Author: Mark Arnest

Two words: Annamarie Zmolek. Okay, they’re not the easiest words to get your mouth around. But the soprano’s unforgettable portrayal of Violetta is reason in itself to see Opera Theatre of the Rockies’ production of “La Traviata” at the Pikes Peak Center. Not that Zmolek is alone on the stage. As Alfredo, Violetta’s passionate, jealous…

“You’ll see this orchestra on fire”: That’s the promise made by Josep Caballé-Domenech, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic’s new music director, and already well on the way to being fulfilled with Saturday’s sensational performances of Mahler and Tchaikovsky. You couldn’t have scripted a more satisfying opening to the start of Caballé-Domenech’s tenure. The mood was electric;…

 Saturday night’s Colorado Springs Philharmonic was a bittersweet triumph: Bitter in that Lawrence Leighton Smith, who deserved a triumphant finale to his career in Colorado Springs, was unable to conduct his own farewell program; triumphant in that Josep Caballé-Domenech, who was announced Saturday night as Smith’s successor, appears ready to build on Smith’s foundation and…

Emotions ran high on Saturday night when Lawrence Leighton Smith led the Colorado Springs Philharmonic in what’s probably the next-to-last Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in his long tenure in town. (The program is being repeated on Sunday.) The piece has had special significance both for Smith and for the orchestra: It’s the piece he’s conducted…

Emotions ran high on Saturday night when Lawrence Leighton Smith led the Colorado Springs Philharmonic in what’s probably the next-to-last Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in his long tenure in town. (The program is being repeated on Sunday.) The piece has had special significance both for Smith and for the orchestra: It’s the piece he’s conducted…

The grand opening of the Fine Arts Center — April 20 through 25, 1936 — was a transformative event in Colorado Springs. About 5,000 people, a sixth of the city’s population, attended the festivities. These included a performance by Martha Graham, a recital by violinist Albert Spalding, Erik Satie’s symphonic drama “Socrate” (the stage setting…

The grand opening of the Fine Arts Center — April 20 through 25, 1936 — was a transformative event in Colorado Springs. About 5,000 people, a sixth of the city’s population, attended the festivities. These included a performance by Martha Graham, a recital by violinist Albert Spalding, Erik Satie’s symphonic drama “Socrate” (the stage setting…

The search for Lawrence Leighton Smith’s successor as Colorado Springs Philharmonic music director got interesting on Saturday night when Australian Kynan Johns, the sixth and last finalist for the position, led the orchestra in a searing performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 Until Johns’ appearance, the clear favorite was dark-horse candidate Josep Caballé-Domenech, an applicant…