Get Your Yuletide Cheer: Holiday Concerts
Christmas cheer is inevitable this time of year, but when it comes to holiday music, the range of choices can be daunting. Each year, we pick out what we think will be the most interesting concerts, the ones that will (hopefully) not make you roll your eyes. If you want something more traditional — your carol medleys, your Messiah, your Nutcracker — it's all after the jump.
NOT THE SAME OLD CHRISTMAS:
>> Members of the Washington Bach Consort will present one of Bach's cantatas for Christmas Day, Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63, for its Noontime Cantata series at Church of the Epiphany (December 1, 12:10 p.m.). It's free!
>> Celebrate the end of the Haydn Anniversary Year with the concert for St. Nicholas's Day by Chantry and Modern Musick at St. Mary, Mother of God (December 5, 8 p.m.). Haydn's Missa Sancti Nicolai is combined with medieval and Renaissance works devoted to St. Nicholas.
>> The Folger Consort often hosts the best Christmas concert in the area, and this year the theme is German: In Dulci Jubilo: A German Christmas, presented with the Cantate Chamber Singers at the Folger Shakespeare Library (December 11 to 20, various times).
>> A trip to Baltimore may be worth the chance to experience a performance of Phil Kline's Unsilent Night, a chance work for boombox parade, hosted by the Mobtown Modern series. Show up at Penn Station (December 12, 7 p.m.) to take part in (or just follow) the musical happening, followed by a concert of new music at Metro Gallery.
>> Washington National Opera's plans to start a tradition of December performances of Hansel and Gretel ran aground, after a very promising start in 2007. The Candlelight Concert Society hosts a children's performance of this delightful opera by the National Marionette Theater at Howard Community College's Smith Theater in Columbia, Md. (December 13, 3 and 4:30 p.m.).
>> One of the most promising concerts of the month involves a trip to Rappahannock County, a performance of Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols and other holiday music by the vocal ensemble Etherea and harpist Grace Cloutier at Lorin Maazel's Châteauville Foundation in Castleton Farms, Va. (December 13, 4 p.m.).
>> The Waverly Consort presents its critically acclaimed program of medieval and Renaissance music, The Christmas Story, at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater (December 16, 7:30 p.m.).
>> Also worth a trip to Baltimore is the holiday concert by the Baltimore Consort, Bright Day Star, in the magnificent surroundings of the Basilica of the Assumption (December 21, 7:30 p.m.).
MESSIAH, IF YOU MUST:
>> Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (December 4), with a community singalong performance (December 9 -- the deadline for registration for this event has been extended to December 7).
>> If we had to attend a performance of Messiah, it would be this one at Washington National Cathedral (December 4 to 6, various times), with the cathedral's choirs, a pick-up orchestra, and one of the most visually sumptuous settings in the city.
>> National Philharmonic in the Music Center at Strathmore (December 12 and 13, various times).
>> National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Chorus, Kennedy Center Concert Hall (December 17 to 20, various times). We may have to review this version, because guest conductor Rossen Milanov plans to conduct the work in the infamous large orchestration by Eugène Goossens, made famous fifty years ago this year in a recording led by Thomas Beecham.
>> Messiah Sing-along, Kennedy Center Concert Hall (December 23, 8 p.m.).
>> For something completely different, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Gospel Messiah (December 10 to 12, various times).
NUTCRACKER
>> With the visiting production of Tchaikovsky's Christmas favorite by the Pennsylvania Ballet having already come and gone, the only option left is Septime Webre's Washington-specific production performed again this year by the Washington Ballet at the Warner Theater (December 10 to 27). See my thoughts from last year.
ALSO:
>> Catholic University's School of Music and the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception present their annual Christmas Concert for Charity (December 4, 7:30 p.m.) at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Michigan Ave. and 4th St. NE). A free will donation is taken to benefit a deserving local charity.
>> The Christmas Revels, Lisner Auditorium (December 5, 6, 11-13, various times).
>> The first Sunday of Advent has come and gone, but for a traditional, high Anglican Service of Lessons and Carols, brave the crowds in the beautiful church of St. Paul's, K Street (2430 K St. NW) for a repeat performance of music by its choirs of boys, girls, and adults (December 6, 6 p.m.).
>> Joy of Christmas from the Cathedral Choral Society, Washington National Cathedral (December 12 and 13).
>> Holiday caroling, led by guest choirs, in one of the most resonant acoustics in the city, the Rotunda of the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, free and open to the public. (December 12, 13, 19, and 20, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m.).
>> Canadian Brass Christmas, George Mason University Center for the Arts (December 12, 8 p.m.).
>> Joyeux Noël, Choral Arts Society (December 14, 19, 20, 24, Kennedy Center Concert Hall)
>> Washington Chorus: Candlelight Christmas (December 19, 21, 22, Kennedy Center Concert Hall; December 23, Music Center at Strathmore)
>> Choral Arts Society Family Christmas Concerts, Kennedy Center Terrace Theater (December 20, 2 and 4 p.m.).
>> Washington Bach Consort's An International Christmas, National Presbyterian Church (December 20, 3 p.m.).
>> National Gallery Vocal Arts Ensemble's free Christmas Concert, National Gallery of Art (December 20, 6:30 p.m.).
>> Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments.