Classical Month in Washington (November 2015)
November is just as chock full of good concerts as October, so Washingtonians have to make some difficult choices. While there are more than ten options in this month's picks, many of them conflict on the calendar. I have listed them all, and readers will have to choose.
KEYBOARD:
Several big names are coming to the venues of the Washington area this month, beginning with Maurizio Pollini, who will play a recital in the Music Center at Strathmore (November 1, 2 pm). Pollini has, for some reason, fallen off the roster of Washington Performing Arts, but he is still coming to the area, most recently in 2013, thanks to the folks at Strathmore. [Pollini has canceled this concert.] On the same day, Russian pianist Vladimir Feltsman returns, for a recital at JCCGW in Rockville. Feltsman, too, was once on the Washington Performing Arts roster, but no more.
Washington Performing Arts is bringing back Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes for a recital in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater (November 14, 7 pm), a welcome return after his 2012 recital. One of the more exciting concerts on the season at the Phillips Collection is a recital by fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout (November 29, 4 pm). We have consistently loved his recordings and live performances.
 Mahler, Symphony No. 3, A. S. von Otter, Vienna Philharmonic, P. Boulez |
The National Symphony Orchestra has a banner month, beginning with Christoph Eschenbach leading a performance of Mahler's third symphony, with Anne Sofie von Otter as mezzo-soprano soloist (November 5 to 7). The Choral Arts Society of Washington and Children's Chorus of Washington will also be featured. The speculation about who might succeed Eschenbach as NSO music director continues later in the month when eminent Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek takes the podium (November 19 to 21). The program has a Czech orientation, with Mozart's "Prague" symphony and Bohuslav Martinů's sixth symphony, plus pianist Igor Levit, who had to cancel his local debut this past May, as soloist in Beethoven's fifth piano concerto.
OPERA:
Choices abound for the operatically inclined, beginning with a rare production of Kurt Weill's Street Scene, a memorable piece with lyrics by Langston Hughes, presented by Lyric Opera Baltimore at the Modell Center in Charm City (November 13 and 15). On the same weekend, Washington National Opera opens a short run of the new version of Philip Glass's opera Appomattox at the Kennedy Center Opera House (November 14 to 22).
For earlier opera, there are two concert performances that should be worth your time. Washington Concert Opera opens its season with Rossini's Semiramide at Lisner Auditorium (November 22, 6 pm). Along with some singers making their WCO debuts, mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux will sing the role of Arsace. The following weekend, Opera Lafayette will perform Vivaldi's Catone in Utica (November 28 and 29), which Ryan Brown conducted at Glimmerglass this summer. Alan Curtis's recording used a reconstruction of the missing first act, but Glimmerglass performed only the second and third acts.
 Matthias Pintscher |
The Carducci Quartet will perform all fifteen of Shostakovich's string quartets at the Phillips Collection, over two consecutive Sundays (November 15 and 22, 4 pm). It's not as intense as performing them all in a single day, as they did in London earlier this month, but it will still be a tour de force. Unfortunately, the Takács Quartet will be playing at the same time as the first of those concerts, at Baltimore's Shriver Hall (November 15, 5:30 pm), including music by Haydn, Dvořák, and a new work by Timo Andres called Strong Language.
OTHER:
If you remember the dead in the month of November, there is a beautiful way to start, when Chantry performs Victoria's complete six-voice Office of the Dead, including the Requiem Mass and two funerary motets, in the gorgeous acoustic of St. Mary, Mother of God, in Chinatown (November 1, 3 pm).
Two concerts at the Library of Congress already made our Top 25 season preview. First, Bach Collegium Japan performs music by Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel with soprano Joanne Lunn (November 4, 8 pm). Then Matthias Pintscher, another possibility for the NSO music director position, comes back to Washington with France's renowned Ensemble Intercontemporain, performing the world premiere of a new work for violin and piano by composer Hannah Lash, Varèse's Octandre, Pintscher's Profiles of Light, Ligeti's Chamber Concerto for 13 instrumentalists, and Berg's Chamber Concerto for piano, violin, and 13 winds (November 13, 7:30 pm).
See the complete calendar after the jump.
Last month | Next month
November 1, 2015 (Sun)
1 pm
Suzanne Farrell Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
November 1, 2015 (Sun)
3 pm
Chantry
Victoria, Requiem
St. Mary, Mother of God
November 1, 2015 (Sun)
3 pm
Mozart, Don Giovanni
Opera Bel Cantanti
Randolph Road Theater (Silver Spring, Md.)
November 1, 2015 (Sun)
3 pm
Apollo Orchestra [FREE]
Sidwell Friends Upper School
November 1, 2015 (Sun)
3:30 pm
Inscape Chamber Orchestra [FREE]
Music by Scriabin, Hallman, Górecki, others
National Gallery of Art
November 1, 2015 (Sun)
4 pm
Ji Young Lim (violin) and Rohan de Silva (piano)
Phillips Collection
November 1, 2015 (Sun)
7:30 pm
Vladimir Feltsman, piano
JCCGW (Rockville, Md.)
November 1, 2015 (Sun)
4 pm
St. Luke and St. Francis Choirs
Amadeus Concerts
Saint Luke Catholic Church (McLean, Va.)
November 3, 2015 (Tue)
12:10 pm
Noontime Cantata: O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 60 [FREE]
Washington Bach Consort
Church of the Epiphany
November 3, 2015 (Tue)
7:30 pm
Israeli String Quartet with Adrienne Haan (singer)
Anniversary of German-Israeli Diplomatic Relations
Embassy of Austria
November 4, 2015 (Wed)
8 pm
Bach Collegium Japan [FREE]
Library of Congress
November 5, 2015 (Thu)
7 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
Mahler, Symphony No. 3, with Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
November 5, 2015 (Thu)
7:30 pm
Ashu, saxophone
Mansion at Strathmore
November 5, 2015 (Thu)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Music by Vivaldi, Glass
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
November 6, 2015 (Fri)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
Mahler, Symphony No. 3, with Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
November 6, 2015 (Fri)
8 pm
UMD Wind Orchestra
Music by Lang, Husa, others
Clarice Smith Center
November 6, 2015 (Fri)
8:15 pm
BSO: Off the Cuff
Vivaldi, Four Seasons
Music Center at Strathmore
November 7, 2015 (Sat)
2 pm
Michelangelo String Quartet [FREE]
Library of Congress
November 7, 2015 (Sat)
5 pm
21st Century Consort
Smithsonian American Art Museum
November 7, 2015 (Sat)
7 pm
BSO: Off the Cuff
Vivaldi, Four Seasons
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
November 7, 2015 (Sat)
7 pm
CUA Chamber Singers and Orchestra
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
November 7, 2015 (Sat)
7:30 pm
Axelrod String Quartet
National Museum of American History
November 7, 2015 (Sat)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
Mahler, Symphony No. 3, with Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
November 7, 2015 (Sat)
8 pm
Raven Consort
Dumbarton Concerts
November 7, 2015 (Sat)
8 pm
Munich Symphony Orchestra
Philippe Entremont, conductor
GMU Center for the Arts
November 8, 2015 (Sun)
2 pm
Amit Peled (cello) and Noreen Polera (piano)
Washington Performing Arts
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
November 8, 2015 (Sun)
3 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Music by Vivaldi, Glass
Music Center at Strathmore
November 8, 2015 (Sun)
3 pm
Claremont Piano Trio [FREE]
Smithsonian American Art Museum
November 8, 2015 (Sun)
3 pm
Rock Creek Chamber Players [FREE]
Christ Lutheran Church (Bethesda, Md.)
November 8, 2015 (Sun)
3:30 pm
David Hardy (cello) and Lisa Emenheiser (piano) [FREE]
National Gallery of Art
November 8, 2015 (Sun)
4 pm
U.S. Marine Band Chamber Ensemble
Phillips Collection
November 8, 2015 (Sun)
7:30 pm
Axelrod String Quartet
National Museum of American History
November 9, 2015 (Mon)
7:30 pm
Tomer Gewirtzman, piano
4th Annual Daniel Pearl Memorial Concert
Embassy Series (venue TBA)
November 9, 2015 (Mon)
8 pm
Mason Bates: KC Jukebox
History of ambient music
Kennedy Center Atrium
November 10, 2015 (Tue)
12:10 pm
Sarah Foard (violin) and Friends [FREE]
Church of the Epiphany
November 10, 2015 (Tue)
7 pm
James Tocco, piano
Washington Performing Arts
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
November 10, 2015 (Tue)
7 pm
Lecture, Prof. D. Kern Holoman [FREE]
Library of Congress
November 10, 2015 (Tue)
8 pm
Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle
CUA School of Music
November 11, 2015 (Wed)
12:10 pm
U.S. Army Chorus [FREE]
National Gallery of Art
November 11, 2015 (Wed)
7 pm
Shanghai Quartet with Joseph Kalichstein, Jaime Laredo
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
November 11, 2015 (Wed)
7:30 pm
Twyla Tharp 50th Anniversary
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater
November 12, 2015 (Thu)
7 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Gianandrea Noseda (conductor) and James Ehnes (violin)
Music by Prokofiev, Casella, Rachmaninoff
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
November 12, 2015 (Thu)
7 pm
BSO Pulse
Music by John Luther Adams
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
November 12, 2015 (Thu)
7 pm
Avanti Orchestra
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
November 12, 2015 (Thu)
7:30 pm
Twyla Tharp 50th Anniversary
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater
November 12, 2015 (Thu)
8 pm
Gordon Hawkins (baritone) and Justina Lee (piano)
Clarice Smith Center
November 12, 2015 (Thu)
8:15 pm
USAF Brass Quintet [FREE]
JCCGW (Rockville, Md.)
November 13, 2015 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Tamaki Kawakubo (violin) and Ryo Yanagitani (piano)
Evermay
November 13, 2015 (Fri)
11:30 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Gianandrea Noseda (conductor) and James Ehnes (violin)
Music by Prokofiev, Casella, Rachmaninoff
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
November 13, 2015 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Twyla Tharp 50th Anniversary
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater
November 13, 2015 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Weill, Street Scene
Lyric Opera Baltimore
Modell Center (Baltimore, Md.)
November 13, 2015 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Kuok-Wai Lio and Zoltán Fejérvári, piano duo
Barns at Wolf Trap
November 13, 2015 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Ensemble Intercontemporain [FREE]
Library of Congress
November 13, 2015 (Fri)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Jun Märkl (conductor) and Lise de la Salle (piano)
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
November 13, 2015 (Fri)
8 pm
UMD Symphony Orchestra
Concerto for Marimba and Strings
Clarice Smith Center
November 14, 2015 (Sat)
10 am
Contemporary Music Workshop with Ensemble Intercontemporain [FREE]
Library of Congress
November 14, 2015 (Sat)
1:30 and 7:30 pm
Twyla Tharp 50th Anniversary
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater
November 14, 2015 (Sat)
7 pm
Glass, Appomattox
Washington National Opera
Kennedy Center Opera House
November 14, 2015 (Sat)
7 pm
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
Washington Performing Arts
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
November 14, 2015 (Sat)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Gianandrea Noseda (conductor) and James Ehnes (violin)
Music by Prokofiev, Casella, Rachmaninoff
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
November 14, 2015 (Sat)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Jun Märkl (conductor) and Lise de la Salle (piano)
Music Center at Strathmore
November 14, 2015 (Sat)
8 pm
Puccini, La Bohème
Virginia Opera
GMU Center for the Arts
November 15, 2015 (Sun)
2 pm
Puccini, La Bohème
Virginia Opera
GMU Center for the Arts
November 15, 2015 (Sun)
3 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Jun Märkl (conductor) and Lise de la Salle (piano)
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
November 15, 2015 (Sun)
3 pm
Weill, Street Scene
Lyric Opera Baltimore
Modell Center (Baltimore, Md.)
November 15, 2015 (Sun)
3 pm
Eclipse Chamber Orchestra
Music by Holzbauer, Telemann, Bach
St. Luke's Catholic Church (McLean, Va.)
November 15, 2015 (Sun)
3 pm
Choral Arts Society of Washington
Brahms, Ein deutsches Requiem
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
November 15, 2015 (Sun)
3:30 pm
NGA Wind Quintet [FREE]
National Gallery of Art
November 15, 2015 (Sun)
4 pm
Carducci String Quartet
Shostakovich cycle I
Phillips Collection
November 15, 2015 (Sun)
4 pm
The King's Singers
St. John's Episcopal, Georgetown
November 15, 2015 (Sun)
5:30 pm
Takács Quartet
Shriver Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
November 15, 2015 (Sun)
7 pm
Third Practice
Dumbarton Oaks
November 16, 2015 (Mon)
5:30 pm
UMD Chamber Music Showcase [FREE]
Clarice Smith Center
November 16, 2015 (Mon)
7 pm
Glass, Appomattox
Washington National Opera
Kennedy Center Opera House
November 16, 2015 (Mon)
8 pm
Third Practice
Dumbarton Oaks
November 17, 2015 (Tue)
12:10 pm
Simon Nieminski, organ [FREE]
Church of the Epiphany
November 17, 2015 (Tue)
7 pm
duo parnas with Ran Dank, piano
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
November 17, 2015 (Tue)
7 pm
UMD Chamber Music Showcase [FREE]
Clarice Smith Center
November 17, 2015 (Tue)
8 pm
Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano), Jonathan Cohen (organ), Thomas Dunford (lute) [FREE]
Library of Congress
November 18, 2015 (Wed)
7 pm
Glass, Appomattox
Washington National Opera
Kennedy Center Opera House
November 19, 2015 (Thu)
7 pm
Sang-Eun Lee (cello) and Noreen Polera (piano)
Washington Performing Arts
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
November 19, 2015 (Thu)
7 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Jiří Bělohlávek (conductor) and Igor Levit (piano)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
November 19, 2015 (Thu)
7 pm
Ying Fang (soprano) and Ken Noda (piano)
Vocal Arts D.C.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
November 19, 2015 (Thu)
7:30 pm
Mozart, The Impresario
CUA School of Music
November 19, 2015 (Thu)
8 pm
Apollo's Fire with Amanda Forsythe (soprano) [FREE]
Library of Congress
November 19, 2015 (Thu)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Hilary Hahn, violin
Music Center at Strathmore
November 20, 2015 (Fri)
7 pm
Glass, Appomattox
Washington National Opera
Kennedy Center Opera House
November 20, 2015 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Mozart, The Impresario
CUA School of Music
November 20, 2015 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Mariko Furukawa, piano
Japanese Ambassador's Residence
November 20, 2015 (Fri)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Jiří Bělohlávek (conductor) and Igor Levit (piano)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
November 20, 2015 (Fri)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Hilary Hahn, violin
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
November 20, 2015 (Fri)
7:30 pm
Mozart, Don Giovanni
Maryland Opera Studio
Clarice Smith Center
November 21, 2015 (Sat)
7 pm
Glass, Appomattox
Washington National Opera
Kennedy Center Opera House
November 21, 2015 (Sat)
7:30 pm
Mozart, The Impresario
CUA School of Music
November 21, 2015 (Sat)
8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
With Jiří Bělohlávek (conductor) and Igor Levit (piano)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
November 21, 2015 (Sat)
8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With Hilary Hahn, violin
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)
November 21, 2015 (Sat)
8 pm
Hermitage Piano Trio
Candlelight Concert Society
Horowitz Center (Columbia, Md.)
November 22, 2015 (Sun)
2 pm
Glass, Appomattox
Washington National Opera
Kennedy Center Opera House
November 22, 2015 (Sun)
2 pm
Kennedy Center Chamber Players
Music by Copland, Britten, Bartók, Shostakovich
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
November 22, 2015 (Sun)
2 pm
Mozart, The Impresario
CUA School of Music
November 22, 2015 (Sun)
3 pm
Mozart, Don Giovanni
Maryland Opera Studio
Clarice Smith Center
November 22, 2015 (Sun)
3:30 pm
NGA New Music Ensemble [FREE]
National Gallery of Art
November 22, 2015 (Sun)
4 pm
Carducci String Quartet
Shostakovich cycle II
Phillips Collection
November 22, 2015 (Sun)
4 pm
Amadeus Orchestra with Silver-Garburg Piano Duo
Amadeus Concerts
Saint Luke Catholic Church, McLean
November 22, 2015 (Sun)
4 pm
CUA Symphony Orchestra
Church of the Little Flower (Bethesda, Md.)
November 22, 2015 (Sun)
5 pm
Washington Chorus
Vaughan Williams, Sea Symphony
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
November 22, 2015 (Sun)
6 pm
Rossini, Semiramide
Washington Concert Opera
Lisner Auditorium
November 23, 2015 (Mon)
7 pm
Piety and Passion: The Musical Legacy of Jewish Spain
Pro Musica Hebraica
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
November 23, 2015 (Mon)
7:30 pm
Mozart, Don Giovanni
Maryland Opera Studio
Clarice Smith Center
November 23, 2015 (Mon)
8 pm
Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle
CUA School of Music
November 24, 2015 (Tue)
12:10 pm
Rock Creek Piano Trio [FREE]
Church of the Epiphany
November 24, 2015 (Tue)
7:30 pm
Mozart, Don Giovanni
Maryland Opera Studio
Clarice Smith Center
November 25, 2015 (Wed)
7 pm
The Nutcracker
Joffrey Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
November 27, 2015 (Fri)
1 and 7 pm
The Nutcracker
Joffrey Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
November 28, 2015 (Sat)
1 and 7 pm
The Nutcracker
Joffrey Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
November 28, 2015 (Sat)
7 pm
Vivaldi, Catone in Utica
Opera Lafayette
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
November 28, 2015 (Sat)
8 pm
Chanticleer
Christmas music
GMU Center for the Arts
November 28, 2015 (Sat)
8 pm
National Philharmonic
With Chee-Yun, violin
Music Center at Strathmore
November 29, 2015 (Sun)
1 and 7 pm
The Nutcracker
Joffrey Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
November 29, 2015 (Sun)
2 pm
Vivaldi, Catone in Utica
Opera Lafayette
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
November 29, 2015 (Sun)
2 pm
NGA Orchestra [FREE]
National Gallery of Art
November 29, 2015 (Sun)
3 pm
National Philharmonic
With Chee-Yun, violin
Music Center at Strathmore
November 29, 2015 (Sun)
4 pm
Kristian Bezuidenhout, fortepiano
Phillips Collection
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