Dance of the Hallelujah Sugar Plums
Chestnuts are not only for roasting on open fires. Each December, arts organizations cash in on the unfathomable frenzy for certain holiday favorites, Messiah and The Nutcracker. The former is Handel's most performed — let's face it, disturbingly over-performed — oratorio. It is without doubt a work of great beauty, which I could probably learn to love again in a few years if I had not had to perform in some version of it every year since I was a freshman music major. Still, if you just cannot face the holiday season without hearing it yet again, worry not: you have a bewildering array of opportunities.
>> The best place to hear this music is in a big stone cathedral, and we have one of those. Washington National Cathedral will be the backdrop for an annual Messiah presented by the cathedral choirs. December 5, 7:30 p.m.; December 7, 4 p.m.
>> For something completely different, check out the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Gospel Messiah in the Music Center at Strathmore on Friday. December 5, 8 p.m.
>> The National Philharmonic will perform Messiah twice this weekend, as well as an encore performance closer to Christmas, in the Music Center at Strathmore. December 6, 7, and 20, various times
>> For musical quality, the best bet is likely the National Symphony Orchestra, which will perform Messiah in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on the weekend before Christmas. Not least for the voice of soprano Christine Brandes. December 18 to 21, various times
>> For something less polished but with amateur verve, try the annual Messiah presented by the Landon Symphonette and associated forces at the Landon School in Bethesda. December 20, 5 p.m.
>> Of course, the biggest kahuna of the participatory Messiah performances is the Kennedy Center Messiah Sing-Along. It's free, but the competition to get one of the seats in the Concert Hall can be intense. December 23, 8 p.m.
THE NUTCRACKER:
>> The Washington Ballet is again reprising Septime Webre's Washington-specific production of Tchaikovsky's Christmas ballet at the Warner Theater. With cherry blossoms and other local touches, Webre recasts the battle between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King as George Washington and King George III in the American Revolution. December 11 to 28, various times
>> If you must have the more traditional Nutcracker, with the Victorian sentimentalism, the Tchaikovsky, Joffrey Ballet returns to the Kennedy Center Opera House with its blockbuster production. December 11 to 14, various times