Can’t-Miss Performances
With the possible exception of Bach’s B Minor Mass, Beethoven’s
Missa solemnis
might be the most magnificent setting of the Latin Mass ever composed. The work—a
testament to a composer’s faith as well as a plea for peace—is rarely heard, however,
given the prodigious orchestral and vocal forces required. The National Symphony Orchestra—led by Christoph Eschenbach and featuring the Choral
Arts Society of Washington and soloists Anne Schwanewilms, Iris Vermillion, Richard
Croft, and Kwangchul Youn—performs this masterpiece of Beethoven’s final period
November 1 and 3 at the
Kennedy Center Concert Hall.
It doesn’t seem like that long ago when violinist
Midori was bursting upon the scene, but her
Fortas Chamber Music recital on
November 1 (with pianist Özgür Aydin) marks her 30th anniversary on the concert stage. The program
is excellent: three Beethoven sonatas (including the mighty “Kreutzer”), along with
Anton Webern’s
Vier Stücke and George Crumb’s
Four Nocturnes. At the
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.
On
November 7, baritone
Russell Braun appears with his wife, pianist
Carolyn Maule, to perform one of the most haunting and poetic song cycles in the vocal repertoire:
Franz Schubert’s
Die Winterreise, a melancholy depiction of loneliness and death based on 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller.
Braun has recorded the work to much acclaim, and he is as comfortable on the recital
stage as he is in the big opera houses of the world. At the
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater and sponsored by Vocal Arts DC.
Other Highlights of the Month
On
November 1, violinist
Joshua Bell appears with pianist
Sam Haywood in a Washington Performing Arts Society recital at the
Music Center at Strathmore. On the program: Franz Schubert’s
Rondo Brilliant, Richard Strauss’s Sonata in E-Flat Major, Antonin Dvořák’s
Romantic Pieces, and Serge Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 2.
Also on
November 1, cellist
Carter Brey, violinist
Elena Urioste, and pianist
Gabriela Martinez perform chamber music by Beethoven, Anton Arensky, and Maurice Ravel at the University
of Maryland’s
Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
Anyone who’s been to the Bard Music Festival knows that conductor
Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra (celebrating its 50th anniversary this year)
are consistently thoughtful interpreters of both the standard repertoire and rarely
heard works. On
November 2, they appear at the
George Mason Center for the Arts in a performance featuring Johannes Brahms’s Serenade No. 1
and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, the “Eroica.”
In between performances of the
Missa Solemnis, several principals of the National Symphony Orchestra
(Nurit Bar-Josef, Marissa Regni, Daniel Foster, David Hardy, Nicholas Stovall, Loren
Kitt, Sue Heineman, and Laurel Bennert Ohlson) join Christoph Eschenbach at the piano
for a recital of
Beethoven chamber works: the Violin Sonata No. 1, the String Trio in C minor, and the Quintet for Piano and
Winds.
November 2 at the
Kennedy Center Concert Hall.
Pianist
Lang Lang begins a weeklong residency at the
Kennedy Center on November 4 with a recital of three Mozart piano sonatas and all four Chopin
Ballades. On
November 7, Christoph Eschenbach joins the pianist in a duo piano recital, performing Mozart
and Schubert. Lang Lang then joins the National Symphony Orchestra
November 8 through 10 in three Beethoven Piano Concertos (Nos. 2, 3, and 5). Christoph Eschenbach also
leads the orchestra in Strauss’s
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7.
Guest conductor
Victoria Gau leads the National Philharmonic in an all-Prokofiev
program on
November 10 at the Music Center at Strathmore. Soloists Brian Ganz (piano) and Magdalena Wór (mezzo-soprano) join the orchestra
in the
Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Piano Concerto No. 3, and Alexander Nevsky Suite.
Violinist
Sergey Khachatryan appears with the National Symphony Orchestra
November 15 through 17 for performances of Tchaikovsky’s evergreen Violin Concerto. Guest conductor
Vasily Petrenko also conducts the Symphony No. 4 by Dmitri Shostakovich.
The music of Antonin Dvořák and Johannes Brahms share many similarities, and the pairing
of the former composer’s Symphony No. 8 and the latter’s Piano Concerto No. 2—the
program chosen by conductor Marin Alsop for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
performance on
November 17—is intriguing. Pianist
Denis Kozhukhin is the soloist in the Brahms. At the
Music Center at Strathmore.
The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra presents an all-Beethoven concert
November 17 at the
George Mason Center for the Arts. Guest conductor
Ken Woods leads performances of the Overture to Coriolan and the Symphony No. 2, and violinist
Benjamin Beilman is the soloist in the great Violin Concerto.
The a cappella vocal ensemble
Anonymous 4 (composed of Marsha Genesky, Ruth Cunningham, Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, and Susan
Hellauer) performs David Lang’s “love fail,” a theater piece that draws on multiple
sources: the short stories of Lydia Davis, medieval narratives of courtly love, and
excerpts from
Tristan und Isolde. Sponsored by the Fortas Chamber Music series;
November 28 at the
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.
Conductor Mario Venzago leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
in Franz Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No. 1, Edward Elgar’s searing Cello Concerto (with
soloist Sol Gabetta), and Cesar Franck’s Symphony in D minor. At the
Music Center at Strathmore,
November 29.
Guest conductor
Juraj Valcuha leads the National Symphony Orchestra,
November 29 through December 1, in Karol Szymanowski’s Concert Overture, Ravel’s
Ma Mère l’oye Suite, and Claude Debussy’s
La Mer. Pianist Jonathan Biss performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 13.
Die Fledermaus
is most commonly associated with New Year’s Eve, but the Virginia Opera will put on its production of the operetta by Johann Strauss II about a month early—on
November 30 and December 2 at the
George Mason Center for the Arts. Gary Thor Wedow conducts, and Dorothy Danner directs. The cast consists of Christina
Pier, Phillip Cutlip, Ryan MacPherson, Christopher Burchett, Sarah Jane McMahon, Abigail
Nims, Neal Ferreira, Jake Gardener, and Grant Neale.
