April continues to be a busy month for your classical music critic, and that is just the way we like it here. This week has just about everything: some big names, some opera, some early music, and more free concerts than we probably deserve. Take your pick.

>> The main event of the week is the much-anticipated (and sold out) Kennedy Center recital by Evgeny Kissin, sponsored by Washington Performing Arts Society. The program features Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, and Kissin’s signature Chopin. Call the box office to see if any last-minute tickets become available. April 18, 8 p.m.

>> The National Symphony Orchestra has just named Iván Fischer as interim principal conductor from 2008 to 2010, to cover the transition from Leonard Slatkin to a new Music Director. The NSO may want to consider Czech conductor Jiří Bĕlohlávek for the position, and he will conduct the orchestra this week in a fascinating program of Czech music, with violinist Christian Tetzlaff as soloist. This promises to be one of the better concerts of the season. Full-time students are eligible to buy $10 tickets, through the Attend! program, for the Thursday and Friday concerts only. April 19 to 21, various times.

>> Seventeenth-century music for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela is the theme presented this week by the French early music ensemble La Fenice, joined by soprano Arianna Savall. The easiest concert to attend will be on Thursday, at La Maison Française (4101 Reservoir Rd. NW). Tickets: $20. April 19, 7:30 p.m. (The same concert will be given on the Friends of Music subscription-only series at Dumbarton Oaks, April 20 to 22.)

>> The second half of the Lully Project takes the stage this week. Using the same libretto as Lully’s Armide, reviewed in February, Gluck’s opera of the same name will be staged by University of Maryland Opera Studio. The orchestral ensemble of Opera Lafayette will play in the pit, at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park. Tickets: $25 (students, $7). April 19 to 22, various times.

Photo of Evgeny Kissin by Sheila Rock, courtesy of IMG Artists

Filed Under: arts, Arts Center, Clarice Smith, clarice smith performing arts center, classical music, college, College Park, Dumbarton Oaks, Evgeny Kissin, friends, kennedy center, La Maison, La Maison Fran, lamaisonfran, Leonard Slatkin, Maryland, Maryland Opera Studio, music, Music Director, national symphony, national symphony orchestra, Opera Lafayette, performing arts, Reservoir Rd, rock, the national, The National Symphony, The National Symphony Orchestra, The NSO, this week, tickets, university, university of maryland, washington, washington performing arts society,