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Saturday Thanks Don't End At Thanksgiving Photo: November 28, 2009
There is little doubt about the major event in classical music this week in Washington. On Tuesday (April 4, 8 p.m.) renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma will play a recital in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Not only that, but he will be playing three of the solo cello suites by J. S. Bach, works with which he is widely identified, to the point that when he appeared on The West Wing, he was playing one of the suites in the White House. The house was sold out long ago, unfortunately, so you will have to use your wits if you want to get in at this point.
FREE CONCERTS:
>> Once again, the best options this week are free concerts, and once you take away the cost of a ticket, what reason do you have not to go hear some music? It's a new month, so the Noontime Cantata series hosted by the Washington Bach Consort is back. On Tuesday (April 4, 12:10 p.m.), members of the group will perform BWV 168, Tue Rechnung! Donnerwort, at the Church of the Epiphany (13th and G St. NW). If you're downtown, take a musical lunch break.
>> On Thursday (April 6, 8 p.m.), the Turtle Island String Quartet, winner of a Grammy this year in the crossover category, will play a free concert at the Library of Congress. I heard their concert last month at the Strathmore Mansion, and their way of playing jazz and other popular music on the instruments of the classical string quartet has great appeal. You do not even need a ticket for this event.
>> One of the regular pleasures of the free concert series at the Library of Congress was the performance of the Juilliard String Quartet. The group has been on an extended tour away from Washington for the past couple of years, but they will be back this Friday (April 7, 8 p.m.) for a free concert of music by Schubert, Viñao, and Beethoven. Reserved tickets are already sold out, but the chances are good to get an unused seat if you arrive early and wait in line.
>> On Saturday (April 8, 8 p.m.), violinist Elmar Oliveira will give a recital at the Library of Congress. He will play an all-American program, including music by Copland, Dello Joio, Gershwin, as well as the astounding Sonata for Violin and Piano by John Corigliano. I recently heard Rachel Barton Pine play this piece, and it's a thrill to hear.
>> Finally, on Sunday (April 9, 6:30 p.m.), the Eusia String Quartet will give a free concert with pianist James Dick at the National Gallery of Art. The program includes music by Debussy, Fauré, and Gregory Vajda.
WORTH MENTIONING:
>> If you haven't had enough Mozart yet, the Academy of Ancient Music, one of the best early music groups in Great Britain, will play an all-Mozart concert on Wednesday (April 5, 8 p.m.) at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, in College Park. Tickets: $25 to $45 (students, $7).
>> Well, George Mason is out of the NCAA tournament, but on Friday (April 7, 8 p.m.) and Sunday (April 9, 2 p.m.), Virginia Opera will bring their production of Bellini's opera Norma to the George Mason University Center for the Arts. Tickets: $44 to $88.
>> On Saturday (April 8, 8 p.m.), the Cantate Chamber Singers will present a concert called Lent in Leipzig at St. John’s Norwood Parish (6701 Wisconsin Ave.) in Chevy Chase, Md. The program is centered around Reinhard Keyser's St. Mark Passion and also features Johann Kuhnau's Gott, sei mir gnadig and one of the best of J. S. Bach's motets, Jesu Meine Freude. Tickets: $25.
>> For more concerts, go to our Classical Week in Washington feature at Ionarts.
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Charles, thanks for the Kronos/Wu tip last week. I dug the concert.
You're welcome! I'm glad you liked it. I'd be interested in reading your review of that concert, if you are willing to write down some thoughts.
My willingness far exceeds my ability, but here's a little information:
Kronos, who played the first half of the concert alone, started with the most obviously experimental piece on the program, John Zorn's Cat o' Nine Tails; or, Tex Avery Directs the Marquis de Sade, which seemed an odd choice: quite a few of the audience members clearly didn't know what they were getting themselves into and were turned off to the rest of the show by this introduction. (About 10 percent of the audience didn't return after the intermission.) They went on to play:
Flugufrelsarinn and excerpts from Cat o' Nine Tails and How It Happens, along with a number of other pieces, can be streamed from NPR's Kronos performance.
After the intermission, Kronos were joined by pipa player Wu Man for a performance of Terry Riley's The Cusp of Magic, which featured bells, various noise-making children's toys, and a clip from 80s one-hit-wonder Boys Don't Cry's "I Wanna Be a Cowboy." For an encore, they played a movement from Tan Dun's Ghost Opera. In all, the concert was a little over two hours long, including the intermission.
Wow! Thanks for that!