The National Symphony Orchestra is about to lose its captain, when Music Director Leonard Slatkin steps down at the end of this season. Slatkin is clearly not ready to retire, although he has hinted that he is all too ready to move past the discomforts of his tenure in Washington. He will split his time among the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic in London, and the Pittsburgh Symphony, as well as teaching at Indiana…

It is always good to know how your concert schedule is going to play out, and this week things could not be any clearer (and none of these events has sold out). Here is your list of what’s good, what’s free, and even some of what’s both. THE BIG GUNS: >> A couple years ago, soprano Anne Schwanewilms was in the news because she replaced Deborah Voigt, when the latter could not fit into a…

Leonard Slatkin has been programming good music for the National Symphony Orchestra this season, much of it featuring an impressive roster of guest soloists. So far this fall, this DCist has heard Itzhak Perlman playing Barber and could have heard, but sadly missed, Nikolaj Znaider playing Bruch and Truls Mørk playing Elgar. True, more unusual fare has been safely packaged with favorites, for the most part, but in concert programming, just as in politics, it…