This is another week filled with excellent pianists visiting Washington, and there are concerts a-plenty of all kinds, including some very good free ones.
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>> Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes (pictured) is a smart and talented musician, but he also has a flair for the unusual. Last year, to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Edvard Grieg, Andsnes had a grand piano hauled up to the top of a Norwegian mountain to record himself playing Grieg there. On Andsnes’ recital on Tuesday (April 22, 8 p.m.), in the Music Center at Strathmore, he will play the Grieg G minor ballade he has played around the world during the Grieg centenary year, as well as some Sibelius, Debussy, and Beethoven. A few tickets remain.
>> If you prefer your concerts free, your best bet this week is the all-Beethoven recital by cellist Zuill Bailey and pianist Simone Dinnerstein on Sunday (April 27, 6:30 p.m.) at the National Gallery of Art. Dinnerstein rocketed to notoriety by self-producing a recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations last year. Her recording of Beethoven cello sonatas with Zuill Bailey actually predates that best-selling disc. Get to the NGA early, as crowds are likely to be large.
>> Slightly odd French composer falls in love with English actress, is rejected, goes on opium binge, writes symphony about the experience. It’s Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, and it’s on the program of this week’s concerts by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: Thursday (April 24, 8 p.m.) in the Music Center at Strathmore and Friday to Sunday (April 25 to 27) in Baltimore. Yan Pascal Tortelier is guest conductor, and the extraordinary young pianist Yuja Wang will also play Prokofiev’s first piano concerto.
>> The award for most unusual program this week goes to the free concert by Ensemble Aleph and the Verge Ensemble on Friday (April 25, 7:30 p.m.) at La Maison Française (4101 Reservoir Rd. NW). It’s all modern and all excitingly strange, with music by Crumb, Antheil, and others. If you cannot make it on Friday, the concert will be repeated on Sunday (April 27, 4:30 p.m.) at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Tickets (at the Corcoran): $20.
