This is going to be a busy week for classical music, with far more to hear than any one person could possibly take in. Here are the top picks for what will be good, according to category, including some free concerts after the jump.
Diana Vishneva, Mariinsky BalletORCHESTRAS:
>> Ballet should have live music, and that is what you will get this week with the performance of Adolphe Adam’s classic ballet Giselle (February 8 to 13, various times), presented by the Mariinsky Ballet at the Kennedy Center Opera House. The music will be performed not by the Mariinsky Orchestra but by the Kennedy Center’s own Opera House Orchestra. The Mariinsky’s outstanding star, Diana Vishneva, is scheduled to perform on February 8 and 13 only.
>> The singular pianist Radu Lupu returns to Washington this week, playing Beethoven’s third piano concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra (February 10 to 12) in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Guest conductor Gianandrea Noseda will also lead works by Smetana and Tchaikovsky.
>> A very different pianist, the dynamic Yuja Wang, will play Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Thursday night (February 10, 8 p.m.) in the Music Center at Strathmore. Guest conductor Juanjo Mena has also programmed Bruckner’s sixth symphony, and there will be two more performances of the concert in Baltimore (February 11 and 13).
>> On Saturday (February 12, 8 p.m.), Opole, Philharmonic of Poland will visit the GMU Center for the Arts, with pianist Evgeni Mikhailov as guest soloist.
>> Pianist Christopher Taylor joins the National Philharmonic for an all-Mozart program (February 12 and 13) at Strathmore.
