It's once again mid-September and time to look forward to all the great music the city has to offer to those of us lucky enough to be located here. I'll be posting separately on each event, of course, but a brief overview might be helpful.
At Carnegie Hall, I will be attending a total of thirteen performances beginning with Strauss's Elektra on October 21. Andris Nelsons, who made a great impression on me when I first saw him conduct last season, will here lead the Boston Symphony; Christine Goerke will sing the title role. In the following months I will hear other great orchestras at this venerable hall, most notably Simon Rattle leading the incomparable Berlin Philharmonic in November in a rendition of Beethoven's Ninth. In addition, the Cleveland Orchestra will perform two Mozart piano concertos featuring Mitsuko Uchida as soloist; the Vienna Philharmonic, led by Valery Gergiev, will perform selections from Wagner's Götterdämmerung; Orpheus will offer Mozart's Third Violin Concerto with Pinchas Zuckerman as soloist; and the San Francisco Symphony, led by its long time music director Michael Tilson Thomas, will perform both Schubert's Eighth and Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde on the same program. As far as the piano repertoire is concerned, I will be hearing solo recitals by András Schiff, Leif Ove Andsnes, Jeremy Denk and - best of all, for me at least - Yefim Bronfman performing the Prokofiev sonatas. But the climax of Carnegie's season will come at the very end when, within a week's time in May, James Levine - whom I consider the greatest conductor now active - is scheduled to lead the Met Orchestra in three historic concerts. One will feature Evgeny Kissin as soloist (Rachmaninoff Concerto #2) and another Renée Fleming (Strauss's Four Last Songs). The third and final concert will consist of selections from Wagner's Ring.
At the Met Opera, I will be attending eight operas over the course of the season. These will include Verdi's Il Trovatore, Otello and Simon Boccanegra as well as Puccini's Manon Lescaut and Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail. I'm also looking forward to hearing Sondra Radvanovsky, who thrilled me two seasons ago in the title role of Bellini's Norma, sing in two of Donizetti's three "Tudor Queen" operas - Anna Bolena and Roberto Devereux. Perhaps the Met's most intriguing offering will be Bizet's rarely performed (this will be its first appearance in the company's repertory in 100 years) Les pêcheurs de perles with Diana Damrau.
I rarely subscribe to the Great Performers at Lincoln Center, but this season there are three orchestral performances (all in the same series) that I didn't want to miss. Valery Gergiev will lead the London Symphony in an all-Bartók program; Gustavo Dudamel will conduct Mahler's Third with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and Joshua Bell will lead the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in a program that includes Beethoven's Eighth.
The Jupiter Players will again be providing a series of twenty chamber recitals from May through September at Good Shepherd Church on West 66th Street. The company consists of accomplished musicians and distinguished guest artists, but what really sets this ensemble apart is the breadth of its repertoire. There are not many opportunities, even here in New York to hear the works of such composers as Reicha, Thieriot, Arensky, or Medtner. The performance I'm most looking forward to is the Mozart Piano Trio in G major featuring Seymour Lipkin on piano and Miriam Fried on violin.
Though there are not as many offerings at the city's music schools as in past years, the excellent ACJW Ensemble will be giving a series of four recitals at Juilliard's Paul Hall, the first of which will include a performance of Schubert's Octet.
Those who are unable to physically attend all these performances (I'm fortunate enough to be within walking distance of both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center) should check WQXR's website during the season to ascertain which events are being broadcast live. In addition, several Chamber Music Society performances are scheduled to be webcast via that company's website. These will include solo recitals by clarinetist David Shifrin in January and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott in February.
No comments:
Post a Comment