Conductor Valery GergievThis is going to be a busy week for classical music listeners, with far more concerts on the schedule than one can possible attend. Here are our picks for the most interesting ones. Plenty of free concerts after the jump, too.
HEADLINERS:
>> Valery Gergiev brings back the singers of the Mariinsky Opera to the Kennedy Center Opera House this week. The opening performance of two weeks of concerts, a concert performance of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, was moved from Saturday night to Friday night (February 26, 7:30 p.m.), to allow Gergiev to fly to Vancouver. There he will conduct part of the Winter Olympics closing ceremonies, as the torch is passed from Canada to Russia, the host of the next Winter Games. Pavel Smelkov will step in for Gergiev on Sunday afternoon (February 28, 1:30 p.m.) for the concert performance of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov.
>> Twenty-something Polish pianist Rafał Blechacz recorded one of the most sensational victories ever at the International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition in 2005. He will make his greatly anticipated Washington recital debut this Saturday (February 27, 2 p.m.) at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are sold out, but you can try contacting the Washington Performing Arts Society directly to inquire about cancellations.
>> The best chamber music event of the week will likely be the concert by the trio of violinist Christian Tetzlaff, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff, and pianist Lars Vogt in the Barns at Wolf Trap on Friday (February 26, 8 p.m.). Schubert, Kodály, and Dvořák are on the program.
>> If it is orchestral music you want, this week’s concerts by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will feature conductor Nicolas McGegan in a program of Mozart and Beethoven, meaning that the tempos will likely be very fast. Classical period specialist Robert Levin will play Beethoven’s first piano concerto and will also play an improvisation in the style of Beethoven. The orchestra’s concert in the Music Center at Strathmore is on Saturday (February 27, 8 p.m.).
