In late October the major musical groups in Washington — the Washington National Opera and National Symphony Orchestra — take a break from performing for a couple weeks until November. You might think that their absence would mean a reduction of concert volume, but this is not really the case. In fact, we have a lot to tell you people about for the next two weeks, and without opera and symphony, we may even get to review some of them for you.

OPERA:
>> The biggest event of the week is on Tuesday (October 18, 8 p.m.). America diva Renée Fleming will bring her concert performance of Richard Strauss’s transcendent opera Daphne (1938) to the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. In collaboration with conductor Semyon Bychkov and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, La Fleming made a studio recording of this work last spring, and the same group, with some changes in the cast, is performing it live in Ann Arbor, Michigan (last Thursday), at Carnegie Hall (last night), and here in Washington. Strauss is one of the three best opera composers of the 20th century, in our opinion, and Daphne is a gorgeous work that does not get performed as often as his other operas. Incredibly, at the time of this writing, the Kennedy Center has not sold out, although the only tickets remaining are in the orchestra section ($80) and in the boxes ($150).

>> There are other ways to satisfy your opera craving. This Saturday (October 22, 8:15 p.m.) the Baltimore Opera will begin its four-performance run of Verdi’s La Traviata. Tickets: $40 to $132. If it has to be free, you could hear members of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program, hosted by Washington National Opera, present a program of lighter excerpts from zarzuelas and operettas. This performance of up-and-coming opera singers will take place on Sunday (October 23, 3 p.m.) in the gorgeous Grand Salon of the Renwick Gallery (Pennsylvania Ave. and 17th St. NW). You do not need a ticket, and you no longer need to register in advance. Just show up and hear some good music in a remarkable venue downtown.

Filed Under: america, Ann Arbor, baltimore, Baltimore Opera, baltimoreopera, Cafritz Young Artists Program, Carnegie Hall, concert, Concert Hall, downtown, education, events, kennedy center, La Traviata, michigan, music, national symphony, national symphony orchestra, pennsylvania ave, people, radio, renwick gallery, richard strauss, Semyon Bychkov, This Saturday, tickets, violistrogertapping, washington, Washington National, washington national opera, Young Artists,