Classical Music Agenda
The problem this week for classical music aficionados in Washington is not what to hear, but what not to hear. That is, what -- in the schedule pile-up of exceptional music -- can one afford to miss. Here are some of your choices.
Mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter.
>> If that's your Thursday plan, on Friday (May 1, 7:30 p.m.) you should leap at the chance to hear the music of an extremely interesting Russian composer, Lera Auerbach, at the piano for a concert of her own compositions with cellist Alisa Weilerstein and mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke. This concert kicks off the Kennedy Center's Contemporary Music Week, and Auerbach is one of fifteen of the world's leading living composers featured. Tickets: $25.
>> Conductor Helmuth Rilling is back at the helm of the National Symphony Orchestra this week (April 30 to May 2). Past appearances make it likely that Rilling's take on Haydn's choral masterpiece The Creation, with the University of Maryland Concert Choir in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, should be worth hearing. Tickets: $20 to $80.
>> Of course, the long-awaited production of Wagner's Siegfried opens on Saturday night (May 2, 6 p.m.) at Washington National Opera. This is the third installment of the company's American Ring Cycle, after Die Walküre in 2007 and Das Rheingold in 2006, but what American mythology director Francesca Zambello will evoke in her staging of Siegfried's reforging of his sword, slaying of the dragon, or awakening of Brünnhilde is anyone's guess.
>> If you have to hear the Haydn or Wagner on Saturday night, you would miss the Strathmore concert by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (May 2, 8 p.m.), but you could also make the trip to Baltimore to hear it on either Friday (May 1, 8 p.m.) or Sunday (May 3, 3 p.m.). Mario Venzago will conduct the 1889 version of Bruckner's third symphony, and pianist Nelson Freire will perform Beethoven's fourth piano concerto.
>> Sunday, though, should probably be set aside for the recital by mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and soprano Nathalie Paulin with Washington Concert Opera orchestra and conductor Antony Walker (May 3, 6 p.m.) at Lisner Auditorium. The program includes scenes, arias, and duets from beloved operas and should be excellent.
ALSO:
>> The VSA arts International Young Soloists Concert on Tuesday (April 28, 7:30 p.m.) will feature four up-and-coming musicians in the Kennedy Center Family Theater. It's free, but you have to request a ticket in advance.
>> Fortepianist Ludwig Sémerjian will give a free lecture-demonstration at the Library of Congress on Thursday (April 30, 7 p.m.), followed by a free concert on Friday (May 1, 8 p.m.).
>> The recital by legendary tenor Plácido Domingo, From My Latin Soul, on Friday (May 1, 8 p.m.) at DAR Constitution Hall is far from free (there are some $25 tickets) but is a must for some opera fans.
>> Washington Performing Arts Society will present a recital by pianist Louis Lortie on Saturday afternoon (May 2, 4 p.m.) in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. His last performance of this program, all of the Chopin etudes (at Shriver Hall), was very good, if not as impressive as his 2006 recital at the National Gallery.
>> The adventurous string quartet known as ETHEL will give a performance of Phil Kline's SPACE on Saturday (May 2, 6 p.m.) in a free concert at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.
>> The Children's Chorus of Washington will perform a children's opera by Imant Raminsh, The Nightingale, on Saturday (May 2, 7 p.m.) and Sunday (May 3, 3 p.m.) at the Harman Center for the Arts.
>> The Apollo Trio will perform a concert of music by Bruce Adolphe in the Kennedy Center Family Theater on Saturday (May 2, 7:30 p.m.).
>> If it's Handel you want, try the In Praise of Music concert of Handel favorites presented by the Washington Bach Consort in the Music Center at Strathmore on Sunday afternoon (May 3, 3 p.m.).
>> The Sunday concert (May 3, 4 p.m.) by the Klavier Trio Amsterdam at the Corcoran Gallery of Art stands out because it will include a performance of Martinů's Bergerettes.
>> As if that were not enough, one of the best flutists in the world, Emmanuel Pahud, and harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock will give a concert at Baltimore's Shriver Hall on Sunday (May 3, 5:30 p.m.), including some of the Bach flute sonatas on their new recording.
>> Maybe you just need to go to a free concert: we recommend the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra at the National Gallery of Art on Sunday (May 3, 6:30 p.m.), with powerhouse soprano Alessandra Marc singing Strauss.