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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2010
the christmas issue} music
B HOLIDAYEVENTS B B CHORAL MUSIC B B JULIANWACHNER, MUSIC DIRECTOR THEATRE B
ROUND HOUSE THEATRE Bethesda
“[An] inventively staged, child-friendly science fiction adventure”-TheWash. Post
AWRINKLE IN TIME
Today at 3pm
“The greatest violinistactive today.” -The Boston Herald
From the novel by Madeleine L’Engle HELD OVERTHRU JAN. 2
By John Glore $10&$15 TIX FOR KIDS! ACANDLELIGHT
CHRISTMAS Glorious music of the season!
Holiday favorites plus sing-alongs, candlelight, and more!
December 18, 19, 20&22
Kennedy Center Concert Hall December 21
www.thewashingtonchorus.org
Music Center at Strathmore Pick your seats online at
or Call: 202.342.6221 Tickets may also be purchased at
www.kennedy-center.org www.strathmore.org
Ensemble of Fairfax presents
The Ballet Arts NUTCRACKER
INANUTSHELL Saturday,Dec.18at3&7:30pm
Sunday,Dec.19at3pm Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall&Arts Center
3001 N. Beauregard St,NOVAAlexandria Tickets $20
CALL: (703) 273-5344
thecenteforballetarts.com
TKTS/INFO: 240-644-1100
roundhousetheatre.org n 4545 East-West Hwy. x
OLNEYTHEATRE CENTER
‘TIL JAN 9! BEST SEATSTU/W/TH “Redheaded sunshine”–TheWash Post
Book by Thomas Meehan; Music by Charles Strouse Lyrics by Martin Charnin; Directed by MarkWaldrop
ANNIE TODAYAT 2PM
301.924.3400
olneytheatre.org FORD'STHEATRE ACHRISTMAS
CAROL Thru Jan. 2 Today at 2:30 We/Th noon
Tu/We/Th/Fr/Sa/Su 7:30 Sa/Su 2:30
(202) 397-SEAT
www.fords.org
511 10th Street,NWWashington,DC WOOLLYMAMMOTH
AGIRL’S GUIDETO WASHINGTON POLITICS
WRITTENAND PERFORMED
BY CHICAGO’S THE SECOND CITY TICKETS GOING FAST!
202-393-3939•
woollymammoth.net
“Shrieks of laughter night after night.” -TheWashington Post
Searing renditions of beloved carols and heartwarming sing-alongs with full orchestra
Perfect for Holiday Parties
Great Group Rates (202) 416-8400
nTue–Fri at 8, Sat at6&9,Sun at3&7x
TKTS:202-467-4600 /GROUPS: 202-416-8400
www.kennedy-center.org/shearmadness
Dec.13, 21&24
One Night Only! Special Guests
The Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Guides Dec.13
or
The Studio Theatre EXTENDED BY POPULAR DEMANDTHRU JAN2!
“Performances areATREAT!” -TheWashington Post
Today at 2:00 pm &7:00 pm
SUPERIOR DONUTS
by Tracy Letts directed by Serge Seiden
The Studio 2ndStage “Masterful performances!
Holidayfun for even the littlest music fan! Dec.18
Kennedy Center Concert Hall Tickets: 202.467.4600
www.kennedy-center.org or
www.ChoralArts.org ETAP presents
202.785.9727
Santa Got Frostbite
Song&Dance Musical Extravaganza for the whole family
Ernst Theatre,NOVAAnnandale Campus Dec 11 12:00 pm, 3:00pm&7:00pm Dec 12 1:00pm&4:00pm Dec 17 8:00pm
Dec 18 12:00 pm, 3:00pm&7:00pm Dec 19 1:00pm&4:00pm
Book Online:
www.Encore-Tap.org Ticket Info.(703)222-5511
Tkts:$15-$25
ARENAISSANCE CHRISTMAS
with acclaimed British vocal ensemble THE TALLIS SCHOLARS
Final two Performances TODAYAT2&5
At Georgetown University’sGaston Hall 202.544.7077 •
folger.edu/consort
B
Edgy,compelling and powerful!” —Washingtonian
Tonight at 7:30 pm MOJO by Jez Butterworth directed by Christopher Gallu
$99 Holiday 3-Play Packages On Sale Now!
Tstudiotheatre.org •202-332-3300 B
COMEDY B
“They'rethe best! There's no one like them, no one in their league!” —Larry King, CNN
“Non-stop
hilarious...four stars.” —Arch Campbell, WRC-TV
FRIDAYS &SATURDAYS AT 7:30 PM Ronald Reagan Bldg, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave,NW
INFO: 202-312-1555 Tickets available through TicketMaster at 703-683-8330•
www.capsteps.com
To purchase Capitol Steps CDs & cassettes, for private show info:
If only you had home delivery. 1-800-753-POST
SF
Home delivery is convenient.
If only you had home delivery.
1-800-753-POST SF 1-800-753-POST SF
Home delivery makes good sense.
1-800-753-POST SF
(202) 397-SEAT
www.ticketmaster.com Group Sales: 202-312-1427
J. Reilly Lewis, Music Director
CHRISTMAS Cathedral Choral Society
THE JOYOF
Maret School Concert Choir – James Erwin, Music Director
Todd Fickley, organ Edward Nassor, carillon
Washington Symphonic Brass Today,December 12 at 4pm
Washington National Cathedral Mass.&Wisc.Avenues,NW
Mon.,December 20 at 4pm
The Music Center at Strathmore Bethesda,MD
Tickets starting at $25
Tickets/Info: (877) 537-2228
www.cathedralchoralsociety.org
B
MARINE BRASS QUINTET
Sunday,Dec.12at2p.m.
Featuring HolidayFavorites and… Sweelinck:“Marchans qui traversez tout le rivage more”
Mase: Fancies on Italian Madrigals Ewald: Quintet No.4 in A-flat, Opus 8 Plog: Quintet No.1, Four Sketches Kamen: Quintet
Bizet: Farandole from L’arlésienne, Suite No.2
Sousa Hall, Marine Barracks Annex 7th and LStreets,SE
Washington,DC,parking available
FREE:NOTICKETS REQUIRED (202) 433-4011
www.marineband.usmc.mil CHORAL MUSIC
B Glorious Music in aGlorious Setting ®
LIBERTY SMITH OPEN CALL
For Young Male Actors 8-12 only Minority children encouraged to attend
Mon., Dec.20, 6-8 p.m. AtWoolly MammothTheatre 641 DSt.NW
No appointment necessary
Prepare short comedic monologue and song to be sung acappella Bring picture and resume
PLEASE DO NOTATTEND IFYOUHAVE ANY CONFLICTS DURINGTHIS PERIOD
Production dates 2/15-5/21/11
auditions@fords.org NO PHONE CALLS
Questions to
WORKSHOPS &CLASSES
B
DANCE CLASSES THE PERFECT GIFT!
Over ¼million dancers since 1976! 4Week Course -$49 Swing•Salsa•Ballroom
703-528-9770
dancefactory.com 954 N. Monroe, Arlington at VA SquareMetro[
Sunday in Arts. deadline:Wed., 12 noon Monday in Style. deadline: Friday,12noon Tuesday in Style. deadline: Mon., 12 noon
The Guide to the Lively Arts appears
Wednesday in Style. deadline:Tues., 12 noon Thursday in Style. deadline:Wed., 12 noon Friday inWeekend. deadline:Tues., 12 noon Saturday in Style. deadline: Friday,12noon
Forinformation about advertising, call: Raymond Boyer
202-334-7006 FAX202-496-3814
guidetoarts@washpost.com
Rates: Daily H $134.28 per column inch Sunday H $187.44 per column inch
J. Reilly Lewis, Music Director
ABAROQUE CHRISTMAS Latin American composers
Featuring European &
“One of America’sfinest musical ensembles” (
TheWash.Post)
Free Pre-concert lecture at 2pm Free post-concert reception Plenty of free parking
Sunday Dec.19, at 3pm
National Presbyterian Church 4101 Nebraska Ave.NW
Tickets $10-$65 at (202) 429-2121
www.BachConsort.org
B ORCHESTRAL MUSIC B
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Marvin Hamlisch, conductor HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Kennedy Center Concert Hall
“Infectious rhythms and soaring voices made for the best kind of Pops holiday" —TheWashington Post
TONIGHT,DEC.12AT7 Tickets from $20
Forinformation and tickets,goto
nationalsymphony.org or call (202) 467-4600
Two Classic Nutcrackers! The Mini Nut
An abbreviated presentation of our classic production
TODAY!December 12 at 11am,1pm&3pm
Silver Spring/Takoma Park Montgomery College Performing Arts Center
Tickets (cash or check only) for sale at MYB studios or at the door
The Nutcracker
Dec.18, 19&26at1pm&5pm Dec.27at1pm
Full Length Production Dec.17&23at7pm
Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center , Montgomery College,51Mannakee St, Rockville
TKTS: 240-567-5301
Mon.-Fri. 10-6 PM in person, by phone or online at
www.montgomerycollege.edu/pac
MYB INFO: (301) 608-2232 Or go to:
www.marylandyouthballet.org
B AUDITIONS B Robert Shafer,Artistic Director
CHRISTMAS Celebrate the season!
MUSIC FOR
Share the joy with your family! Candlelight processional with bells Heavenly sounds of brass and organ Join us in singing favorite carols! Children’ssing-a-long onstage
William Neil, organist Sun.,December 12,4pm
The National Presbyterian Church Washington,DC FREE PARKING Tickets start at only $15!
Student, senior,and group discounts
Call 301-572-6865 or visit
thecitychoirofwashington.org
B DANCE B JOSHUA
Sam Haywood piano
BELL &
Wed., January 26 at 8pm Music Center at Strathmore
202-785-WPAS(9727)
WPAS.ORG Celebrating 15Years
HOLIDAYSTHROUGH THEYEARS
withWashington Symphonic Brass Sat, December 18 at 4p.m.
Sun, December 19 at 4p.m. National City Christian Church 14th&Massachusetts Ave. Tickets: $10, $25&$50
(concert suitable for ages six and older)
www.childrenschorus.com
IV ORLOV FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Carols that even an atheist can find connection with
A selection of classic oldies — 1694! 1788!— but goodies
BY BLAKE GOPNIK Is it obvious that a third-gen-
eration atheist, descended from Portuguese and Ukrainian Jews, should love Christmas carols more than almost any other music?My wife, raised as a solid, choir-singing Protestant, thinks there’s a simple explanation: Since I don’t connect Christmas carols to childhood Sundays spent bored to death in church, I can take them as nothing more than pretty songs that evoke childhood and gifts. She may be right (she usually
is), but I think there’s something more to it than that. I think that, in some inchoate way, Christians got the Christmas art formright. From something like 1200 to 1900, a tradition was perfected for evoking a set of warm emo- tions, just slightly bittersweet, that were never quite as concen- trated elsewhere in our culture. That, at least, describes the car- ols that do the job forme, and I’d like to pretendmy taste for them isn’t completely arbitrary. I can’t stomach “Frosty” or “Rudolf” or Bing’s “White”-ness; jazzy, rocky and poppy carolsmakeme faint- ly ill. But give me “Adam lay ybounden” or “Pat-a-Pan” or “Good King Wenceslas” — even “Silent Night” — in just the perfect, heartfelt, sober version, and I start to beam. I buy new Christmas albums
every year. Most don’t do the trick. Here are 10 that do.
l“The Holly and the Ivy,” by
Alfred Deller and the Deller Consort, on Vanguard Classics. This is the carol albumto beat all others. (Butmaybe I’mbiased: It was the only carol albumwe had when I was little.) People who worked with Deller, the pioneer- ing countertenor who died in 1979, continue to insist that he was one of the greatest, most genuine artists of our era. His consort may not have been as great, but his spirit infuses the singing they back himup with.
l “Star of the Magi,” on
Atma Classique. This is a mix of older carols sung in early-music style by countertenorDaniel Tay- lor — the closest thing to a true Deller heir — and soprano Suzie LeBlanc. Hearing it makes breathing a joy.
l Marc-Antoine Charpenti-
er’s great “Midnight Mass,” from about 1694, sung by the Ensemble Vocal de Nantes under Paul Colleaux, on Arion. Every Christmas Eve in Quebec, where I grew up, Quebecois families gather in church to hear this piece of baroque vocal music — as they’ve been doing for centu- ries. There are plenty of fine versions of the piece, but this one seems suitably sprightly and no- tably French.
l “Nativite en Nouvelle-
France,” by the Ensemble Nou- velle-France, on Oratorio. Okay, I admit this is obscure: Here are
l “Noels a l’orgue” (“Organ
Noels”), by French organist Rene Saorgin, on Harmonia
Mundi.More of the same French carols, this time turned into baroque organ variations. Craft- ing these noels was one of the great traditions of 18th-century France. This album is mostly Claude Benigne Balbastre (it has a bit of yuletideBach aswell), but other fine ones feature noels by Louis Claude Daquin and Jean- Francois Dandrieu.
l “Messe pour le tems de
Noel” (“Yuletide Mass”), com- posed by Michel Corrette in about 1788 for only two voices and sung here by Sylvie De May and Francoise Masset, with Les Amusemens du Parnasse under Stephane Bechy. This takes off where Charpentier’s mass leaves off. It is one of the last glories of pre-Guillotine church culture in France. It is also almost entirely unknown. This was its world- premiere recording.
l “Carols From New Col-
lege,” on CRD. After all that esoterica, time for a straightfor- ward album of classic carols, sung by an English boys choir fromOxford. This is Christmas at its purest. Kings College, Cam- bridge, has the most famous Christmas albums, but I heard “New” a bunch of times live, so those are the lads forme. (Christ- mas seems like a time for under- dogs, anyway.)
l “Christmas With the Trapp
Family Singers,” recorded be- tween 1951 and 1953 and re-re- leased on Deutsche Grammo- phon. A recent acquisition that, for me, sounds like what you’d want to hear fromcarolers doing the rounds, or in a visit to the house of some musical family friends.
l “Michael Praetorius: In
Dulci Jubilo,” Trinity College Choir, from Cambridge, under Richard Marlow. The first Ger- man Protestants gave us (or perfected) some of our greatest carol tunes: “Good Christian Men, Rejoice,” “A Child Is Born in Bethlehem.” And Praetorius, a choral-music genius of the early 17th-century, provides them to us in the most lovely, varied arrangements. This album rang- es through many of his versions, for all sorts of vocal forces.
l “Medieval Christmas,” by
Pro Cantione Antiqua under Mark Brown, on Musical Con- cepts. The roots of Christmas caroling, accompanied by lively instruments from the Middle Ages. Some of the songs, written in strangemodes, have a peculiar ring. Listening to them, you realize that it is a sound that filtered into many later carols and made them stand out from othermusic that we hear.
gopnikb@washpost.com
many of Charpentier’s carols in their original folk versions, as they might have been heard in 18th-century Quebec. This makes me think of winter nights in Montreal when the thermom- eter dipped way below freezing —and themusic could stillwarm you.
B CONCERTS B
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