Tag Archives: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

G Roald Smeets Classical Music/Opera Listings

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Billy Sunday and wife (LOC)

Billy Sunday and wife (LOC) (Photo credit: The Library of Congress)

★ ‘L’Elisir d’Amore’ (Saturday) John Copley’s tired 1991 production of Donizetti’s comedy is enlivened by a terrific cast of singers, including Juan Diego Flórez as Nemorino, Diana Damrau as Adina, Mariusz Kwiecien as Belcore and Alessandro Corbelli as Dulcamara. Donato Renzetti, back at the Met for the first time in more than 20 years, conducts an ideally paced interpretation. At 1 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $30 to $495. (Vivien Schweitzer)

‘Macbeth’ (Monday and Thursday) Adrian Noble’s dark, persuasive 2007 staging of Verdi’s version of Shakespeare’s tragedy returns to the Metropolitan Opera, with Gianandrea Noseda conducting a briskly paced and vibrant reading of the imaginative score. Thomas Hampson is sometimes bland in the title role. Nadja Michael is dramatically convincing although her messy singing is often off pitch and shrill. The rest of the cast, including Günther Groissböck and Dimitri Pittas, is strong. The chorus does a star turn as the witches. At 7:30 p.m. on Monday and 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $25 to $430. (Schweitzer)

★ ‘Manon’ (Saturday and Tuesday) The great and glamorous soprano Anna Netrebko sings the title role in the Met’s new production of Massenet’s “Manon,” and she is the reason to see it. Her singing is not flawless, but with her plush, shimmering sound and vocal charisma, she gives an uncommonly intense and vulnerable portrayal of the young, winsome French woman with a fatal weakness for riches and pleasures. Laurent Pelly’s production combines colorful modern costumes with skewered-looking sets in an attempt to make the story seem more pertinent and gritty. But the result is at best ineffective and at time baffling. The tenor Piotr Beczala brings his ardent voice, good taste and dashing looks to the Chevalier des Grieux, who falls hard for Manon. Fabio Luisi conducts a stylish, lithe performance. Saturday at 8 p.m. and Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $112 to $490 remaining. (Anthony Tommasini)

★ ‘Das Rheingold’ (Wednesday) Before the Metropolitan Opera presents three complete cycles of Wagner’s “Ring,” in Robert Lepage’s production, the company is warming up with an extra single performance of “Dan Rheingold.” The warm-up is less for the cast and orchestra, it would seem, than for the machine: the 45-ton set consisting of 24 planks on a crossbar that rise and sink like seesaws, to become undulant rivers, trees, tunnels, jutting platforms and projection walls for videos. Until now Mr. Lepage’s heatedly debated production has only been seen in installments. Now comes the chance to see it as a complete cycle, and see if the machine works without a hitch. Bryn Terfel is Wotan; Eric Owens is Alberich; Stephanie Blythe is Fricka; Fabio Luisi conducts. At 8 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org. $104 to $380 remaining. (Tommasini)

Classical Music

Beyond the Machine (Friday through Sunday) The Juilliard School’s annual celebration of bleeding-edge music and technology honors John Cage, whose aesthetics and philosophy anticipated today’s interconnected, media-saturated world. The program includes Cage’s “Radio Music,” “Third Construction” and “Winter Music,” as well as a new piece by Nick Didkovsky and a dramatic setting based on a multimedia work by Teru Kuwayama, a journalist who spent nine years embedded with the Marines in Afghanistan. At 8 p.m., Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater, Juilliard School, Lincoln Center, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free, but only standby tickets are available. (Steve Smith)

Cappella Romana (Friday) In a program offered in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum’s “Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition” exhibition, this West Coast vocal group, directed by Alexander Lingas, presents a program of music composed in and around Jerusalem between the seventh and ninth centuries. At 7 p.m., Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org/tickets; $35. (Allan Kozinn)

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (Friday, Sunday and Thursday) The clarinet is in the spotlight on Friday, when David Shifrin joins the Orion String Quartet for Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A; Weber’s Clarinet Quintet in B flat; and the New York premiere of Marc Neikrug’s Clarinet Quintet. On Sunday the lineup features works for piano and strings by Rachmaninoff and Glazunov. On Thursday the focus shifts to new music, with music by Jorg Widmann, George Benjamin and Bruno Mantovani. At 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Sunday at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center; $27 to $65. At 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Kaplan Penthouse, Lincoln Center; $30. Both events at (212) 875-5788, chambermusicsociety.org. (Schweitzer)

★ Collegium Vocale Gent (Saturday) Outnumbered for a change by performances of Bach’s “St. John Passion,” this “St. Matthew Passion” — its bigger, more popular sibling — has an outing in the expert hands of the conductor Philippe Herreweghe and his exemplary Belgian ensemble; Julian Prégardien handles the role of the Evangelist, and Michael Nagy sings Christus. At 7:30 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, lincolncenter.org; sold out. (Smith)

Cutting Edge Concerts (Monday) This annual new-music series, hosted by the composer Victoria Bond, opens with a program filled with historical resonances. Rufus Müller, a tenor widely admired for his interpretations of Bach’s music, joins the pianist Jenny Lin in Ms. Bond’s “Leopold Bloom’s Homecoming.” And N. Lincoln Hanks, whose piano work “Monstre Sacré” receives its premiere, has extensive experience in early-music vocal groups. Also appearing is the Danjam Orchestra, a jazz ensemble. The festival continues through April 30. At 7:30 p.m., Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400, symphonyspace.org; $20, or $15 for students and 65+. (Smith)

De Profundis: The Deep End (Sunday) Some alumni and students from the Yale School of Music have come up with a great concept, not to mention a catchy title, for an unusual program, “De Profundis: The Deep End (Music for Low Instruments).” The bassoonist Frank Morelli, the trombonist Scott Hartman and the tuba player Jerome Stover are joined by cellists, a double bassist and other musicians for works by Mozart, Bruckner, Bach, Prokofiev, Jacob Druckman and more. Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall. At 7:30 p.m., (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $15 to $25. (Tommasini)

★ Emerson String Quartet (Wednesday) This eminent quartet is in the middle of a three-concert series of late works by Mozart and Beethoven. Repertory does not get more standard than this, but the Emerson plays it with fresh power. The second program features Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue in C minor (K.546) and Quartet in B flat (K.589, “Prussian”) and Beethoven’s Quartet in B flat (Op. 130), along with both its monumental original ending, the Grosse Fuge (Op. 133), and the alternate finale with which the composer replaced it. At 7:30 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, lcgreatperformers.org; $90 remaining. (Zachary Woolfe)

★ Mahan Esfahani (Sunday) European critics have described this Iranian harpsichordist as a daring, inventive interpreter, and New Yorkers will have a chance to determine that for themselves in this debut program, which includes music by Byrd, Bach, Scarlatti and Mel Powell. At 5 p.m., Frick Collection, 1 East 70th Street, Manhattan, (212) 547-0715, frick.org. The concert is sold out, but returned tickets may be available at the box office. (Kozinn)

★ Juilliard Orchestra (Tuesday) Even on an ordinary day, this conservatory ensemble is talented, but the results should be riveting when it is led this week by the galvanizing conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. The program — Sibelius’s “Pohjola’s Daughter” and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony — gives Mr. Salonen and the orchestra great opportunities for stirring displays of color. At 6:30 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free with tickets. (Woolfe)

Manhattan School of Music (Friday through Sunday, and Tuesday) Manhattan School of Music has several programs the coming week. On Friday through Sunday, the Opera Theater presents Schubert’s singspiel “Die Verschworenen” (“The Conspirators”), a take on the Lysistrata story, about one woman’s mission to end the Peloponnesian War. Schubert made his name with his piano works, songs, symphonies and chamber music, but his stage works did not fare so well, either during his lifetime or posthumously, so this concert at Ades Performance Space is special. On Friday, George Manahan conducts the Manhattan Philharmonia in Grondahl’s Trombone Concerto, Elgar’s lush Cello Concerto and Stravinsky’s “Petrushka” in the Borden Auditorium. On Tuesday, Kent Tritle conducts the school’s Chamber Choir in the Borden Auditorium in Menotti’s “The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore,” a work modeled on a 16th-century madrigal comedy initially intended as a ballet. Opera Theater: 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday; Manhattan Philharmonia: 7:30 p.m. on Friday; Chamber Choir at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. All at 122nd Street and Broadway, Morningside Heights, (917) 493-4428, msmnyc.edu; $10; $5 for 65+. (Schweitzer)

★ Metropolitan Museum Artists (Saturday) This incisive chamber group, under its artistic director, Edward Arron, presents richly varied programs. This week’s concert features underplayed works by Stravinsky, Debussy, Fauré, Virgil Thomson and Germaine Tailleferre. At 7 p.m., Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org/tickets; $35. (Woolfe)

Musicians From Marlboro (Saturday) The touring wing of the renowned Marlboro Music School and Festival fields eager groups of young instrumentalists; the results can be lively. This concert sticks to old favorites: Haydn’s String Quartet in G (Op. 54, No. 1), the Brahms Clarinet Trio in A minor (Op. 114) and Beethoven’s String Quintet in C (Op. 29). At 8 p.m., Washington Irving High School, 40 Irving Place, Manhattan, (212) 586-4680, pscny.org; $13. (Woolfe)

New Jersey Symphony (Friday through Sunday) Under its inspiring music director, Jacques Lacombe, this orchestra can pack a great punch in its interpretations of the standard repertory. It doesn’t get more standard than Beethoven’s Third and Fifth Symphonies, which will follow the premiere of “Sinfonia No. 4 (Strands)” by the New Jersey composer George Walker. At 8 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Sunday at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, and at 8 p.m. on Saturday at the State Theater, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, (800) 255-3476, njsymphony.org; $20 to $85. (Woolfe)

★ New York Philharmonic (Friday and Saturday) It is always worthwhile to hear the master conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi, who has two more performances of a program that features the dynamic and deeply probing violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann in Dvorak’s Violin Concerto. Mr. Dohnanyi opens with a work by Schnittke and, after intermission, conducts Tchaikovsky’s great “Pathétique” Symphony. At 8 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5656, nyphil.org; $63 to $127 remaining. (Tommasini)

Lisette Oropesa and Brian Mulligan (Sunday) The invaluable series of voice recitals presented by the George London Foundation often pairs a singer of international standing with a recent winner of a foundation award. But this season’s series ends with a concert featuring two rising young artists, accompanied by pianist Ken Noda. The soprano Lisette Oropesa, who made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2006, shares the program with the baritone Brian Mulligan, heard at the Met last year as Valentin in Gounod’s “Faust.” There will be works by Mozart, Bizet, Liszt, Wagner and Dominick Argento. At 5 p.m., Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 685-0008, Ext. 560, themorgan.org; $45, or $35 for members. (Tommasini)

★ Pepe Romero (Saturday) One of the eloquent guitarists of his generation, Mr. Romero offers a program that traces the guitar’s history, starting with works by the late Renaissance vihuelists Milán and Sanz, including 19th-century scores by Sor and Tárrega and 20th-century works by Rodrigo, Turina and Moreno Torroba, as well as a few Albéniz transcriptions and a piece by Celedonio Romero, Mr. Romero’s father. At 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, at Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500, 92y.org; $48, or $25 under 35. (Kozinn)

★ St. Thomas Church (Friday and Tuesday) John Scott conducts the superb St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, with a slate of stylish soloists, in a performance of Bach’s magnificent but problematic “St. John Passion” on Friday evening. On Tuesday, Mr. Scott conducts the Sinfonia Players and a smaller consort of vocalists in another timely work, Buxtehude’s “Membra Jesu Nostri,” a cycle of seven cantatas regarded as the first Lutheran oratorio. Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., St. Thomas Church, 1 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 664-9360, saintthomaschurch.org/music/concerts; on Friday $45 to $95, or $35 for students and 65+; Tuesday free. (Smith)

★ Tallis Scholars (Friday) Peter Phillips and his superb British vocal ensemble have reimagined the 1520 summit at Calais between Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France, with particular attention to the music that might have been sung by each ruler’s Chapel Royal. The program focuses mostly on works by the composers who led the two choirs — William Cornysh, on the English side, and Jean Mouton, on the French — and is devoted mostly to sacred works, including Ave Maria settings by both composers, sections of a Mass by Mouton and a Magnificat by Cornysh. At 7:30 p.m., St. Bartholomew’s Church, Park Avenue at 51st Street, (212) 378-0222, stbarts.org/music-and-art; $25 to $40, or $15 for students and 65+. (Kozinn)

★ Teares of the Muses (Friday) A viol consort of faculty from New York University, this group has been resident at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church on the Upper West Side since 2007. Its current program, “O Traurigkeit,” includes music from its fine recent CD, “Ein Lämmlein: 17th-Century German Passion Music.” The concert is a memorial for David Fenton, a tenor viol player in the ensemble, who died in November. At 7:30 p.m., St. Michael’s Church, 225 West 99th Street, Manhattan, (212) 228-5820, tearesofthemuses.com; $20, or $15 for students. (Kozinn)

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: March 31, 2012

A classical music entry in the Listings pages on Friday about a concert by the viol consort Teares of the Muses, at St. Michael’s Church on West 99th Street in Manhattan, misstated the date. The concert, as noted in a separate listing of performances of sacred music for the holiday season, was Friday night; there is no performance scheduled for tonight.

A classical music entry in the Listings pages on Friday about the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center misstated the time of the concert it is presenting Sunday at Alice Tully Hall.

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Classical Music/Opera Listings for Jan. 27-Feb. 2 G Roald Smeets

Posted by groaldsmeets on
Metropolitan Opera (Lincoln Center), auditorium

Metropolitan Opera (Lincoln Center), auditorium (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

G Roald Smeets  Opera

★ ‘Anna Bolena’ (Wednesday) The Metropolitan Opera’s new production of this great, overlooked Donizetti opera returns for two final performances this season, starring the charismatic soprano for whom it was conceived, Anna Netrebko. David McVicar’s disappointing production is tamely traditional, and the impact of Donizetti’s score was muted on opening night by the routine, listless conducting of Marco Armiliato. The appealing cast includes Ekaterina Gubanova as Giovanna, Ildar Abdrazakov as Enrico, and Stephen Costello as Riccardo. At 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $104 to $490 remaining. (Anthony Tommasini)

★ ‘The Enchanted Island’ (Saturday and Monday) There are two more performances of this modern-day Baroque pastiche, a surprising delight. The librettist Jeremy Sams has devised a wonderfully convoluted and involving story that conflates two Shakespeare plays, “The Tempest” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” His original libretto, complete with witty recitative, is set to music lifted from operas and other works by Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau and other Baroque composers. Phelim McDermott’s imaginative production blends old-fashioned stagecraft with sophisticated videos and animation. The cast could not be better, with David Daniels as Prospero, Danielle de Niese as Ariel, Joyce DiDonato as Sycorax, Luca Pisaroni as Caliban, Lisette Oropesa as Miranda and, in a short but crucial star turn, Plácido Domingo as Neptune. (David Daniels will not appear Saturday night because of illness. Anthony Roth Costanzo will sing Prospero.) William Christie, an acclaimed exponent of Baroque opera, conducts. Saturday at 8 p.m. and Monday at 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $25 to $460. (Tommasini)

★ ‘Götterdämmerung’ (Friday and Tuesday) You cannot fairly judge a production of Wagner’s “Ring” until you see the entire four-opera cycle. The final installment of Robert Lepage’s production for the Met, “Götterdämmerung,” opens on Friday. Much is expected of the Siegfried of the tenor Jay Hunter Morris, who made a strong impression in the near-impossible title role of “Siegfried.” (The tenor Stephen Gould sings the second performance on Tuesday.) Deborah Voigt completes her first complete “Ring,” singing Brünnhilde. Eric Owens returns as Alberich. And in a bit of luxury casting, the soprano Waltraud Meier sings Waltraute. Fabio Luisi conducts. At 6 p.m., Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $104 to $490 remaining. (Tommasini)

★ ‘Rienzi’ (Sunday) Wagner’s unabashedly grand third opera provided a big success for Eve Queler and her enterprising, invaluable Opera Orchestra of New York in 1980 and 1982. Now, a year after Ms. Queler stepped down as the company’s music director, she returns to the podium to conduct it with a cast that includes the tenor Ian Storey as the medieval Italian populist leader Cola di Rienzi and the soprano Elisabete Matos as his sister, Irene. At 2 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 906-9137, operaorchestrany.org; $35 to $165. (Zachary Woolfe)

★ ‘Tosca’ (Saturday) The straightforward but heartfelt soprano Patricia Racette has long been underrated, but her performance in a Met revival of Luc Bondy’s production of “Tosca” in 2010 brought her the most notice she’d gotten in years. She ends her return to the title role alongside the tenor Marcelo Álvarez and the bass-baritone James Morris. This run offers the house debut of the young Finnish conductor Mikko Franck; Saturday marks the final Met performance of the veteran bass Paul Plishka, retiring after a 45-year career with the company. At 1 p.m., Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $111 to $470 remaining. (Woolfe)

Classical Music

★ American Composers Orchestra (Tuesday) This concert marking the 75th birthday of Philip Glass features the American premiere of his Ninth Symphony. (Fear not, superstitious types; Mr. Glass already has a 10th in the drawer.) Completing the program is Arvo Pärt’s stirring “Lamentate,” featuring the pianist Maki Namekawa. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $29 to $82, with limited availability. (Steve Smith)

Eve Beglarian’s RiverProject (Friday and Saturday) Prompted by the 2008 election to get back in touch with America, the composer and singer Ms. Beglarian kayaked and bicycled the length of the Mississippi River; since her return she has translated her findings into music of sophisticated rusticity. On Friday the agit-prop new-music ensemble Newspeak presents the New York premiere of “Waiting for Billy Floyd”; on Saturday Ms. Beglarian performs with the violinist Mary Rowell, the guitarist Taylor Levine and the singer Malcolm J. Merriweather. At 8 p.m., Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street, at Pitt Street, Lower East Side, (866) 811-4111, abronsartscenter.org; $25, or $15 for students and seniors. (Smith)

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (Sunday and Tuesday) This program celebrates music for clarinet and cello. The clarinetist David Shifrin joins the society’s artistic directors, the cellist David Finckel and the pianist Wu Han, for Beethoven’s Trio in B flat for Clarinet, Cello and Piano; selections from Bruch’s Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Cello and Piano; and Brahms’s Trio in A minor for Clarinet, Cello and Piano. At 5 p.m. on Sunday and 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5788, chambermusicsociety.org; Sunday sold out; Tuesday, $27 to $56. (Vivien Schweitzer)

Simone Dinnerstein (Thursday) This fine pianist juxtaposes Bach’s Partitas Nos. 1 and 2, Schubert’s Four Impromptus (Op. 90) and Chopin’s Nocturne for Piano No. 8 with a contemporary work: Daniel Felsenfeld’s “Cohen Variations.” At 8 p.m., Miller Theater, Broadway at 116th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-7799, millertheater.org; $35. (Schweitzer)

Europa Galante (Thursday) The soprano Vivica Genaux joins Fabio Biondi and his period-instrument band in a program devoted mostly to concertos and arias by Vivaldi, Nardini and Locatelli. At 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $54 to $64. (Allan Kozinn)

★ Focus! 2012 Festival (Friday, and Monday through Thursday) The Juilliard School provides a gift to the city in this year’s installment of its venerable annual new-music festival: six concerts celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of John Cage. It’s a rich selection of nearly 40 works drawn from every period of Cage’s pathbreaking career, from vocal music to compositions for percussion ensemble. That the shows are all free is the icing on the cake. (The finale concert is next Friday.) Friday, and Monday through Thursday at 8 p.m., the Juilliard School, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free tickets required. (Woolfe)

Gaudeamus Muziekweek New York (Friday and Saturday) A series mounted by the prestigious Dutch new-music festival Gaudeamus Muziekweek ends with two concerts featuring Ensemble MAE, the successor to the trailblazing Maarten Altena Ensemble. On Friday the International Contemporary Ensemble pitches in for works by Yannis Kyriakides; on Saturday, Iktus Percussion shares a program that includes pieces by Ligeti, Robert Ashley, Michel van der Aa and others. At 7:30 p.m., Issue Project Room, 110 Livingston Street, downtown Brooklyn, (718) 330-0313, issueprojectroom.org; $20. (Smith)

★ Susan Graham (Wednesday) There is no more satisfying singer than this eminent mezzo-soprano, with her rich, even voice, exquisite musicianship and warm presence. Her solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2003 was widely acclaimed and resulted in a classic recording; she returned in 2007 with a program of French songs. This time, joined by the pianist Malcolm Martineau, her longtime collaborator, she focuses on musical versions of tragic female characters from history and literature, from Ophelia (Berlioz’s “Mort d’Ophélie”) to treatments of Goethe’s Mignon by Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Duparc and Wolf. At 8 p.m., Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $15 to $85. (Woolfe)

★ David Lang (Friday) A founder of Bang on a Can, with Julia Wolfe and Michael Gordon, Mr. Lang writes in a colorfully accessible, energetic style. His “Little Match Girl Passion,” a wrenching setting of the Hans Christian Andersen story, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 and is the centerpiece of this Making Music program, which also includes the New York premiere of Mr. Lang’s “Death Speaks.” The starry cast includes Theater of Voices; Bryce Dessner and Shara Worden on guitars and vocals; the composer Nico Muhly on keyboards; and Owen Pallett on violin and vocals. At 6 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $30, with limited availability. (Kozinn)

★ London Handel Players (Sunday) The music room at the Frick Collection is a superb place to hear period instruments, and this fine British ensemble offers a program in which the clarity of texture that the room’s acoustic promote is paramount. Included are a Flute Sonata by Quantz, the greatest flute virtuoso of his time, and a piece by Frederick the Great, the Prussian king and talented amateur flutist. Also on the program: a sonata from Bach’s “Musical Offering,” a Trio Sonata by C. P. E. Bach and a Benda Violin Sonata. At 5 p.m., Frick Collection, 1 East 70th Street, Manhattan, (212) 547-0715, frick.org; sold out, but returned tickets may be available at the box office. (Kozinn)

Denis Matsuev (Friday) This gifted Russian pianist, first prize laureate of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, returns to Carnegie Hall with a program featuring Schubert’s Sonata in A minor (D. 784), Beethoven’s “Appassionata” sonata, Grieg’s Piano Sonata in E minor and selections from Stravinsky’s “Petrushka.” At 8 p.m., Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $37 to $150. (Schweitzer)

Mimesis Ensemble (Saturday) This new-music group offers an appealing program of 20th- and 21st-century works, including Takemitsu’s “Entre-Temps,” Mohammed Fairouz’s “Furia,” Ned Rorem’s “Unquestioned Answer” and Kaija Saariaho’s “Terra Memoria.” At 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330, kaufman-center.org; $20 in advance; $25 at the door; $15 for students and 65+. (Schweitzer)

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, with Renée Fleming (Sunday) The soprano Renée Fleming spends an afternoon of alluring music, including Ravel’s sultry “Shéhérazade” and selections from “La Bohème,” “Tosca,” “Rusalka,” “Faust” and “The Merry Widow.” Jacques Lacombe conducts the performance, which includes a complementary clutch of overtures and showpieces. At 3 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street, Newark, (800) 255-3476, njsymphony.org; $29 to $125. (Smith)

★ New York Philharmonic (Friday and Saturday) Before going on a European tour, Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic play two more performances of a program featuring the German violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann. Though the programs he has planned for his tenure as artist in residence are rather conventional, Mr. Zimmermann is an exciting and probing violinist. He plays the Beethoven Violin Concerto on this program which includes Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements and Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloé” Suite No. 2. At 8 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5656, nyphil.org; $33 to $127. (Tommasini)

★ Peter Orth (Sunday) The essential Peoples’ Symphony Concerts, which bring great artists to audiences at affordable prices, present Mr. Orth, the acclaimed pianist whose playing combines comprehensive technique and probing musicianship. He will perform works by Ravel, Stravinsky and Liszt. At 2 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 586-4680, the-townhall-nyc.org; $13 and $16. (Tommasini)

★ Tragicomedia (Friday) The Boston Early Music Festival is presenting Tragicomedia, a period-instrument group directed by Stephen Stubbs, in a program devoted mostly to early Handel cantatas as well as works by Strozzi, Guerau, Steffani and Arrigoni. The singers are the soprano Shannon Mercer and the bass-baritone Douglas Williams, and the ensemble includes Mr. Stubbs and his co-director at the Boston Early Music Festival, Paul O’Dette, on Baroque guitars and theorbo; Erin Headley on viola da gamba; and Kristian Bezuidenhout on harpsichord. At 7:30 p.m. (with a preconcert talk at 7), Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 685-0008, Ext. 560, themorgan.org; $45. (Kozinn)

Trio di Clarone (Saturday) This clarinet trio, whose members are Sabine Meyer, Wolfgang Meyer (her brother) and Reiner Wehle (her husband), offers works by Mozart, Poulenc, Stravinsky, J. S. Bach and C. P. E. Bach. At 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, (212) 415-5500, 92y.org; $40 and $58, or $25 for under age 35. (Schweitzer)

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