In last week’s Classical Music Agenda, I led with a concert on Sunday afternoon in the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s acoustically splendid auditorium. It was the first concert of the season from the Contemporary Music Forum, but not even the Washington premiere of a major piece of new music, Paul Moravec’s Tempest Fantasy, could draw more than a sparse audience. The composer himself was on hand to give a brief presentation on Tempest Fantasy, which…

On Sunday, the new auditorium at the Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture hosted the inaugural concert of the Smithsonian Chamber Players. The space still has that new hall smell, refinished in a blonde-wood louver style that reminded me of the new hall at Strathmore. The sound is good but not spectacular. I sat in the center towards the front, and the acoustic seemed slightly muted, missing some of the liveness that brings you…

The Classical Music Agenda has been missing in action for several weeks now, but there just has not been that much to hear. My weekly recommendations will return at the end of this month, as the September schedule heats up. For now, you will have to content yourselves with the following concerts, few and far between. This coming weekend (August 18 and 19, 8 p.m.), the Wolf Trap Opera Company concludes its season with a…