SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2010
KLMNO classical music} fall arts preview
For searchable listings, go to
washingtonpost.com/fallarts.
E15
Critic’s recommendations are indicated by arrows
LAURIE SWOPE
DARIO ACOSTA
FRAN KAUFMAN ALL-STAR LINEUP: Some of the famous musicians who will be visiting Washington are, from left, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, soprano Deborah Voigt, pianist Till Fellner and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.
Bringing on the big names and mavericks
Voigt, Fleming, Reich and Glass
by Anne Midgette R
ecession? Who cares? Washington’s classical music presenters this season are responding to economic travails
with a string of big, glittery, crowd- attracting names. The Washington National Opera is offering the company debut of the powerhouse American soprano Deborah Voigt, who will sing Strauss’s “Salome,” a
In the lineup:
role far better suited to her silvery voice than some of the Italian fare she’s essaying at other companies this season, in October. The Wash- ington Performing Arts Society is offering recitals by Yo-Yo Ma (Oc- tober), Emanuel Ax (November), Anne-Sophie Mutter (November), Renée Fleming (who will be in D.C. twice this year; she’s also singing at the NSO’s season opener) and Hilary Hahn (both in January). The National Symphony Orchestra is offering a string of notable solo- ists — Fleming, Lang Lang, Chris- tian Tetzlaff — in what looks to be a strong season celebrating the ar- rival of its new music director, Christoph Eschenbach. And the Post-Classical Ensemble is open-
ing the season with an in-depth, three-concert exploration of one of the most popular of American composers: George Gershwin (September). What’s most encouraging in
Washington this season, though, is the depth: There are a number of exciting projects with less widely known forces. I’m pleased, for in- stance, to have a chance to hear the opera “Florencia en el Amazo- nas” when the Maryland Opera Studio of the University of Mary- land puts it on in November. Here’s a chance for us in Washing- ton to debate some of the issues of contemporary American opera composition — is tunefulness a bad thing? — with a work that has remained popular with audiences since its 1996 premiere. It’s also a chance to hear an opera by Daniel Catán just after the September de- but of his latest, “Il Postino,” with Plácido Domingo at the Los Ange- les Opera. Until “Il Postino” makes its way to Washington, “Florencia” will have to sate our curiosity. Strathmore, meanwhile, is
showcasing two living lions in No- vember: Steve Reich and Philip Glass, composers whose names are often linked, much to their mutual dismay. They’re linked because they’re both mavericks who start- ed out on the New York scene with
their own ensembles and endedup as the fathers of the school com- monly known as Minimalism (an inadequate term that neither of them much likes either). Reich’s music is smart, thoughtful, fo- cused, with sharp crisp edges; it will be featured in a program by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, them- selves a well-known contemporary force, which will present the American premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winner’s 2009 piece “2x5.” Glass is more of a Romantic at heart, embracing big forms (he’s written more than 20 operas) and big ensembles (he often writes for full orchestra, which Reich no lon- ger does). His latest violin concer- to, his second, which had its pre- miere in London in April, bears
the sobriquet “The American Sea- sons,” and Robert McDuffie and the Venice Baroque Orchestra are pairing it with Vivaldi’s work of the same name and are touring it all over the United States this fall, with Strathmore as its Washington area stop. There are, as always in Washing- ton, some excellent vocal recitals on the calendar. Thomas Hamp- son, the self-appointed guardian of American song, returns to the Li- brary of Congress in October; the reportedly excellent mezzo-sopra- no Alice Coote, whom I have yet to hear live, bows at the Vocal Arts Society in November. And Lied lovers should make a point of hearing the tenor Christoph Genz and the veteran pianist and writer
Charles Rosen, who come together at the Clarice Smith Center to offer Schumann’s cycle “Dichterliebe” in October. The season also encompasses an end and a beginning. Till Fellner, the lucid Austrian pianist, has over the last two years been traversing the complete Beethoven sonatas, concert by concert, establishing himself in the ears and even hearts of local audiences. In October, he concludes the cycle with the last three sonatas — only to return in January, thanks to WPAS, to the Kennedy Center with a program that doesn’t include any Beetho- ven at all, offering a new work, by the composer Kit Armstrong, in- stead.
midgettea@washpost.com
HARALD HOFFMAN
2010/11 SEPTEMBER
11 — “Un Ballo in Maschera” Washington National Opera performs Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, with tenor Salvatore Licitra. At Kennedy Center, Opera House. Through Sept. 25.
19 — VERGE Ensemble Performs works by local composers. At Corcoran College of Art and Design.
21 — The Gershwin Project: “Gershwin and Jazz”With the University Jazz Ensemble and pianists Genadi Zagor and Vakhtang Kodanashvili, presented by the Post-Classical Ensemble. At Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dekelboum Concert Hall.
24 — The Gershwin Project: “The Russian Gershwin” Presented by the Post-Classical Ensemble. At Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dance Theater.
24 — Bel Cantanti Opera presents Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” and Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” Through Oct. 10. At Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington.
25 — National Symphony Orchestra opening gala Christoph Eschenbach, conductor; Renée Fleming, soprano; Lang Lang, piano. Strauss, “Four Last Songs”; Liszt, Piano Concerto No. 1. At Kennedy Center, Concert Hall
25 — Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop conducts Gustav Mahler’s Seventh Symphony. At Music Center at Strathmore.
30 — National Symphony Orchestra Music director Christoph Eschenbach leads Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Pintscher’s “Hérodiade-Fragmente” with soprano Marisol Montalvo. At Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Through Oct. 2.
»
30 — Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Marin Alsop in Mendelssohn’s Violin
Concerto (Stefan Jackiw), John Adams’s “Doctor Atomic” and Dvorak’s “New World” symphony. At the Music Center at Strathmore (and the Meyerhoff on Oct. 2, 3).
OCTOBER
1— Folger Consort and vocal sextet Lionheart Performing music from the court of Henry VIII. At Folger Theatre. Through Oct. 3.
3— Violinist Robert McDuffie Recital with students and faculty of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings. Includes works by Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev and
»
Ernest Chausson. At Phillips Collection.
3 — Washington Bach Consort Looks at the genesis of the B Minor Mass. At the National
Presbyterian Church.
7— National Symphony Orchestra Conductor Christoph Eschenbach continues a season-long
concentration on Beethoven with the violin concerto (soloist: Christian Tetzlaff). Also, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6. At Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Through Oct. 9.
7— “Salome”Washington National Opera presents Deborah Voigt in a new production of Strauss’s opera by Francesca Zambello. At Kennedy Center Opera House. Through Oct. 23.
9— National Philharmonic Offers Mahler’s “Resurrection” symphony led by Piotr Gajewski. At Music Center at Strathmore.
14 — National Symphony Orchestra All-Mahler program. Christoph Eschenbach conducts the Symphony No. 5 as well as “Kindertotenlieder,” with Nathalie Stutzmann, contralto. At Kennedy Center, Concert Hall. Through Oct. 16.
14 — Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Led by 17-year-old conductor Ilyich Rivas, performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (Markus Groh), Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1, others. Through Oct. 15. At Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. (Also at Music Center at Strathmore on Oct. 16.)
14 — Pamela Frank and friends. A recital by the violinist. At Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater.
15 — Virginia Opera performs Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” At George Mason University, Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Also Oct. 17.
16 — Brooklyn Rider A multi-faceted string quartet, veterans of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project. At George Mason University, Center for the Arts Concert Hall.
17 — Till Fellner Pianist concludes his traversal of the complete Beethoven sonatas. At Embassy of Austria.
17 — Cathedral Choral Society presents “French Connections” With music by Faure, Vierne, Franck, Boulanger, others. At Washington National Cathedral.
17 — Violinist Stefan Jackiw At Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington.
20 — Parker Quartet Performs Ligeti, Beethoven and Dvorak. At Freer Gallery, Meyer Auditorium.
20 — Pianist András Schiff Performs works by Robert Schumann. Presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society. At Music Center at Strathmore.
21 — Pianist Charles Rosen and tenor Christoph Genz Performing Robert Schumann’s song cycle “Dichterliebe.” At Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Gildenhorn Recital Hall.
21 — Yo-Yo Ma, cellist In recital. Presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society. At Kennedy Center Concert Hall.
21 — Talich Quartet. At the Library of Congress.
» »
22 — Violinist Midori and conductor Gilbert VargaWith the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Performing works by Glinka, Shostakovich and Stravinsky. At Music Center at Strathmore.
22 — Violinist Caroline Goulding The 17-year-old in recital in WPAS’s Kreeger String
series. At Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater.
22 — American String Quartet Featuring Menahem Pressler, piano. At the Barns at Wolf Trap.
23 — National Philharmonic Performs Dvorak’s “New World” symphony and cello concerto conducted by Piotr Gajewski, with Zuill Bailey, cello. At Music Center at Strathmore. Through Oct. 24.
23 — Bach Sinfonia Performs requiems by Mozart and Salieri. At Montgomery College Cultural
Arts Center.
24 — “De Materie.” The Great Noise Ensemble presents this seminal opera by the Dutch composer Louis Andriessen. At the National Gallery of Art.
24 Verdehr Trio Performs works by Antonin Dvorák and American composer Evan Chambers. At Phillips Collection.
24 — Washington Concert Opera presents Cilea’s “Adriana Lecouvreur” Antony Walker, conductor. At George Washington University, Lisner Auditorium.
26 — Musicians From Marlboro Works by Dvorák, Respighi, Mozart
classical continued on E16 Explore the full season at
WPAS.org • (202) 785-WPAS (9727)
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev
Yo-Yo Ma • Hilary Hahn • Anne-Sophie Mutter Renée Fleming • Gil Shaham • Itzhak Perlman
Evgeny Kissin • Tokyo String Quartet with Jeremy Denk Joshua Bell • Boston Symphony with James Levine St. Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov Trey McIntyre Project • Wynton Marsalis Ravi Shankar’s 90th
Birthday Celebration
Michael Feinstein • Esperanza Spalding The Philadelphia Orchestra Maurizio Pollini
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166