Classical Music Agenda
This DCist went to listen to some of the Rostropovich Cello Competition qualifying round this past week, which we recommended to you in our last Classical Music Agenda. Although that was good listening, it's still August, and there is not that much to hear as far as classical music in Washington, but we have drummed up a few things you might want to consider.
MILITARY MUSIC:
>> Washington enjoys the regular performances of several choral and instrumental groups associated with the American armed forces, and they tend to give a lot of performances in the summer, mostly outdoors and almost always for free. On Monday (August 8 at 8 p.m.) you can hear the U.S. Navy Band on the west side of the U.S. Capitol. On Tuesday (August 9 at 8 p.m.), the same group will join the U.S. Navy Sea Chanters for a concert at the U.S. Navy Memorial (701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW). The Sea Chanters will also be performing on Thursday (August 11 at 8 p.m.) back on the west side of the U.S. Capitol. Finally, on Friday (August 12 at 8 p.m.), the U.S. Army Band (nicknamed "Pershing's Own") will perform a concert featuring Tchaikovsky's famous and bombastic 1812 Overture, on the grounds of the Washington Monument. Take some water, or another cool beverage of your choice, and enjoy some free music.
FREE OPERA:
>> In the summer, the Washington National Opera hosts an Opera Camp for Kids, during which kids from age 10 to 14 rehearse and perform a children's opera. This year, these talented kids will present Brundibár, an opera begun by Czech composer Hans Krása in Prague during World War II. He completed the opera in a new instrumentation, so that it could be performed by the children in the Terezín transit camp, where he was himself interned in 1942. Incredibly, the opera was performed over 50 times before Krása was taken to Auschwitz, the final destination of everyone in the Theresienstadt ghetto. He was killed in the gas chambers in 1944.
>> Brundibár is about two children trying to buy milk for their sick mother. An evil organ-grinder named Brundibár, jealous that the children are singing on his block for money, steals what the children have made. With the help of a sparrow, a cat, and a dog, the children defeat their enemy (who certainly represented Hitler for the people in Terezín) and bring the milk to their sick mother. There are five performances, all free, on Saturday (August 13 at 12 noon and 2 p.m.) and Sunday (August 14 at 12 noon and 2 p.m.) at the Round House Theater, in Bethesda. The final performance is scheduled for next Tuesday (August 16 at 6 p.m.) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. The performances are free, and all you have to do is make a reservation, by phone (202-448-3465) or e-mail (education@dc-opera.org).
ALSO INTERESTING:
>> The Wolf Trap Opera Company presents its next performance this Friday (August 12 at 8 p.m.). It's a program of opera arias and scenes called Where the Boys Are, because it features the male viewpoint in opera, out at the Barns of Wolf Trap, in Vienna.
>> This Sunday (August 14 at 6 p.m.), the Asian American Music Society and Korean Cultural Service present new compositions in memory of the Korean War, on the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. Songs of a Forgotten War is a work in 19 movements, composed by 19 different composers, meant to reflect the 19 statues of soldiers depicted in the Korean War Memorial. It was premiered back in April, and if you missed it then, as we did, you shouldn't now. This free concert will also feature the world premiere of Reflections on Marguerite Higgins' “War in Korea.”