Anyone at Steven Blier’s latest Wolf Trap recital this past August likely wanted to hear more from mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke. Washingtonians had that wish fulfilled by Young Concert Artists, who sponsored her Sunday afternoon recital in the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. Cooke and her excellent associate artist, pianist Pei-Yao Wang, presented an attractive program of relative rareties from the 19th- and 20th-century song repertory to a relatively full house. The concert opened memorably with a…

We always tell you where the free concerts are, but just because a concert is free does not mean that it will be good. This week, we are leading with the free concerts because they are so good. Other than the free stuff, there is so much to hear, we have selected a few options from what is less expensive, not sold out, and likely to be good. FREE, FREE, FREE: >> The Washington Bach…

Leonard Slatkin returned to the podium of the National Symphony Orchestra, which is now celebrating its 75th anniversary season, last night in the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall. DCist was there, along with a full audience that actually did not consist only of people over 50. Most of us were there, not only to welcome back Maestro Slatkin, but to hear the first of the superstar soloists appearing with the NSO during its big season, violinist…

Now that we are almost in October, the fall season of classical music is heating up, and we have put together a list of highlights through December for you over at Ionarts. But, this week, you should give some thought to hearing some of the good music out there (we have a more complete listing at Ionarts). We reiterate our recommendation from last week: the first opera in the 50th anniversary season of the Washington…