Classical Music Agenda
April continues to be a busy month for your classical music critic, and that is just the way we like it here. This week has just about everything: some big names, some opera, some early music, and more free concerts than we probably deserve. Take your pick.
>> The main event of the week is the much-anticipated (and sold out) Kennedy Center recital by Evgeny Kissin, sponsored by Washington Performing Arts Society. The program features Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, and Kissin's signature Chopin. Call the box office to see if any last-minute tickets become available. April 18, 8 p.m.
>> The National Symphony Orchestra has just named Iván Fischer as interim principal conductor from 2008 to 2010, to cover the transition from Leonard Slatkin to a new Music Director. The NSO may want to consider Czech conductor Jiří Bĕlohlávek for the position, and he will conduct the orchestra this week in a fascinating program of Czech music, with violinist Christian Tetzlaff as soloist. This promises to be one of the better concerts of the season. Full-time students are eligible to buy $10 tickets, through the Attend! program, for the Thursday and Friday concerts only. April 19 to 21, various times.
>> Seventeenth-century music for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela is the theme presented this week by the French early music ensemble La Fenice, joined by soprano Arianna Savall. The easiest concert to attend will be on Thursday, at La Maison Française (4101 Reservoir Rd. NW). Tickets: $20. April 19, 7:30 p.m. (The same concert will be given on the Friends of Music subscription-only series at Dumbarton Oaks, April 20 to 22.)
>> The second half of the Lully Project takes the stage this week. Using the same libretto as Lully's Armide, reviewed in February, Gluck's opera of the same name will be staged by University of Maryland Opera Studio. The orchestral ensemble of Opera Lafayette will play in the pit, at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park. Tickets: $25 (students, $7). April 19 to 22, various times.
Photo of Evgeny Kissin by Sheila Rock, courtesy of IMG Artists
FREE ON MONDAY:
>> The Vocal Arts Society's Art Song Discovery Series brings singers Lisa Eden and Danielle Talamantes to the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage for a free recital. April 16, 6 p.m.
>> The An das Lied: Festival of Song 2007 continues at the Austrian Embassy, with a free recital of songs by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Markus Vorzellner will accompany tenor John Dickie. You must make a reservation (by e-mail). April 16, 7:30 p.m.
FREE ON WEDNESDAY:
>> Cellist Miklós Perenyi and pianist András Schiff will play an all-Beethoven program on the free concert series at the Library of Congress. April 18, 8 p.m.
>> Soprano Jennifer Ellis and harpsichordist Mark Janello present a concert of Baroque music by Barbara Strozzi and Claudio Monteverdi, in Davis Performing Arts Center at Georgetown University. April 18, 6 p.m.
>> Baritone Jesse Blumberg and pianist Thomas Bagwell will perform Schubert's song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, again as part of the An das Lied Festival at the Austrian Embassy. Reservation is required. April 18, 7:30 p.m.
FREE ON FRIDAY:
>> Pianist John Kamitsuka will play a free recital in McNeir Auditorium at Georgetown. The program includes music by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Schubert. April 20, 1:15 p.m.
>> The An das Lied Festival continues at the Austrian Embassy, with a recital by soprano Arisa Kusumi, baritone Thomas Meglioranza, and pianist Thomas Bagwell. The program combines songs by Johannes Brahms and Hugo Wolf. It is free, but you need to make a reservation. April 20, 7:30 p.m.
>> Two string quartets, the Euclid Quartet and the Degas Quartet, will join forces for a free concert at the Library of Congress. One group will play the Debussy op. 10 quartet, followed by the other playing Mendelssohn's op. 12 quartet. The groups will play together on the third work, a new octet written for them by Virginia composer Armando Bayolo. April 20, 8 p.m.
FREE ON SUNDAY:
>> The Raphael Piano Trio will give a free recital on the weekly series at the Phillips Collection. The concert is free, but you still have to pay to enter the museum April 22, 4 p.m.
>> David Hardy, principal cellist of the National Symphony Orchestra, will play a concert with pianist Lisa Emenheiser at the National Gallery of Art. They will play music by Beethoven, Grieg, and Stravinsky. These concerts are free, no strings attached. April 22, 6:30 p.m.
>> For more concert information, go to Ionarts.