated with Mediterranean countries in a fun, easy-going, but stylish setting.

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar has announced the return of its annual three-course Easter brunch with choices that include baked brioche French toast, right, with a walnut crisp and its fabulous white chocolate bread pudding for dessert.

Libby’s Café + Bar has Easter plans with a special buffet from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and à la carte options from 3 to 10 p.m. The buffet includes too many luscious things to list, but among those that pop up like baby chicks are the omelet station (create your own, but let someone else do the work!), mini crab cakes, pot roast and mashed potatoes, blueberry pancakes with warm maple syrup, all sorts of salads and sides and a host of sweets from chocolate truffle cake to baked cinnamon buns.

Executive Chef Dwayne Edwards is putting together more than 65 dishes for the Easter brunch at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, and, thinking the kiddies need something to call their own, he’s also creating a pint-size buffet that will feature children’s favorites for a festive feast.

+ More Favorites for Feasting at Easter
Michael’s On East is hopping down the bunny trail with a special brunch that will knock your bunny slippers off. This holiday buffet is open from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and features foods that are so beautifully displayed, right, it’s almost a shame to eat them. But, believe me, you’ll manage.

Harry’s Continental Kitchens, on Longboat Key, has been extra busy with Passover specials but now it’s focused on Easter with a deli-style twist. You can eat in or take it home and enjoy your meal in the comfort of your own dining room. What’s to eat? How about: leg of lamb with potatoes, buttermilk biscuits and green beans, or baked ham with scalloped potatoes. Don’t want to bother with the cleanup? Visit Harry’s and eat there.

Duval’s New World Café, on Main Street, has a special Easter mimosa brunch buffet. The Broken Egg is getting in on this special day with Easter benedicts and mimosas. And Ophelia’s on the Bay is serving Easter dinner all day Sunday, with more mimosas and bloody Marys than you can even imagine. Of course, the view at Ophelia’s is always spectacular: Fish are jumping and the pelicans are soaring. That setting makes you feel spring has really sprung, and its food never fails.

+ Call Your Nearest Bunny or It Won’t Be Funny!
Almost every restaurant we’ve mentioned has one caveat, one reservation: Make a reservation! Easter brunches, lunches and dinners are probably the most sought-after restaurant meals of the year and you don’t want to be left at the curb. It’s not too late to make your plans. Happy Easter eating.

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