Tag Archives: New York City

Classical Music and Opera Listings for G Roald Smeets

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The old Metropolitan Opera House in New York C...

The old Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, 1905 Deutsch: Das „alte“ Metropolitan Opera House in New York im Jahr 1905 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

★ ‘Così Fan Tutte’ (Saturday) In its new manifestation as a scaled-down roving company, the New York City Opera has its first must-see production in this new staging from the director Christopher Alden. This is a libidinous, darkly contemporary and bitterly comic take on Mozart’s tale of two young couples and what frustrated sexual yearning can drive people to do. Mr. Alden goes too far with some baffling and heavy-handed imagery. Still, the production is oddly and eerily powerful, and the young, talented and courageous cast embraces the concept. Christian Curnyn conducts a small orchestra in this intimate 600-seat theater. At 7:30 p.m., Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 899 10th Avenue, at 59th Street, Clinton, (212) 870-5600, nycopera.com; $185 and $250 remaining. (Anthony Tommasini)

★ ‘L’Elisir d’Amore’ (Saturday and Tuesday) 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 8:30 p.m. on Saturday and 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $25 to $460. (Vivien Schweitzer)

‘Macbeth’ (Saturday 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. George Gagnidze sings the title role on Thursday. At 1 p.m. on Saturday and 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $25 to $470. (Schweitzer)

★ ‘Manon’ (Monday) When Massenet’s masterpiece was performed at the Royal Opera House in London in 2010, the spectacular soprano Anna Netrebko was acclaimed in the title role, a sensuous, ambitious young woman who goes from innocence to its opposite. She performs it at the Met for the first time in the same Laurent Pelly production, new to the Met, now joined by the tenor Piotr Beczala as des Grieux, her lover, and the baritone Paulo Szot as her cousin, Lescaut. Mr. Pelly updates the action from the 18th century to the Belle Époque 1880s, when the opera was composed; Fabio Luisi conducts. At 7:30 p.m., Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, (212) 362-6000, metoperafamily.org; $55 to $650. (Zachary Woolfe)

Classical Music

★ Emanuele Arciuli (Sunday) This virtuoso Italian pianist offers a formidable program that balances Beethoven’s rich Sonata No. 31 (Op. 110) with Marcello Panni’s “Farben”; Giacinto Scelsi’s “Ka,” Suite No. 10; and Alban Berg’s formidable Sonata (Op. 1). At 6 p.m., the Italian Academy at Columbia University, 1161 Amsterdam Avenue, between 116th and 118th Streets, Morningside Heights, (212) 854-1623, http://www.italianacademy.columbia.edu; free. (Allan Kozinn)

Bargemusic (Saturday, Sunday and Thursday) This floating concert hall’s concerts on Saturday and Sunday are devoted to chamber works by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Arensky, along with improvisations on Bach themes, by the violinist Mark Peskanov, the pianist Olga Vinokur, the cellist Dave Eggar and the percussionist Chuck Palmer. And on Thursday the pianist David Kalhous plays Morton Feldman’s “For Bunita Marcus.” Saturday and Thursday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., Bargemusic, Fulton Ferry Landing, next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083, bargemusic.org; $35, $30 for 65+, or $15 for students. (Kozinn)

Yefim Bronfman (Friday) This powerhouse pianist, admired for his virtuoso technique and probing musicianship, offers a program of Haydn’s Sonata in C (Hob. XVI:50); Brahms’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor; and Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 8 in B flat. At 7:30 p.m., Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $17 to $99. (Schweitzer)

★ ‘Brooklyn Village’ (Saturday and Sunday) The climax of a season of rejuvenation and bold invention for the Brooklyn Philharmonic finds the ensemble collaborating with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and Roulette in a multimedia meditation on Brooklyn’s neighborly history. The program features new pieces by David T. Little, Matthew Mehlan and Sarah Kirkland Snider, framed with older pieces, narration and video. At 7:30 p.m., Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue, near Third Avenue, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, (917) 267-0363, roulette.org; $25 to $35, or $20 for students and 65+. (Steve Smith)

★ Czech Liederabend (Thursday) An important behind-the-scenes figure in the rise of Czech opera in America, Yveta Synek Graff has served as an artistic consultant, translator and language coach for companies across the country. She recently donated her collection of scores and archival documents to the Juilliard School, which is returning the great favor with an evening of songs by Bendl, Dvorak, Haas, Janacek, Kapralova, Martinu and Smetana, performed by Juilliard singers and pianists. At 6 p.m., Juilliard School, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free. (Woolfe)

★ Ecstatic Music Festival (Saturday and Wednesday) The final two concerts in this year’s survey of the intersections between “popular” and “classical” music — whatever those terms mean — are highlights. On Saturday John Darnielle, the piercing lyricist of the Mountain Goats, is joined by the vocal quartet Anonymous 4 for songs from his new work, “Transcendental Youth,” set in a lonely town north of Seattle. Wednesday brings the premieres of works by Du Yun, Samson Young, Derek Bermel and Gaybird Leung, all of which combine Chinese and Western instruments. At 7:30, Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212) 501-3330, kaufman-center.org; sold out on Saturday, $25 on Wednesday. (Woolfe)

★ Elias String Quartet (Friday and Sunday) The Elias String Quartet, an acclaimed ensemble from Britain, takes its name from Mendelssohn’s oratorio “Elijah.” On a Weill Recital Hall program on Friday the Elias plays a work Mendelssohn wrote when just 18: Quartet in A minor, “Ist Es Wahr?” (“Is It True?”). There are also quartets by Mozart and Janacek. Then on Sunday afternoon, the Elias will repeat the Janacek piece, along with works by Purcell, Suk and Mendelssohn, as part of the affordable Schneider Concerts series at the New School. Friday at 7:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $54. Sunday at 3 p.m., Tishman Auditorium, Mannes College the New School for Music, 66 West 12th Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 229-5488, newschool.edu; $17, or $15 seniors. (Tommasini)

Ensemble ACJW (Sunday) David Robertson, the music director of the St. Louis Symphony, leads this fine ensemble in Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll,” Ligeti’s Chamber Concerto, John Adams’s “Gnarly Buttons” and Haydn’s Symphony No. 8 (“Le Soir”). At 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $38 to $50. (Kozinn)

Great Music in a Great Space (Wednesday) Kent Tritle, who began his inaugural season as director of cathedral music and organist of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in the fall, revives the concert series Great Music in a Great Space. On Wednesday he conducts the cathedral choirs in Bach’s “Jesu Meine Freude” and Scarlatti’s “Stabat Mater.” At 7:30 p.m., Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, at 112th Street, Morningside Heights, (212) 316-7490, stjohndivine.org; $20 to $30. (Schweitzer)

‘Instrumentals’ (Friday and Saturday) The American Mavericks series hits Chelsea in two wide-ranging nights of creativity. The Friday program pairs the opalescent drones of William Basinski’s “Vivian and Ondine” with Tristan Perich’s chirping, chiming one-bit electronics. On Saturday, Mary Halvorson, an inventive jazz guitarist and composer, steers a new septet, and Peter Gordon leads an ensemble in music by Arthur Russell, a protean composer who anticipated today’s vogue for flouting genres and embracing pop music. At 8 p.m., the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, (212) 255-5793, Ext. 11, thekitchen.org; $15. (Smith)

★ JACK Quartet (Sunday) As part of its invaluable Neighborhood Concert series, Carnegie Hall presents the dynamic and excellent JACK Quartet in a free program at Henry Street Settlement in the Lower East Side. The JACK players champion 20th-century repertory and contemporary music of all styles. On this enticing program they present works by Ives and Ruth Crawford Seeger and a recent work by Steven Mackey, who plays electric guitar with the quartet in his piece, “Physical Property.” At 3 p.m., Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street, at Pitt Street, Lower East Side, (212) 598-0400, abronsartscenter.org and carnegiehall.org. (Tommasini)

Juilliard Orchestra (Thursday) James DePreist leads this excellent young ensemble in George Walker’s “Lyric” for Strings; Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor with the Juilliard cellist Jiyoung Lee as soloist; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. At 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free tickets required. (Schweitzer)

Julliard415 and Clarion Music Society (Friday) The student ensemble of the Juilliard School’s new historical-performance program joins forces with the Clarion Music Society and its artistic director, Steven Fox, for a Baroque extravaganza. Mr. Fox will conduct Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor (BWV 1041); Handel’s “Silete Venti (Be Silent, Winds)”; Corelli’s Concerto Grosso in D (Op. 6, No. 4); and Bach’s “Magnificat.” At 8 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 769-7406, juilliard.edu; free tickets required. (Schweitzer)

Lisa Moore (Friday) As the original pianist in the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Ms. Moore developed an outgoing performing style and a broad taste for contemporary composition, qualities that she has expanded upon since she left the group to pursue a solo career. In this Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert, she a kaleidoscopic selection of works that includes Philip Glass’s early “Mad Rush,” a handful of ètudes by Don Byron and music by Martin Bresnick, John Adams, Missy Mazzoli, Jerome Kitzke, Frederic Rzewski and Henry Cowell. At 8 p.m., LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, 31-10 Thomson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 482-5151, carnegiehall.org; free, but reservations are required. (Kozinn)

New York Philharmonic (Friday, Saturday, Wednesday and Thursday) On Friday and Saturday, Christoph von Dohnanyi conducts the sensual and dark-hued Adagio, Fugue and Maenads’ Dance from Hans Werner Henze’s opera “The Bassarids,” as well as Schubert’s Symphony No. 9, “Great.” On Wednesday, Mr. Dohnanyi conducts Schnittke’s “(K)ein Sommernachtstraum” and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique.” On Thursday he leads the Schnittke and Tchaikovsky, along with Dvorak’s Violin Concerto, with the excellent Frank Peter Zimmermann as soloist. At 2 p.m. on Friday, 8 p.m. on Saturday, 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday and 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5656, nyphil.org; $31 to $121. (Schweitzer)

★ Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Saturday) Chris Thile, a mandolin virtuoso known for his work in the exhilarating progressive-bluegrass band Punch Brothers, is featured as the soloist in his inventive, appealing Mandolin Concerto. The program also includes the premiere of Clint Needham’s “When We Forget” and a suite from Leonard Bernstein’s “Trouble in Tahiti,” with Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” as a nightcap. At 7 p.m., Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $14.50 to $110. (Smith)

★ Marc Peloquin and David Del Tredici (Friday) The pianist Marc Peloquin has become of the most eloquent and devoted interpreters of David Del Tredici’s music in recent years, and to celebrate the composer’s 75th birthday, Mr. Peloquin and Mr. Del Tredici are giving a performance at Bargemusic that includes a handful of Mr. Del Tredici’s recent works, including “Mandango,” “Carioca Boy” and the premiere of “Ray’s Birthday Suit.” The program also includes music by Bizet and Rachmaninoff. At 8 p.m., Bargemusic, Fulton Ferry Landing, next to the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, (718) 624-2083, bargemusic.org; $35, $30 for 65+, or $15 for students. (Kozinn)

★ Murray Perahia (Sunday) The pianist Murray Perahia may not play particularly adventurous programs. But he plays the music of the masters exquisitely, and his artistry has seemed at its peak in recent seasons. As part of Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series, he plays a recital with works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and an interesting Chopin group. At 3 p.m., Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500; $35 to $77. (Tommasini)

★ San Francisco Symphony (Tuesday through Thursday) Michael Tilson Thomas and the ensemble at the center of the American Mavericks series open a four-evening residency on Tuesday, offering Cage’s “Song Books” voiced by Joan La Barbara, Meredith Monk and Jessye Norman, and the New York premiere of “Absolute Jest” by John Adams. Wednesday’s program features Ives’s “Concord” Sonata as orchestrated by Henry Brant, along with pieces by Carl Ruggles and Morton Feldman; a chamber program on Thursday includes music by Harry Partch, David Del Tredici, Lou Harrison and Mason Bates. (The series concludes on March 30.) Tuesday and Wednesday at 8 p.m., Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $29.50 to $75. Thursday at 8:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $50. (Smith)

★ Michael Schade and Luca Pisaroni (Sunday) Mr. Schade, a distinguished tenor, and the rising, rich-voiced bass-baritone Mr. Pisaroni join the pianist Justus Zeyen in an impeccably proper program of duets by Mendelssohn and songs by Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. At 5 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, lincolncenter.org; $45 to $77. (Woolfe)

★ So Percussion (Monday) One of the most colorful ensembles around, and lately one of the engines that drives New York’s new music world, So Percussion and guest artists (including Matmos, the electronica group) pay tribute to John Cage and his legacy in a program called “We Are All Going in Different Directions.” Some of Cage’s most vivid percussion works, including the Third Construction and the Quartet for Percussion from “She Is Asleep,” are included, as are works by Dan Deacon, Cenk Ergun, Jason Treuting and So Percussion itself. At 7:30 p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $39. (Kozinn)

★ Les Violons du Roy (Sunday) Bernard Labadie leads this brilliant ensemble and La Chapelle de Québec in Bach’s dark masterpiece, the “St. John Passion” (BWV 245). The roster of soloists, an intriguing mix of established and up-and-coming singers, includes the soprano Karina Gauvin, the countertenor Damien Guillon, the tenors Ian Bostridge and Nicholas Phan and the bass-baritones Neal Davies and Hanno Müller-Brachmann. At 2 p.m., Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $15.50 to $93. (Woolfe)

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