Classical Music Agenda: January 2014

There are more than ten concerts we want to hear in January, but here are the ten we find most intriguing. We love the Takács Quartet around here, and their performances of Bartók's string quartets remain some of my best musical memories. Do not miss their complete cycle of all six quartets -- Quartets 1, 3, 5 (January 21) and Quartets 2, 4, 6 (January 22) -- in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.

The recital by pianist David Greilsammer, presented by Washington Performing Arts Society in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater (January 11, 2 pm), will feature 17th- and 18th-century music on a modern piano and music by John Cage for prepared piano. The same evening, the Atlas Center will present mezzo-soprano Megan Ihnen and violinist Martha Morrison Muehleisen in a performance of György Kurtág's Kafka-Fragments (January 11, 8 pm).

Watch a new restoration of Buster Keaton's film The General at the National Gallery of Art, with members of the NGA Orchestra performing a new score by local composer Andrew Simpson (January 12). Russian piano virtuoso Denis Matsuev will give a big recital, with music by Haydn, Tchaikovsky, and Schumann, at the Music Center at Strathmore (January 25).

SINGERS:
Both recitals offered by Vocal Arts D.C. in January rate high on our list: soprano Ana María Martínez (January 8) and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni (January 31). Both singers appear in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Make it a Lieder recital month with baritone Matthias Goerne, who joins pianist Christoph Eschenbach for Schubert's song cycle Die schöne Müllerin in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater (January 27).

The companion piece of Opera Lafayette's French Così is this month, the American premiere of Philidor's opera Les Femmes Vengées (January 16) in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.

BALLET:
For dance enthusiasts, the event of the month will be the performances of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (January 28 to February 2) by the Mariinsky Ballet, on their regular visit to the Kennedy Center Opera House.

The rest of the schedule will run through the sidebar.

Last month | Next monthClassical Month in Washington is a monthly feature. If there are concerts you would like to see included on our schedule, send your suggestions by e-mail (ionarts at gmail dot com). Happy listening!

January 2, 2014 (Thu)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Viennese Favorites
Music Center at Strathmore

January 4, 2014 (Sat)
5 pm
Suspicious Cheese Lords
Cathedral of Mary, Our Queen (Baltimore, Md.)

January 4, 2014 (Sat)
7:30 pm
Armonia Nova: Twelfth Night Concert
St. Mark's, Capitol Hill

January 4, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
National Philharmonic
With Nurit Bar-Josef, violin
Music Center at Strathmore

January 4, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Viennese Favorites
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)

January 5, 2014 (Sun)
2 pm
U.S. Marine Band [FREE]
GMU Center for the Arts

January 5, 2014 (Sun)
3 pm
National Philharmonic
With Nurit Bar-Josef, violin
Music by Mozart, Dvořák
Music Center at Strathmore

January 5, 2014 (Sun)
3 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Viennese Favorites
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)

January 5, 2014 (Sun)
4 pm
Pekka Kuusisto (violin) and Nico Muhly (piano)
Phillips Collection

January 5, 2014 (Sun)
5:15 pm
Jeremy Filsell, organ
Washington National Cathedral

January 5, 2014 (Sun)
6 pm
Armonia Nova: Twelfth Night Concert
Christ Church (Alexandria, Va.)

January 5, 2014 (Sun)
6:30 pm
NGA Orchestra [FREE]
Russian-American New Year's Concert
National Gallery of Art

January 5, 2014 (Sun)
7:30 pm
Suspicious Cheese Lords
St. Margaret's Episcopal Church (Annapolis, Md.)

January 8, 2014 (Wed)
7:30 pm
Ana María Martínez, soprano
Vocal Arts D.C.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

January 9, 2014 (Thu)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Dvořák, Ninth Symphony
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)

January 10, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Atlantic Brass Quintet
Barns at Wolf Trap

January 10, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Brave New World: Music from The Tempest
Folger Consort
Washington National Cathedral

January 10, 2014 (Fri)
8:15 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Off the Cuff: Dvořák, Ninth Symphony
Music Center at Strathmore

January 11, 2014 (Sat)
11 am, 1:30 and 5 pm
NSO Kinderclassics
Presto! The Case of the Vanishing Viola
Kennedy Center Family Theater

January 11, 2014 (Sat)
2 pm
David Greilsammer, piano
WPAS
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

January 11, 2014 (Sat)
7 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Off the Cuff: Dvořák, Ninth Symphony
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)

January 11, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Fine Arts Quartet with Roberto Díaz
Candlelight Concert Society
Howard Community College (Columbia, Md.)

January 11, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Brave New World: Music from The Tempest
Folger Consort
Washington National Cathedral

January 11, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Megan Ihnen (mezzo-soprano) and Martha Morrison Muehleisen (violin)
Kafka-Fragments
Atlas Center

January 12, 2014 (Sun)
3 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Dvořák, Ninth Symphony
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)

January 12, 2014 (Sun)
3 pm
James Stern (violin), Steve Honigberg (cello), Audrey Andrist (piano) [FREE]
Smithsonian American Art Museum

January 12, 2014 (Sun)
4 pm
Raphael Trio
Phillips Collection

January 12, 2014 (Sun)
4 pm
Royal Philhamonic Orchestra
With Pinchas Zukerman (conductor) and Amanda Forsyth (cello)
GMU Center for the Arts

January 12, 2014 (Sun)
5 pm
Carmina and Countertop Ensemble
Medieval and Renaissance music
Episcopal Church of the Redeemer (Bethesda, Md.)

January 12, 2014 (Sun)
5:15 pm
James Hicks, organ
Washington National Cathedral

January 12, 2014 (Sun)
6:30 pm
Ciné-concert: The General (Buster Keaton) [FREE]
Members of the National Gallery Orchestra
With Andrew Simpson, guest conductor and composer
National Gallery of Art

January 12, 2014 (Sun)
7 pm
Tempest Trio
Friends of Music
Dumbarton Oaks

January 13, 2014 (Mon)
8 pm
Tempest Trio
Friends of Music
Dumbarton Oaks

January 16, 2014 (Thu)
7 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Mark Elder (conductor) and Stephen Hough (piano)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

January 16, 2014 (Thu)
7:30 pm
Philidor, Les Femmes Vengées
Opera Lafayette
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

January 16, 2014 (Thu)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Nicholas McGegan (conductor), Jeremy Denk (piano), Fei Xie (bassoon)
Music Center at Strathmore

January 17, 2014 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Philidor, Les Femmes Vengées
Opera Lafayette
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

January 17, 2014 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Tchaikovsky, Iolanta
Opera Bel Cantanti
JCCGW (Rockville, Md.)

January 17, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Mark Elder (conductor) and Stephen Hough (piano)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

January 17, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Nicholas McGegan (conductor), Jeremy Denk (piano), Fei Xie (bassoon)
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)

January 18, 2014 (Sat)
1:30 and 4 pm
NSO Ensemble Concert
Kennedy Center Family Theater

January 18, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Mark Elder (conductor) and Stephen Hough (piano)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

January 18, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Nicholas McGegan (conductor), Jeremy Denk (piano), Fei Xie (bassoon)
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)

January 18, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
National Philharmonic
With Gabriela Martinez, piano
Music Center at Strathmore

January 18, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
GMU Center for the Arts

January 19, 2014 (Sun)
2 pm
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
GMU Center for the Arts

January 19, 2014 (Sun)
3 pm
Tchaikovsky, Iolanta
Opera Bel Cantanti
JCCGW (Rockville, Md.)

January 19, 2014 (Sun)
4 pm
Dénes Várjon (piano)
Phillips Collection

January 19, 2014 (Sun)
5:15 pm
Dexter Kennedy, organ
Washington National Cathedral

January 19, 2014 (Sun)
5:15 pm
Baroque in the New and the Old World
Teatro Lirico of D.C.
Church of the Epiphany

January 19, 2014 (Sun)
6:30 pm
David Geringas, cello [FREE]
National Gallery of Art

January 19, 2014 (Sun)
7:30 pm
Alisa Weilerstein (cello) and Inon Barnatan (piano)
WPAS
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

January 21, 2014 (Tue)
7:30 pm
Takács Quartet
Music by Bartók (Quartets 1, 3, 5)
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

January 22, 2014 (Wed)
7:30 pm
Takács Quartet
Music by Bartók (Quartets 2, 4, 6)
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

January 23, 2014 (Thu)
7 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
Music by Mozart, Dvořák, Dorman
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

January 24, 2014 (Fri)
7:30 pm
18th Street Singers
Beauty in the Cathedral
First Trinity Lutheran Church

January 24, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra: Beyond the Score
Dvořák, Symphony No. 9
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

January 25, 2014 (Sat)
4 and 8 pm
Matt Haimovitz, cello
Bach, cello suites
Dumbarton Concerts

January 25, 2014 (Sat)
4 pm
Third Practice
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (Herndon, Va.)

January 25, 2014 (Sat)
7 pm
Denis Matsuev, piano
Music by Haydn, Tchaikovsky, Schumann
Music Center at Strathmore

January 25, 2014 (Sat)
7:30 pm
18th Street Singers
Beauty in the Cathedral
First Trinity Lutheran Church

January 25, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
Music by Mozart, Dvořák, Dorman
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

January 25, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Amelia Piano Trio
Candlelight Concert Society
Howard Community College (Columbia, Md.)

January 25, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Chatham Baroque
Bach Sinfonia
Cultural Arts Center, Montgomery College (Silver Spring, Md.)

January 26, 2014 (Sun)
4 pm
Quatuor Eclisses (guitar quartet)
Phillips Collection

January 26, 2014 (Sun)
4 pm
Ibis Chamber Music
Clarendon United Methodist Church (Arlington, Va.)

January 26, 2014 (Sun)
6:30 pm
Dalí String Quartet [FREE]
National Gallery of Art

January 26, 2014 (Sun)
7:30 pm
Anna Lee, violin
WPAS
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

January 27, 2014 (Mon)
7:30 pm
Matthias Goerne (baritone) and Christoph Eschenbach (piano)
Schubert, Die schöne Müllerin
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

January 28, 2014 (Tue)
7:30 pm
Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake
Mariinsky Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House

January 28, 2014 (Tue)
7:30 pm
Aleksey Semenenko, violin
Young Concert Artists
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

January 29, 2014 (Wed)
7:30 pm
Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake
Mariinsky Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House

January 30, 2014 (Thu)
7 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Matthias Goerne, Michelle DeYoung, Joshua Bell
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

January 30, 2014 (Thu)
7:30 pm
Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake
Mariinsky Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House

January 30, 2014 (Thu)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Chaplin, The Idle Class and The Kid
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)

January 31, 2014 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Luca Pisaroni, bass-baritone
Vocal Arts D.C.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

January 31, 2014 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake
Mariinsky Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House

January 31, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Matthias Goerne, Michelle DeYoung, Joshua Bell
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

January 31, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Chaplin, The Idle Class and The Kid
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)

January 31, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Third Coast Percussion
Atlas Center