Conrad Tao performed Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Symphony of the Americas Tuesday night at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. An outstanding 17-year-old pianist gave a performance of a Rachmaninoff concerto Tuesday night in Fort Lauderdale that would have done credit to a veteran virtuoso.

Conrad Tao, a student at Juilliard, performed the Russian composer’s Second Piano Concerto with Symphony of the Americas at the Broward Center, fresh off a performance of a Saint-Saëns concerto with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He is an amazing dual talent who had previously performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Symphony of the Americas, and his deep musicality was apparent from the first notes.

Lots of pianists can bang their way through this difficult work. But Tao, from the dramatic flair with which he played the first pensive broken chords, showed a natural feel for the concerto’s yearning melodies and restless energy. Although he is clearly a master of the keyboard, his playing was so smooth and fluent that the difficulty of the work was never at the forefront; nor was there ever a hint of the look-how-hard-this-is virtuosity that marks the playing of some young keyboard phenoms. He could be grand, as in the sweeping swirls of notes that open the last movement, and his technical ability was apparent throughout, as he easily handled the rapid chords, runs and other challenges of a concerto composed by one of history’s great virtuosos.

James Brooks-Bruzzese conducted the Reményi Ede Chamber
Orchestra Wednesday night at the Broward Center.

An excellent Hungarian chamber orchestra performed Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale as part of Symphony of the America’s Summerfest series, playing a concert of short works that ranged from the powdered-wig era of 18th century Austria to the smoky nightclubs of Buenos Aires.

The Reményi Ede Chamber Orchestra of Hungary played at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, as part of a series of performances that take the orchestra to Hungary, Panama and Ecuador.

The Broward Center for the Performing Arts of Fort Lauderdale, was filled with an enthusiastic crowd of music lovers and fans of the Symphony of The Americas excellent programs.

This time dedicated to the romantic composers, showcasing the music of Weber, Beethoven, Bizet and Glazunov.

The varied and colorful program created by Musical Director and Conductor Maestro James Brooks-Bruzzese includes music from three different countries form the romantic era. The first peace "Invitation to the Dance" by Carl Maria von Weber known as the father of the German Romantic Opera.

The indefatigable James Brooks-Bruzzese mounted the podium of the Symphony of the Americas to open the ensemble's 23rd season with a program honoring Hispanic Heritage Month on October 19, 2010 at the Broward Center's acoustically excellent Amaturo Theater in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA. From the languid strains of Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess to the incendiary Latin rhythms of Manuel De Falla's Ritual Fire Dance from El Amor Brujo (here presented in the composer's original chamber version with bracing xylophone exclamations instead of heavy brass), the conductor exhibited his sure touch with idiomatic, lively playing and deft musicality. The smoky voiced Australian soprano Dona Balson offered two emotion tinged arias from De Falla's one act opera La Vida Breve, sung with impassioned fervor. Balson's lustrous version of Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix from Saint-Saens' Samson and Deliah was a wonderful bonus. Opulent of voice and intensely expressive, Balson was appropriately seductive.