Kicking off the Kennedy Center's CHINA: The Art of a Nation series, Two Dogs' Opinions on Life is a laugh riot—if you speak Chinese. Luckily for the rest of us, the actors carry off the difficult task of parodying Chinese life in slapstick, farce, and sound effects everyone can understand. more ›

At this point in December, holiday concerts and Handel's Messiah have completely hijacked the classical music schedule. Here are a few other events, not all of which avoid the spirit of the season. After this post, the Classical Music Agenda will take its end-of-the-year hiatus, to return in the New Year. more ›

The swell of holiday concerts and Messiah and Nutcracker performances has reached a deafening level this week. Still, there are some excellent concerts to hear, if you just need to get away from the tinselly, Santa-hatted madness. HEADLINES: >> Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero will give a nearly sold-out Washington Performing Arts Society recital on Saturday (December 15, 2 p.m.), Sidney Harman Hall. This new downtown venue, if an article in The Economist is to be... more ›

It's December, which means that much of the classical music concert schedule is devoted to some holiday that apparently occurs near the end of the month. Consult our Holiday Concert Agenda and our Handel's Messiah Agenda, if that is the sort of thing that interests you. Let's try to keep the regular agenda free of that stuff. There is plenty to talk about without it. VOICES: >> The annual residency of the Kirov Opera, the... more ›

It is always good to know how your concert schedule is going to play out, and this week things could not be any clearer (and none of these events has sold out). Here is your list of what's good, what's free, and even some of what's both. THE BIG GUNS: >> A couple years ago, soprano Anne Schwanewilms was in the news because she replaced Deborah Voigt, when the latter could not fit into a... more ›

Anyone at Steven Blier's latest Wolf Trap recital this past August likely wanted to hear more from mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke. Washingtonians had that wish fulfilled by Young Concert Artists, who sponsored her Sunday afternoon recital in the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater. Cooke and her excellent associate artist, pianist Pei-Yao Wang, presented an attractive program of relative rareties from the 19th- and 20th-century song repertory to a relatively full house. The concert opened memorably with a... more ›

Without a doubt, the most important event in classical music this week is the opening of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's season. It will be the occasion of the official installation of Marin Alsop as the group's music director, the first woman to hold that position with a major American symphony orchestra. A celebrated champion of contemporary music, particularly by American composers, Maestra Alsop has come into her new job with a full head of steam,... more ›

FRIDAY: >> The Millennium Stage Conservatory Project concludes this weekend at the Kennedy Center. Promising young musicians from the nation's best conservatories will be giving free concerts in the Terrace Theater: Eastman School of Music (tonight), Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University (Saturday), and Shepherd School of Music, Rice University (Sunday). All concerts begin at 6 p.m. and can also be experienced by live simulcast through the Millennium Stage Web site. >> Garrison Keillor brings... more ›

Summer is almost here, and that means it is almost time to roll up the carpets and send the Classical Music Agenda on vacation. So enjoy the music while you can. In particular, this is the last week to take in a performance of the best production from Washington National Opera this season, Janáček's Jenůfa. My review called this opera "essential viewing for anyone who cares about music drama." Performances remain only on Monday (May... more ›

There is little doubt that the main event this week is the opening of the final part of the Washington National Opera's season. The company's penultimate production, Leoš Janáček's Jenůfa in a staging by David Alden, won the Laurence Olivier Award this year for best new opera production. For reasons beyond understanding, not a single performance has sold out, although this is likely to be the high point of the WNO season. Some people may... more ›

April has been an exhausting month for classical music listeners. Still, when that means staying out late to hear Evgeny Kissin play eight encores, you will not hear me complaining. Put your shoes back on, because there is more music to be heard. We start with the best events this week. >> By all accounts, Chinese-American pianist Chu-Fang Huang, winner of the 2005 Cleveland Piano Competition, is an exceptional talent at age 23. She is... more ›

When the afternoon's labor hangs about your neck like so many albatross carcasses, their limp beaks slicked with the sweat of eight hours' worth of futility, when the sun hangs low in the air like a thug-strewn rock on its downward trajectory into the skull of an unsuspecting bicyclist, when the administrative assistant two cubes down sashays off to happy hour, leaving you sick with the thoughts that such a treasured sixty-minute span might ne'er come your way again, you can't help but wonder as you stare into the hypnotic mock of your monitor: how are the "good people" supposed to stave off brain glaze in that last forty-five minutes of the workday? more ›

The recitals sponsored by the Vocal Arts Society are usually very well attended. Their latest concert, by Hawaiian baritone Quinn Kelsey, did not have the same draw as some of their other events, but those who made it to the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater on Monday evening were rewarded with some excellent singing. In 2005, Kelsey represented the United States at the BBC Singer of the World competition, and he has been appearing at Lyric Opera of Chicago as a member of that company's young artists program for the past three years. His voice is a superb instrument, with some maturing to do but of exceptional promise, combining a full sound, a broad and well-balanced range, and impressive breath support. more ›

Last week's Classical Music Agenda omitted an excellent concert opportunity that just came to my attention, annual concerts of Schubert's music called Schubert, Schubert, and Schubert. The final installment is this evening (March 18, 8 p.m.), at Georgetown University's Gaston Hall (37th and O St. NW), when the Auryn String Quartet will play Schubert's Quartetsatz, D. 703, and the "Death and the Maiden" quartet, D. 810. Pianist Kyoko Hashimoto will also play the four Schubert... more ›

Last year's celebration of the 100th birthday of Dmitri Shostakovich, on September 25, fizzled out somewhat here in Washington. This week, dedicated listeners had the chance to take their fill of the Russian composer's music. After a thundering concert performance of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by the Kirov Opera on Sunday, it was the Emerson Quartet who brought the early half of their complete cycle of Shostakovich's fifteen string quartets, played to great acclaim in London and other places (available in a live recording made at the Aspen Music Festival several years ago). On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evening in the sold-out Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, the most attentive audience in recent Washington history heard the first eight string quartets and the piano quintet. With coughing and other distracting noise kept to a striking minimum, one had the feeling of being in the company of serious listeners. A man in front of me cupped his hand to his ear to focus on the quartet's sound if there was too much rustling of programs near him. more ›

We always tell you where the free concerts are, but just because a concert is free does not mean that it will be good. This week, we are leading with the free concerts because they are so good. Other than the free stuff, there is so much to hear, we have selected a few options from what is less expensive, not sold out, and likely to be good. more ›

Susan Graham is one of those rare singers who combine broad audience appeal with critical approbation. She has won a Grammy, for a stellar CD of Charles Ives songs with Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and sings on the greatest operatic stages of the world, in works ranging from Mozart to new operas like Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy. It was hardly surprising, therefore, that Graham's recital on Friday night in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater was sold out weeks ago, especially since her inventive and exquisite program focused on one of her specialties, the French art song, or mélodie. With very few old favorites, the 24 songs by 22 composers (only Fauré and Debussy merited more than one piece) provided a "tasting menu," in Graham's words, a connoisseur's guided tour of the less traveled départements of French song. more ›

When members of the now defunct Theater Chamber Players formed the Left Bank Concert Society in 2004, they took on the worthy mission of bringing chamber music, especially modern repertory, to new audiences. On Saturday night in the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, the Left Bank String Quartet shared the stage with a young string quartet called the Dionysian Quartet, made up of University of Maryland students. Most of the Left Bank's core members (all but second violinist Sally McLain) are teacher-performers on faculty at Maryland, and they sometimes perform with their best students. more ›

Does anyone else need a vacation from their vacation? Some good classical music is just the thing to calm your nerves after battling the traffic or the airport crowds. Happily, we have some excellent things on the agenda for this week, before the Holiday Concert Madness truly sets in, beginning with some of the big guns. STAR CONCERTS: >> The main event this week as far as I am concerned is the recital by powerhouse... more ›

FRIDAY: >> The EU Film Showcase kicked off at the AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center last weekend, and we'll have a little more about it for you this weekend. In the meantime film buffs should consider checking out Bergman Island, a documentary by another Swedish filmmaker, Marie Nyeröd, that visits legendary director Ingmar Bergman at his home on the island of Fårö. Now 88 years old, this is no doubt the final document of... more ›

As part of receiving this year's Marian Anderson Award from the Kennedy Center, tenor Lawrence Brownlee gave a recital in the Terrace Theater Sunday afternoon. The award recognizes a young singer who has already distinguished himself as a multifaceted performer, and many reviewers, myself included, have been impressed with his strong tenor, a vocal type that is as rare in its best form as it is important, in opera particularly. Brownlee's program on Sunday mostly showcased his many strengths, especially in Italian opera arias. This is a voice that strikes a broad swath of sound, with power and high notes, which are used with reserve and intelligence. more ›

A decade ago, conductor Lorin Maazel and his wife started the Châteauville Foundation, based at Castleton Farms in Rappahannock County, Virginia. On Monday night, rather than have Washingtonians go down to the Shenandoah Mountains, Maazel brought his young musicians to the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater. A cast of talented singers and a finely honed small ensemble of instrumentalists gave an exquisite performance of Benjamin Britten's chilling and yet beautiful chamber opera The Turn of the... more ›

You have a few more performances this month before the Washington National Opera season ends. We have reviewed both productions for you at DCist and I recommend them both. On Monday (May 22, 7 p.m.) and Saturday (May 27, 7 p.m.) are the final two performances of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, an opera that is not all that well known but that has some great music -- Mozart at the height of his compositional... more ›

Last week, there was ample proof that Washington may be the best city in the world for people who want to hear free concerts of classical music. If anything, there is even more evidence of that predominance this week. Just to list them all is going to take some space. Thank you for your patience. FREE IS GOOD: >> The Conservatory Project returns to the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage this week. From today until next... more ›

We have been plugging the excellent production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess all week, and it is worth your time and effort to see it, as we did this past Wednesday. However, all remaining performances have apparently been sold out. This means that your best and only remaining chance to experience this great American opera will be later today, when a live simulcast from the Kennedy Center Opera House will be shown on a huge... more ›

Over the remaining weeks of October, we have some excellent classical music events on the schedule here in Washington. The problem for us is certainly not going to be finding things to recommend in our weekly agenda, but rather choosing which of many possible concerts we should counsel you to attend. This week, we are going mostly with the big guns. more ›

Now that we are almost in October, the fall season of classical music is heating up, and we have put together a list of highlights through December for you over at Ionarts. But, this week, you should give some thought to hearing some of the good music out there (we have a more complete listing at Ionarts). We reiterate our recommendation from last week: the first opera in the 50th anniversary season of the Washington... more ›

Don't forget to check out our music and arts agendas for other events going on this Memorial Day weekend (especially since this weekend is your last chance to see a lot of great exhibitions). more ›

Classical Music Agenda by DCist contributor Charles T. Downey of Ionarts If you have not done your civic duty and Taken a Friend to the Orchestra yet this month, Washington is not the place to try to make that happen in late May. We don't have much to suggest for your classical listening pleasure this week, but you can keep yourself informed by following our Classical Week in Washington column at Ionarts. FREE CONCERTS: >>... more ›

MONDAY: more ›