Classical Music Agenda: April 2014
Even with Easter in the middle of April, reducing the number of concerts over the space of a fortnight, the month has a broad range of concerts. Here are the Top Ten performances we most want to hear for the month.
 C. P. E. Bach, Magnificat / Heilig ist Gott, RIAS Kammerchor, Akademie für alte Musik Berlin, H.-C. Rademann (Harmonia Mundi, 2014) |
The group that may be the best early music ensemble in the world, the Akademie für alte Musik from Berlin, will appear at the Library of Congress (April 5) in a free concert. Their program is a survey of 18th-century works for orchestra, by J. S. Bach, Handel, C. P. E. Bach, and J. C. Bach. A few days later, Vocal Arts D.C. presents a recital by countertenor Iestyn Davies and lutenist Thomas Dunford (April 8) at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Their program concentrates on Elizabethan ballads by Dowland, Purcell, Johnson, and Campion, as well as the local premiere of a work by Nico Muhly called Four Traditional Songs.
AT THE SYMPHONY:
Before the arrival of Christoph Eschenbach, Ionarts had dreams of James Conlon taking over the National Symphony Orchestra's music directorship. Although it didn't happen, we will take any chance to hear Conlon conduct, and he will take the ensemble's podium to lead music of Zemlinksy and Brahms, plus Korngold's violin concerto with soloist Gil Shaham (April 10 to 12) in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Another conductor we would have loved the NSO to snag was Osmo Vänskä, who comes later in the month (April 24 to 26) to conduct the local band, with music by Mendelssohn and Sibelius, plus a clarinet concerto by Aho with Martin Fröst as soloist.
You may recall Yekwon Sunwoo as the winner of the Kapell Competition two years ago. He has been making the rounds, playing the big concertos, and he comes to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Music director Marin Alsop returns (yet again) to Mahler's first symphony on the same program (April 24 and 27).
CHAMBER MUSIC:
We will likely be back at the Library of Congress for the free recital by cellist Daniel Müller-Schott and pianist Simon Trpčeski, playing sonatas by Beethoven, Brahms, and Chopin (April 24). After his debut recital here two years ago, we would not want to miss the recital by British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, presented by WPAS in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater (April 29). From the local groups, take the Rameau concert by Opera Lafayette (April 30) in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.
Washington plays host to two important festivals devoted to contemporary music. The Atlas Performing Arts Center offers a series of concerts (April 6 to 13) featuring music by Louis Andriessen (b. 1939), in conjunction with other local organizations, including the Great Noise Ensemble, National Gallery of Art, and Strathmore, all in honor of the Dutch composer's 75th birthday. At the same time, British composer Oliver Knussen will be in residence at the Library of Congress, leading free concerts by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (April 7 to 12). In the midst of it, composer-clarinetist Jörg Widmann will give a concert of his own music with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (April 10).
BALLET:
April also features visits by two ballet companies we will want to see, both with live music performed by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. The New York City Ballet will perform Jewels, the choreography by George Balanchine (April 1 and 4 to 6), plus a mixed-repertory program centered on Namouna, A Grand Divertissement, with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky and music by Lalo (April 2 and 3). That is followed by the American Ballet Theater in its own mixed repertory program centered on Fokine's Les Sylphides and Frederick Ashton's The Dream, based on A Midsummer Night's Dream, with music by Mendelssohn (April 15 and 16), plus Minkus's Don Quixote (April 17 to 20), in the Petipa/Gorsky choreography.
April 1, 2014 (Tue)
12:10 pm
Noontime Cantata [FREE]
Nimm, was dein ist, und gehe hin, BWV 144
Washington Bach Consort
Church of the Epiphany
April 1, 2014 (Tue)
7:30 pm
Nash Ensemble of London
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
April 1, 2014 (Tue)
7:30 pm
Jewels
New York City Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
April 2, 2014 (Wed)
12:10 pm
Barbara Hollinshead (mezzo-soprano), Gwendolyn Toth (harpsichord), Daniel Swenberg (theorbo) [FREE]
National Gallery of Art
April 2, 2014 (Wed)
7:30 pm
Mixed program
New York City Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
April 2, 2014 (Wed)
7:30 pm
Minguet Quartett
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
April 3, 2014 (Thu)
7:30 pm
Mixed program
New York City Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
April 3, 2014 (Thu)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With André Watts (piano), Jakub Hruša (conductor)
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
April 4, 2014 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Jewels
New York City Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
April 4, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With André Watts (piano), Jakub Hruša (conductor)
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
April 4, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
University of Maryland Chamber Singers
Music by Britten
Clarice Smith Center
April 4, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord [FREE]
Library of Congress
April 5, 2014 (Sat)
1:30 and 7:30 pm
Jewels
New York City Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
April 5, 2014 (Sat)
5 pm
Evelyn Elsing, cello
Clarice Smith Center
April 5, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Akademie für alte Musik Berlin [FREE]
Library of Congress
April 5, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With André Watts (piano), Jakub Hruša (conductor)
Music Center at Strathmore
April 6, 2014 (Sun)
1:30 pm
Jewels
New York City Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
April 6, 2014 (Sun)
4 pm
International Contemporary Ensemble
Music by Marcos Balter and Felipe Lara
Phillips Collection
April 6, 2014 (Sun)
5:30 pm
Tine Thing Helseth, trumpet, and Bretton Brown, piano
Shriver Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
April 6, 2014 (Sun)
6:30 pm
Great Noise Ensemble, Third Practice, and the American Youth Chorus [FREE]
National Gallery of Art
April 6, 2014 (Sun)
7 pm
REBEL
Dumbarton Oaks
April 6, 2014 (Sun)
7:30 pm
Paul Appleby (tenor) and Joshua Hopkins (baritone)
With Natalia Katukova, piano
Washington National Opera
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
April 7, 2014 (Mon)
7:30 pm
Cicely Parnas (cello) and Noreen Polera (piano)
Young Concert Artists
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
April 7, 2014 (Mon)
7:30 pm
Jupiter String Quartet
JCCGW (Rockville, Md.)
April 7, 2014 (Mon)
8 pm
REBEL
Dumbarton Oaks
April 7, 2014 (Mon)
8 pm
Andriessen Festival: Roadmaps and Diaries II
Monica Germino (violin), Frank van der Weij (sound design)
Atlas Center
April 8, 2014 (Tue)
7:30 pm
Iestyn Davis, countertenor, and Thomas Dunford, lute
Vocal Arts D.C.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
April 8, 2014 (Tue)
7:30 pm
Cristina Zavalloni (voice), Monica Germino (violin), Andrea Rebaudengo (piano)
Music by Andriessen, others
Mansion at Strathmore
April 8, 2014 (Tue)
8 pm
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group [FREE]
With Lucy Schaufer, soprano and Andrew Sauvageau, baritone
Library of Congress
April 9, 2014 (Wed)
12:10 pm
Rosa Lamoreaux, soprano [FREE]
National Gallery of Art
April 9, 2014 (Wed)
7:30 pm
Piotr Pakhomkin, guitar
Mansion at Strathmore
April 9, 2014 (Wed)
8 pm
Andriessen Festival: Andriessen's Jazz
Brad Linde Ensemble
Atlas Center
April 10, 2014 (Thu)
7 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Gil Shaham, violin, and James Conlon, conductor
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
April 10, 2014 (Thu)
8 pm
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center [FREE]
Music by Rautavaara, Messiaen, others
Library of Congress
April 10, 2014 (Thu)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Itzhak Perlman, violin
Music Center at Strathmore
April 11, 2014 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Louis Lortie, piano
Music by Chopin, Wagner
WPAS
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
April 11, 2014 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Strauss, Die Fledermaus
Maryland Opera Studio
Clarice Smith Center
April 11, 2014 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Vera Danchenko-Stern, piano, and Friends
Embassy of Austria
April 11, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Gil Shaham, violin, and James Conlon, conductor
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
April 11, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group [FREE]
With Huw Watkins, piano
Library of Congress
April 11, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Andriessen, Life
Bang on a Can All-Stars
Atlas Center
April 11, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Folger Consort
Music of Polish Renaissance
Folger Shakespeare Library
April 11, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Pamela Frank, Nobuko Imai, and Clemens Hagen (piano trio)
Bach, Goldberg Variations
Barns at Wolf Trap
April 11, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Bizet, Carmen
Virginia Opera
GMU Center for the Arts
April 12, 2014 (Sat)
2 pm
United States Marine Band ("The President's Own") [FREE]
Library of Congress
April 12, 2014 (Sat)
5 and 8 pm
Folger Consort
Music of Polish Renaissance
Folger Shakespeare Library
April 12, 2014 (Sat)
7 pm
A Night in Old Vienna [FREE]
Maryland Opera Studio
Clarice Smith Center
April 12, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Gil Shaham, violin, and James Conlon, conductor
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
April 12, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Itzhak Perlman, violin
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
April 12, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
National Philharmonic
Bach, Mass in B Minor
Music Center at Strathmore
April 13, 2014 (Sun)
2 pm
Folger Consort
Music of Polish Renaissance
Folger Shakespeare Library
April 13, 2014 (Sun)
2 pm
Bizet, Carmen
Virginia Opera
GMU Center for the Arts
April 13, 2014 (Sun)
3 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Itzhak Perlman, violin
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
April 13, 2014 (Sun)
3 pm
National Philharmonic
Bach, Mass in B Minor
Music Center at Strathmore
April 13, 2014 (Sun)
3 pm
Robert DiLutis, clarinet [FREE]
With Left Bank Quartet and NSO Woodwind Quintet
Clarice Smith Center
April 13, 2014 (Sun)
4 pm
Heath Quartet
Phillips Collection
April 13, 2014 (Sun)
5 pm
Strauss, Die Fledermaus
Maryland Opera Studio
Clarice Smith Center
April 15, 2014 (Tue)
7 pm
A Night in Old Vienna [FREE]
Maryland Opera Studio
Clarice Smith Center
April 15, 2014 (Tue)
7:30 pm
Les Sylphides et al.
American Ballet Theater
Kennedy Center Opera House
April 16, 2014 (Wed)
12:10 pm
Rosa Lamoreaux (soprano), Stan Engebretson (piano) [FREE]
National Gallery of Art
April 16, 2014 (Wed)
7:30 pm
Les Sylphides et al.
American Ballet Theater
Kennedy Center Opera House
April 16, 2014 (Wed)
7:30 pm
Strauss, Die Fledermaus
Maryland Opera Studio
Clarice Smith Center
April 17, 2014 (Thu)
7 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Nikolai Lugansky, piano
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
April 17, 2014 (Thu)
7:30 pm
Minkus, Don Quixote
American Ballet Theater
Kennedy Center Opera House
April 18, 2014 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Minkus, Don Quixote
American Ballet Theater
Kennedy Center Opera House
April 18, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Nikolai Lugansky, piano
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
April 19, 2014 (Sat)
1:30 and 7:30 pm
Minkus, Don Quixote
American Ballet Theater
Kennedy Center Opera House
April 19, 2014 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Strauss, Die Fledermaus
Maryland Opera Studio
Clarice Smith Center
April 19, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Nikolai Lugansky, piano
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
April 20, 2014 (Sun)
1:30 pm
Minkus, Don Quixote
American Ballet Theater
Kennedy Center Opera House
April 21, 2014 (Mon)
7:30 pm
Augustin Hadelich (violin), Joyce Yang (piano), Pablo Sáinz Villegas (guitar)
Tango, Song, and Dance
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
April 22, 2014 (Tue)
8 pm
New Music at Maryland [FREE]
Clarice Smith Center
April 23, 2014 (Wed)
12:10 pm
Alessandra Marc (soprano), and David Chapman (piano) [FREE]
National Gallery of Art
April 23, 2014 (Wed)
7:30 pm
Piotr Pakhomkin, guitar
Mansion at Strathmore
April 23, 2014 (Wed)
8 pm
Hilary Hahn, violin, and Cory Smythe, piano
WPAS
Music Center at Strathmore
April 23, 2014 (Wed)
8 pm
Excelsa Quartet [FREE]
Clarice Smith Center
April 24, 2014 (Thu)
7 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Osmo Vänskä, conductor, and Martin Fröst, clarinet
Music by Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Aho
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
April 24, 2014 (Thu)
8 pm
Daniel Müller-Schott (cello) and Simon Trpčeski (piano) [FREE]
Library of Congress
April 24, 2014 (Thu)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Yekwon Sunwoo, piano
Music by Mahler (Symphony No. 1), Rachmaninoff
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
April 25, 2014 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Nola Richardson (soprano) and Friends
Music of the Italian Baroque
Grace & St. Peter's Church (Baltimore, Md.)
April 25, 2014 (Fri)
8 pm
Beyond the Score: Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4
National Symphony Orchestra
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
April 25, 2014 (Fri)
8:15 pm
Off the Cuff: Mahler, Symphony No. 1
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Music Center at Strathmore
April 26, 2014 (Sat)
7 pm
Off the Cuff: Mahler, Symphony No. 1
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
April 26, 2014 (Sat)
7:30 pm
Colart Duo (saxophone, piano) [FREE]
Music by Telemann, Larsson, Chopin, Maslanka
Church of the Holy City
April 26, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Osmo Vänskä, conductor, and Martin Fröst, clarinet
Music by Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Aho
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
April 26, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Sō Percussion
Atlas Center
April 26, 2014 (Sat)
8 pm
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Mahler, Symphony No. 5
GMU Center for the Arts
April 27, 2014 (Sun)
3 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Yekwon Sunwoo, piano
Music by Mahler (Symphony No. 1), Rachmaninoff
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
April 27, 2014 (Sun)
3 pm
Nola Richardson (soprano) and Friends
Music of the Italian Baroque
Church of the Ascension and St. Agnes
April 27, 2014 (Sun)
4 pm
Bartosz Woroch, violin, and Sam Armstrong, piano
Music by Poulenc, Elgar, Szymanowski
Phillips Collection
April 27, 2014 (Sun)
5 pm
Choral Arts Society of Washington
Ginastera, Lamentations of Jeremiah
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
April 27, 2014 (Sun)
6 pm
Emerson String Quartet
Music by Shostakovich, Schubert
National Museum of Natural History
April 27, 2014 (Sun)
6 pm
What Makes It Great? Vivaldi's Four Seasons
With Rob Kapilow (lecturer) and Peabody Chamber Orchestra
Lisner Auditorium
April 27, 2014 (Sun)
6:30 pm
Elliot Fisk and Paco Peña, guitarists [FREE]
National Gallery of Art
April 27, 2014 (Sun)
7 pm
Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel: Mistresses and Masterpieces
GMU Center for the Arts
April 29, 2014 (Tue)
7:30 pm
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano
WPAS
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
April 30, 2014 (Wed)
12:10 pm
Ann Schein, piano [FREE]
National Gallery of Art
April 30, 2014 (Wed)
7:30 pm
Opera Lafayette
Rameau, Part I: The Salon
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
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