21C Media Group’s Classical Music Season Preview, 2014/15
Concerts, Special Events, & Recordings
AUGUST 2014
Aug 9
With the ORF Radio Orchestra (Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra) at the Salzburg Festival, countertenor Philippe Jaroussky sings Sonnets de Louise Labé by composer MARC-ANDRÉ DALBAVIE, whose new opera,Charlotte Salomon, a Salzburg commission, premiered in five performances at the Austrian festival earlier this summer. [Salzburg, Austria]
Aug 12, 13
Russian bass ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV makes his Mostly Mozart Festival debut in a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda. [AFH; Aug 12, 13]
Aug 18
Following intensive study this past spring at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Berlin Institute for Advanced Studies), PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD issues his interpretation of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I on the Deutsche Grammophon label. The international release is timed to coincide with the Grammy Award-winning pianist’s European tour of the work starting this summer.
SEPTEMBER
Sep 5 – 14
Described by London’s Times as “opera’s new It couple,” STEPHEN COSTELLO and AILYN PÉREZ sing favorite songs and duets from their new debut album for Warner Classics, Love Duets, at Washington National Opera, Dallas Opera, Philadelphia Opera’s 40th-anniversary gala concert, and a special concert to launch San Diego Opera’s 50th-anniversary season. [Sep 5: San Diego, CA; Sep 10: Washington DC; Sep 12: Philadelphia, PA; Sep 14: Dallas, TX]
Sep 6 – 26
Teddy Abrams makes his inaugural appearance as Music Director of the LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA, leading a gala performance that pairs Mahler’s First Symphony, “Titan,” with the premiere of a new work composed for the occasion by the inventive 27-year-old conductor himself (Sep 6). Then, in their first subscription-week concerts together, Abrams and the orchestra present works by Richard Rodgers, Kurt Weill, George Gershwin, and Aaron Copland (Sep 25 & 26). [Louisville, KY]
Sep 8
DANIEL HOPE’s new project takes him and the world to Hollywood via Europe, with the release of his new DG album Escape To Paradise. Fleeing fascist persecution, many of Europe’s favorite composers from the first half of the 20th century – including Eric Wolfgang Korngold, Miklos Rozsa, Hanns Eisler and Franz Waxman — ended up in LA, writing some of the most iconic film music, winning Oscars, and creating the famous “Hollywood sound.” After years spent researching these masters of the film score and combing through Paramount Pictures’ archives, Hope now releases this collection of their film and concert music. He also explores how this music has influenced today’s movie composers, including John Williams, Ennio Morricone, and Thomas Newman. Sting and Max Raabe are among the guest performers on the disc.
Sep 10 – 13
To launch the final season of his “Beethoven Journey,” which involves performing and recording all the composer’s piano concertos, Norwegian pianist LEIF OVE ANDSNES plays the First Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas. Their performances coincide with the release of the third and final installment of Andsnes’s “Beethoven Journey” recording series for Sony Classical, on which he plays and directs the Mahler Chamber Orchestra from the keyboard in Beethoven’s Fifth Concerto, “Emperor,” and the “Choral Fantasy.” Andsnes looks forward to playing all five concertos at residencies in music capitals over the course of the season. [San Francisco; Sep 10, 11, 12, 13]
Sep 11, 14
Praised by the New York Times for his “youthful, tender, yet penetrating voice,” tenor NICHOLAS PHAN returns to Chicago for the 2014 Collaborative Works Festival. As Artistic Director, Phan serves as curator of the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago’s third annual festival, which explores the close relationships between Robert and Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. [Chicago, IL; Sep 11, 14]
Sep 16, 17
For its opening-night gala concert and an encore performance, Music Director ALAN GILBERT leads the New York Philharmonic in the return of “The Art of the Score: Film Week at the Philharmonic,” conducting “La Dolce Vita: The Music of Italian Cinema.” Under the direction of Artistic Advisor Alec Baldwin, the program presents a trio of stars – Joshua Bell, Josh Groban, and Renée Fleming – in music by Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone, and Luis Enríquez Bacalov, with suites from Fellini’s 8½ and La Dolce Vita, and Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso arranged by William Ross. Animated graphics and film clips by Giuseppe Ragazzini provide a visual accompaniment. [AFH; Sep 16, 17]
Sep 16 – 18
Having received a $225,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to support a series of hometown residencies over the next three seasons, NYC-based orchestral collective THE KNIGHTS kicks off a new initiative aimed at expanding the traditional concert experience through multimedia elements, audience participation, and a fresh approach to seating, concert duration, and venue. Brooklyn club Roulette hosts the first such residency. [Roulette; Sep 16, 17, 18]
Sep 18 – 20
DANIIL TRIFONOV – the “tender demon” of the keyboard (Deutsche Welle), who at the age of 20 snared top prizes at the 2011 Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein competitions, and has since appeared with all “Big Five” U.S. orchestras – makes his debut with the Seattle Symphony. The Russian pianist is soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 under the baton of Seattle Symphony music director Ludovic Morlot. [Seattle, WA; Sep 18, 19, 20]
Sep 19, 20
MacArthur “genius grant”-winning cellist ALISA WEILERSTEIN opens the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s season with her award-winning interpretation of Elgar’s Cello Concerto, conducted by Edo de Waart. [Milwaukee, WI; Sep 19, 20]
Sep 19 – 21
THE KNIGHTS take over Caramoor’s fall festival, curating a weekend of performances and collaborations with special guest artists: string quartet BROOKLYN RIDER, banjoist Béla Fleck, jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman, and American master violinist GIL SHAHAM, who serves as soloist in Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto. [Katonah, NY; Sep 19, 20, 21]
Sep 21
Two of contemporary music’s most commanding and creative instrumentalists open the season with a night of duets at BING CONCERT HALL. Both multiple Grammy Award-winners and recipients of the MacArthur Foundation “genius grant,” double-bassist Edgar Meyer and mandolinist Chris Thile are virtuoso improvisers and composers, equally fluent playing jazz, Bach, or Americana, and whether writing concertos or bluegrass tunes. [Stanford, CA]
Sep 22 – Oct 25
ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV headlines the gala opening of the Met’s 2014-15 season, singing the title role in a new Richard Eyre production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro under the leadership of James Levine. The October 18 performance will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the world as part of the Met’s “Live in HD” series. [Met; Sep 22, 25, 27, Oct 2, 7, 10, 14, 18, 22, 25]
Sep 23 – 30
ALAN GILBERT and the New York Philharmonic give the U.S. premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Clarinet Concerto – a co-commission with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Gothenburg and Barcelona Symphony Orchestras – with Kari Kriikku as soloist. Also on the program is Mahler’s First Symphony. [AFH; Sep 23, 26, 27, 30]
Sep 24 – 30
LEIF OVE ANDSNES gives landmark performances in his “Beethoven Journey,” playing the composer’s piano concertos in Hamburg and Bonn, Beethoven’s birthplace. [Sep 24, 30: Hamburg; Sep 25, 27, 28: Bonn, Germany]
Sep 24 – Oct 18
ANNA NETREBKO makes her American role debut as Lady Macbeth at the Met. Maltese tenor JOSEPH CALLEJA sings Macduff, and FABIO LUISI conducts. The October 11 performance of Macbeth will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the world, opening the Met’s “Live in HD” season. [Met; Sep 24, 27, Oct 3, 8, 11, 15, 18]
Sep 25 – 27
DANIIL TRIFONOV makes his debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in music by his compatriot Rachmaninov. Toronto music director Peter Oundjian conducts all three performances of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. [Toronto, Canada; Sep 25, 26, 27]
Sep 26, Oct 11
The DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, which rebounded from its 2010 labor dispute with a host of innovative engagement initiatives, launches its new season of “Live From Orchestra Hall” international webcasts, made possible through a visionary electronic media agreement forged between the orchestra’s musicians and management. First up is a pops concert, “Let’s Dance,” led by conductor Jeff Tyzik (Sep 26), followed by Sarah Chang playing the Barber Violin Concerto under the baton of Music Director Leonard Slatkin (Oct 11).
Sep 29
Led by conductor Manfred Honeck, the Pittsburgh Symphony performs STEVEN STUCKY’s Silent Spring at Carolina Performing Arts in Chapel Hill, NC. A one-movement orchestral tone poem in four sections, Silent Spring was commissioned from the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer during his tenure as the orchestra’s 2011 Composer of the Year. It marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Silent Spring, a groundbreaking work on environmental toxins by Pittsburgh native Rachel Carson. [Chapel Hill, NC]
Sep 30
Recently described by the New York Times as “one of the most accomplished and adventurous musicians of his generation,” pianist/conductor DAVID GREILSAMMER and his orchestra, the Geneva Camerata, kick off their second season at Geneva’s Bâtiment des Forces Motrices. On the program are Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041, arranged for accordion; a new piece by Jannick Giger for narrator and orchestra, based on the writings of Gabriel García Márquez; and music by Rameau, Mozart, and Piazzolla. [Geneva, Switzerland]
Sep 30
With the release of the Brooklyn Rider Almanac CD on Mercury Records, string quartet BROOKLYN RIDER takes on what may be its most ambitious venture to date. The album forms the centerpiece of a new, groundbreaking multimedia music project of the same name, for which the quartet has commissioned 15 new works from musicians working largely outside the classical music world, in genres ranging from jazz to indie-rock. For the Almanac, the composers were asked to create short works inspired by an artistic muse from relatively recent memory. Brooklyn Rider has also invited artists from a variety of fields to create companion bodies of work relating to the commissioned music. Such projects include videos, animation, choreography, photo essays, articles, interviews, remixes, and much more. In this video, the quartet explains the genesis of and plans for the Almanac.
OCTOBER
Oct (date tbd)
ALISA WEILERSTEIN releases a new solo album on Decca Classics, titled simply Solo. The centerpiece of this 20th-century collection is Zoltán Kodály’s cello sonata, which Weilerstein can be seen playing in the summer movie If I Stay.
Oct 1 – 3
ALAN GILBERT and the New York Philharmonic conclude their Nielsen Project – a multi-season survey of the Danish composer’s six symphonies and three concertos – with performances of his Helios Overture, Fifth Symphony, and Sixth Symphony, “Sinfonia semplice.” The Dacapo label will record the proceedings for later release, both as an individual album and, collected together with the orchestra’s previous Nielsen releases, in a 2015 boxed set to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. [AFH; Oct 1, 2, 3]
Oct 1 – June 3
TRINITY WALL STREET’s popular weekly Bach at One series moves to Wednesdays for another season. The Grammy-nominated Trinity Baroque Orchestra and Choir of Trinity Wall Street under the direction of Julian Wachner continue their presentation of Bach’s complete cantatas. [SPC; Wednesdays]
Oct 9 – 11
In the New York premiere of Chalk and Soot, violinist and composer Colin Jacobsen and choreographer John Heginbotham join forces to create an evening-length work of theatrical choreography and live music from BROOKLYN RIDER and vocalist Carla Kihlstedt. These performances are part of Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival. [Baryshnikov Arts Center; Oct 9, 10, 11]
Oct 9 – 11
ALAN GILBERT and the New York Philharmonic give the world premiere of Thunderstruck, an homage to rock artists from the 1960s and 1970s by Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse. Artist-in-Residence Lisa Batiashvili is the soloist in Brahms’s Violin Concerto, and the program is rounded out by Haydn’s Symphony No. 103, “Drum Roll.” [AFH; Oct 9, 10, 11]
Oct 9 – 12
LEIF OVE ANDSNES takes his “Beethoven Journey” to the West Coast, where he joins Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for a performance of the Concerto No. 5, “Emperor.” [Los Angeles, CA; Oct 9, 10, 11, 12]
Oct 10 – 27
Described as an “exceptional and gifted performer” by Classical Guitar magazine, Spanish guitarist PABLO VILLEGAS plays Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, before reprising it with the Oregon Symphony and Carlos Kalmar. [Oct 10, 11, 12: Pittsburgh, PA; Oct 25, 26, 27: Portland, OR]
Oct 12
The RICHARD TUCKER MUSIC FOUNDATION presents its popular annual gala, a highlight of New York’s opera and society calendar. Sopranos ANNA NETREBKO and ANGELA MEADE, tenor JOSEPH CALLEJA, and bass ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV are just a few of the star singers who will grace the Lincoln Center stage that evening. [AFH]
Oct 14, 15
ALESSIO BAX, whom the New Yorker calls “formidable and sensitive” in Beethoven, couples the “Hammerklavier” and “Moonlight” Sonatas with his own transcriptions of two pieces from The Ruins of Athens, Op. 113, for his new all-Beethoven disc on Signum Classics. The day after the release of his new CD on October 14, Bax – the recipient of Lincoln Center’s 2013 Martin E. Segal Award – opens the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s season with a performance of not one but two Mozart Piano Concertos with string quintet (KV 414 and KV 449). [ATH; Oct 15]
Oct 16, 18
Countertenor IESTYN DAVIES and tenor NICHOLAS PHAN are guest soloists in Bach’s B-minor Mass with the Cleveland Orchestra under its music director, Franz Welser-Möst. [Cleveland, OH; Oct 16, 18]
Oct 16 – 18
Following a season in which he won a MacArthur “genius grant” Fellowship, was named Musical America’s 2014 Instrumentalist of the Year, and captured the 2014 Avery Fisher Prize, JEREMY DENK makes his debut performance with the New York Philharmonic, playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting. [AFH; Oct 16, 17, 18]
Oct 16 – 18
ALAN GILBERT leads the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Philadelphia Singers Chorale in performances of Janácek’s Glagolitic Mass, or Slavonic Mass, for four soloists, double choir, organ, and orchestra. The program opens with Sibelius’s tone poem Night Ride and Sunrise and includes Dvorák’s Golden Spinning Wheel, a symphonic poem based on a Czech fairy tale. [Philadelphia, PA; Oct 16, 17, 18]
Oct 17, 18
SUSAN GRAHAM is the soloist in Berlioz’s Nuits d’été in Mexico City, with JOHN ELIOT GARDINER, the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, and the Monteverdi Choir, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. [Mexico City, MX; Oct 17, 18]
Oct 21
Jerusalem-born harpist Sivan Magen makes his Carnegie Hall debut with a program including a new work for solo harp by the New York Philharmonic’s inaugural “Kravis Emerging Composer,” SEAN SHEPHERD. [CH]
Oct 23 – 29
In the first of several high-profile New York appearances this season, pianist INON BARNATAN performs at the 92nd Street Y with the Jerusalem Quartet and Sharon Karr. [92Y; Oct 23, 25, 29]
Oct 24 – 26
JEREMY DENK plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, launching his three-year tenure as Artistic Partner of the esteemed ensemble. [St. Paul, MN; Oct 24, 25, 26]
Oct 24 – Nov 6
ALESSIO BAX joins violinist Joshua Bell for a U.S. tour that includes a stop at LA’s Disney Hall, playing Schubert’s Duo in A major and Grieg’s and Prokofiev’s first piano sonatas. After the duo’s South American tour last year, El País described their concert in Montevideo as “a memorable union of two ‘poets,’” and found that “Alessio Bax was the revelation of the night.” [Oct 24: Santa Rosa, CA; Oct 25: Modesto, CA; Oct 26: Los Angeles, CA; Oct 28: Santa Barbara, CA; Nov 1: Fort Lauderdale, FL; Nov 5: Houston, TX; Nov 6: Dallas, TX]
Oct 24 – Nov 7
American soprano AILYN PÉREZ makes her house debut at Houston Grand Opera in what is also her role debut as Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello. Houston Grand Opera’s Music and Artistic Director, Patrick Summers, conducts. [Houston, TX; Oct 24, 26, Nov 1, 4, 7]
Oct 25
Holland’s Ensemble Klang performs the world premiere of Black Untitled, MICHAEL HERSCH’s concerto for trombone and ensemble, at Amsterdam’s Orgelpark. [Amsterdam, The Netherlands]
Oct 28
Violinist DANIEL HOPE curates and performs the New York premiere of music-theater production A Distant Drum, for which he joins forces with his father, writer Christopher Hope. Commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the piece tells the story of trailblazing black South African writer and journalist Nat Nakasa, who was exiled from his country under apartheid after finding professional success at home and in the United States. Collaborating with Hope in the production are cellist Vincent Segal, percussionist Jason Marsalis, actors Atandwa Kani and Christiaan Schoombie, and South African music authority Andrew Tracey, who serves as musical supervisor. [CH]
Oct 28, Nov 1
ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV reprises his portrayal of Escamillo in the Met’s production of Carmen, singing two performances under the baton of Pablo Heras-Casado. The second will be transmitted to audiences in movie theaters across the globe, marking the bass’s second “Live in HD” transmission of the season. [Met; Oct 28, Nov 1]
Oct 29 – Nov 1
The DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and Naxos Records present an evening at New York City’s SubCulture honoring the 70th birthday of Music Director Leonard Slatkin. The event marks the release of a commemorative Slatkin CD and celebrates recent and upcoming DSO Naxos recordings, including a digital release of concertos by John Williams, music by Cindy McTee, the first two issues in the DSO’s Copland series, and a set of Rachmaninoff Symphonies. Slatkin also guest conducts the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center in the following days. [Oct 29: SubCulture; Oct 30, 31, Nov 1: AFH]
Oct 30 – Nov 2
ANGELA MEADE is the soprano soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Westminster Symphonic Choir, mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly, and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, in four performances of Mahler’s Second Symphony, “Resurrection,” at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall. [Oct 30: Philadelphia, PA; Oct 31: CH; Nov 1, 2: Philadelphia, PA]
Oct 30 – Nov 8
Soprano DEBORAH VOIGT returns to the title role of Richard Strauss’s Salome in four performances at the Dallas Opera. Opera News described her 2006 debut in the role, at Lyric Opera of Chicago, as “inarguably a standard-setting one.” [Dallas, TX; Oct 30, Nov 2, 5, 8]
Oct 31 – Nov 15
Philadelphia-born tenor STEPHEN COSTELLO sings his first professional Mozart role – Ferrando in Così fan tutte – at Houston Grand Opera. Costello made his noted company debut last season as the Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto, giving a performance Culturemap Houston called “the sensation of the night.” [Houston, TX; Oct 31, Nov 2, 8, 13, 15]
NOVEMBER
Nov 1
SUSAN GRAHAM joins Renée Fleming, jazz legend Ramsey Lewis, Stephanie Blythe, Eric Owens, and others to celebrate Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 60th anniversary with a special concert at the Civic Opera House, hosted by Emmy Award-winning actress Jane Lynch. [Chicago, IL]
Nov 3
INON BARNATAN performs a piano recital at Chicago’s Harris Theater. After his recent Kennedy Center solo recital debut, the Washington Post declared: “Although there was firecracker technique on display, it was Barnatan’s intelligence, musicality and story-telling ability that most impressed.” [Chicago, IL]
Nov 6 – 9
SUSAN GRAHAM returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic for performances of Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette led by Esa-Pekka Salonen. [Los Angeles, CA; Nov 6, 7, 9]
Nov 6 – 9
ALISA WEILERSTEIN plays Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero. [Cleveland, OH; Nov 6, 8, 9]
Nov 6 – 22
GIL SHAHAM plays Mozart and Prokofiev concertos with the San Francisco Symphony, starting in the orchestra’s home town and then visiting cities around the country – including a stop at Carnegie Hall. [Nov 6, 7, 8, 9: San Francisco, CA; Nov 12: Kansas City, MO; Nov 14: Ann Arbor, MI; Nov 15: Cleveland, OH; Nov 16: Boston, MA; Nov 20: CH; Nov 22: Miami, FL]
Nov 7 – 13
Following his fall release of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I on Deutsche Grammophon, PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD performs Bach’s masterpiece in four American cities, with stops at the Library of Congress and Carnegie Hall. [Nov 7: Washington, DC; Nov 9: Chicago, IL; Nov 11: Philadelphia, PA; Nov 13: CH]
Nov 14 – Dec 5
NADINE SIERRA returns to San Francisco Opera, where she recently graduated from the Adler Fellowship program, to sing Musetta in a new staging of La bohème by British theater director John Caird. 2014 Richard Tucker Award-winner Michael Fabiano is Rodolfo to Alexia Voulgaridou’s Mimì. [San Francisco, CA; Nov 14, 19, 22, 25, 29, Dec 2, 5]
Nov 15 – Dec 7; July 28, 31
ANNA NETREBKO makes her house role debut as the title character of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut opposite Jonas Kaufmann at the Bavarian State Opera in a new production by Hans Neuenfels. The July 31 performance will be transmitted live outdoors in central Munich as part of the company’s “Opera for All” series. [Munich, Germany; Nov 15, 19, 24, 27, 30, Dec 4, 7; July 28, 31]
Nov 20 – Dec 17
ALESSIO BAX embarks on a European tour with Joshua Bell, playing Schubert’s Duo in A major, Grieg’s Sonata No. 1, and Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 1. They travel to ten cities, including Salzburg, Madrid, Moscow, Istanbul, and London, where they perform at Wigmore Hall. [Nov 20: Salzburg, Austria; Nov 21: London; Nov 22: Stavanger, Norway; Nov 23: Gothenburg, Sweden; Nov 25: Alicante, Spain; Nov 26: Madrid, Spain; Dec 12: St. Petersburg, Russia; Dec 14: Moscow, Russia; Dec 16: Istanbul, Turkey; Dec 17: Eindhoven, Netherlands]
Nov 21
The 80th annual METROPOLITAN OPERA GUILD luncheon pays tribute to the great soprano Jessye Norman, who recently wrote about her life in a memoir entitled Stand Up Straight and Sing. [Waldorf Astoria]
Nov 21 – 23
ALAN GILBERT returns to the podium of the Berlin Philharmonic with a program that includes Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, “Scottish,” Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3, “Sinfonia espansiva,” and a Bach cantata, with soprano Christina Landshamer and baritone Michael Nagy. [Berlin, Germany; Nov 21, 22, 23]
Nov 22, 23
SUSAN GRAHAM is the soloist with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in performances of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. [St Louis, MO; Nov 22, 23]
Nov 24 – Dec 2
LEIF OVE ANDSNES takes his “Beethoven Journey” to Lucerne and Vienna, performing concertos during residencies in both cities. [Nov 24, 26; Lucerne, Switzerland; Nov 29, Dec 1, 2: Vienna, Austria]
DECEMBER
Dec 2
The winner of more Tony Awards than any other actress, since picking up a sixth for her performance as Billie Holiday in Broadway’s Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, singer and actress AUDRA McDONALD performs show tunes, fan favorites, and songs from her latest release, Go Back Home, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. [Los Angeles, CA]
Dec 3 – 9
After singing Mathilde in Rossini’s William Tell at the Teatro Regio di Torino in May (deemed “a major achievement” by the Financial Times) and in concert at the Edinburgh Festival in August, ANGELA MEADE reprises the role on a North American concert tour with the Teatro Regio orchestra and cast, under the baton of music director Gianandrea Noseda. The tour includes a stop at Carnegie Hall. [Dec 3: Chicago, IL; Dec 5: Toronto, Canada; Dec 7: CH; Dec 9: Ann Arbor, MI]
Dec 4 – 9
ALISA WEILERSTEIN returns to the New York Philharmonic, playing Dvorák’s Cello Concerto under Christoph von Dohnányi’s direction. She takes a break from the iconic concerto on December 7 to perform chamber music at the 92nd St Y with principals of the orchestra. [Dec 4, 5, 6, 9: AFH; Dec 7: 92Y]
Dec 4
THE KNIGHTS join vocal soloists at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall to perform the New York premiere of The Classical Style: An Opera of Sorts, a new opera by STEVEN STUCKY and JEREMY DENK that was unveiled at the Ojai Music Festival in June. [ZH]
Dec 9
DANIIL TRIFONOV returns to Carnegie Hall’s main stage for the third consecutive season. On his recital program are Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111 and Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes S.139, as well as works by Bach. [CH]
Dec 10
INON BARNATAN makes his Boston solo recital debut when he performs at Pickman Concert Hall as part of the Celebrity Series of Boston. [Boston, MA]
Dec 11 – 13
JOSHUA ROMAN gives the world premiere of Mason Bates’s new cello concerto with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. [Seattle, WA; Dec 11, 12, 13]
Dec 11 – 27
After winning over the British public and media with his portrayal of Alfredo in La traviata at the Royal Opera House earlier this year, STEPHEN COSTELLO returns to the Met to make his house role debut as Verdi’s hero. [Met; Dec 11, 16, 19, 22, 27]
Dec 12
Six-time Tony Award-winning singer and actress AUDRA McDONALD returns to Carnegie Hall with an evening of favorite show tunes, including songs from her most recent CD, Go Back Home, her most personal album to date. [CH]
Dec 12 – 14
GIL SHAHAM gives the world premiere of a new violin concerto by David Bruce with the San Diego Symphony. [San Diego, CA; Dec 12, 13, 14]
Dec 16 – 20
IESTYN DAVIES is a soloist in the New York Philharmonic’s popular annual performance of Handel’s Messiah. [AFH; Dec 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]
Dec 17 – 21
TRINITY WALL STREET gives four renditions of “New York’s finest annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah” (Time Out New York): three at Trinity Church and one at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. [Dec 17, 19, 21: TC; Dec 18: ATH]
Dec 18 – Jan 17
JOSEPH CALLEJA returns to the Royal Opera House to make his role debut as Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera in a new production by Katharina Thoma. [London, UK; Dec 18, 22, 30, Jan 2, 6, 13, 17]
Dec 21 – Jan 4
One of the most admired Wagnerian singers of our time, DEBORAH VOIGT plays the roles of Elisabeth and Venus in Tannhäuser at Hamburg State Opera. [Hamburg, Germany; Dec 21, 26, Jan 4]
Dec 26 – Jan 6
TRINITY WALL STREET presents its third annual Twelfth Night Festival. This year’s highlights include Handel’s Saul with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, and Gotham Early Music Scene’s production of The Play of Daniel. [TC & SPC; Dec 26 to Jan 6 inclusive]
Dec 30 – Jan 6
DANIIL TRIFONOV returns to Lincoln Center for four performances of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Juanjo Mena. “The orchestra and soloist clearly had chemistry,” observed the New York Times at the Russian phenom’s 2012 Philharmonic debut. [AFH; Dec 30, Jan 2, 3, 6]
JANUARY 2015
Jan (date tbd)
DEBORAH VOIGT tells the story of her life in a characteristically forthright, sometimes harrowing and often funny memoir, Call Me Debbie – True Confessions of a Down-to-Earth Diva, published by HarperCollins. Voigt’s tell-all autobiography takes readers on stage to witness her greatest public triumphs, and to personal corners of her life where she battled food and alcohol addictions; colorful anecdotes offer glimpses of life both in front of and behind the velvet theater curtains. Voigt reveals some of her personal secrets to great singing, and shares the challenges and joys of her long dedication to the art of performing opera.
Jan 5
ALISA WEILERSTEIN gives a solo recital at London’s esteemed Wigmore Hall. Her program offers music from her recently released album Solo, including Bach’s Cello Suite No. 5 and Kodály’s Cello Sonata. [London, UK]
Jan 5
London’s Barbican Hall presents an evening with STEPHEN COSTELLO and AILYN PÉREZ, with a program drawn from their new Warner Classics album, Love Duets. [London, UK]
Jan 5 – 23
DANIIL TRIFONOV and violinist Gidon Kremer embark on a 9-city North American recital tour that includes stops in Princeton, Baltimore, and Toronto, and ends at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Together they perform Mozart’s Violin Sonata in E-flat major, K. 481, Glass’s Violin Sonata, Weinberg’s Violin Sonata No. 3, and Schubert’s Fantasy in C major, D. 934. [Jan 5: Princeton, NJ; Jan 13: Berkeley, CA; Jan 14: Los Angeles, CA; Jan 15: La Jolla, CA; Jan 17: Beverly Hills, MI; Jan 18: Baltimore, MD; Jan 20: Toronto, Canada; Jan 21: Montreal, Canada; Jan 23: CH]
Jan 8 – 10
THE MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST’s innovative partnership with the New York Philharmonic – the first training program of its kind in the U.S. – was set in motion in summer 2014 during ALAN GILBERT’s residency at the festival in Santa Barbara. The East Coast component is launched when a group of up to ten Music Academy fellows – selected by audition and named the 2015 class of Zarin Mehta Fellows – arrive in New York City for a ten-day apprenticeship and musical immersion with the Philharmonic (Jan 3 – 13), culminating in three subscription concerts in which the fellows perform side-by-side with NYP musicians in music of Stravinsky, Nielsen and Tchaikovsky. [AFH: Jan 8, 9, 10]
Jan 15- 17
ANGELA MEADE makes her debut with the New York Philharmonic as soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem. ALAN GILBERT leads the work for his first time with the orchestra in performances that also feature mezzo Lilli Paasikivi, tenor Brandon Jovanovich, bass Eric Owens, and the New York Choral Artists. The previous week, on January 9, Meade gives a George London Recital at New York’s Morgan Library, with baritone Nicholas Pallesen and pianist Danielle Orlando. [AFH: Jan 15, 16, 17]
Jan 16 – 24
In the same month as the release of his new Hollywood album, DANIEL HOPE takes Korngold’s cinematic Violin Concerto to two U.S. cities: first he joins the Milwaukee Symphony conducted by Edo de Waart for two performances, and then he takes it to San Antonio, whose symphony is led by Sebastian Lang-Lessing. In between, he gives a chamber music performance in San Francisco. [Jan 16, 17: Milwaukee, WI; Jan 20: San Francisco, CA; Jan 23, 24: San Antonio, TX]
Jan 22 – 25
Considered one of today’s leading Britten interpreters, NICHOLAS PHAN makes his debut with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as soloist in the composer’s Serenade for tenor, horn and strings. After his performance of the work last season with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Star reported, “We needn’t have waited for the 100th anniversary of Britten’s birth to hear this masterpiece of understated expression – realized as beautifully as anyone might imagine.” [Dallas TX; Jan 22, 23, 24, 25]
Jan 26 – Feb 21
ANNA NETREBKO assumes the title role in Tchaikovsky’s one-act opera Iolanta at the Met, paired with her frequent co-star Piotr Beczala. Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle is also presented on the program; Valery Gergiev conducts the double-bill. On February 14, Iolanta will be transmitted live to movie theaters worldwide via the Met’s Live in HD series. [Met; Jan 26, 29, Feb 3, 7, 10, 14, 18, 21]
Jan 27; March 11, April 11
Trailblazing cellist MATT HAIMOVITZ releases a 2-CD set on Oxingale Records of the complete Beethoven sonatas and variations for cello and piano performed on period instruments, with long-time collaborator Christopher O’Riley (fortepiano). Two live performances follow the CD release on January 27: in Montreal, at the Museé des Beaux Arts, and in New York, at the Metropolitan Museum. [March 11: Montreal; April 11: Met Museum]
Jan 29, 30 Teddy Abrams conducts the LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA in two wide-ranging concerts of symphonies by Haydn and Brahms, which also include the world premiere of a new symphony by American composer Sebastian Chang. [Louisville, KY; Jan 29, 30]
Jan 29 – Feb 8
ALESSIO BAX embarks on a UK tour with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Shelley; in each city he performs one of two concertos: Beethoven’s “Emperor” or Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto. Classics Today says, “Rachmaninov’s music fits Alessio Bax’s seemingly boundless technique hand in glove, along with his big, luscious, multi-colored sonority and ardent temperament.” [Jan 29: Kingston-upon-Thames; Feb 1: Northampton; Feb 3: London; Feb 4: Croydon; Feb 8: Southend]
FEBRUARY
Feb (date tbd)
Innova Records issues the world premiere recording of MICHAEL HERSCH’s Last Autumn, performed by Jamie Hersch (horn) and Daniel Gaisford (cello). The Philadelphia Inquirer described the three-hour piece as having “41 exclamatory movements, many of them haiku-like, creating a composite portrait of something too huge and undefinable…to be seen in anything more than glimpses.”
Feb 4 – March 6
ALAN GILBERT crosses the plaza at Lincoln Center to conduct Don Giovanni at the Met. Peter Mattei stars in Mozart’s retelling of the Don Juan tale alongside Elza van den Heever, Emma Bell, and Luca Pisaroni. [Met; Feb 4, 7, 11, 14, 17, 21, 24, 27, March 2, 6]
Feb 5
SUSAN GRAHAM sings Les nuits d’été with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Elder at Barbican Hall. [London, UK]
Feb 6 – March 7
AILYN PÉREZ, winner of both the 2012 Richard Tucker Award and the 15th annual Plácido Domingo Award, makes her eagerly awaited debut at the Met singing the role of Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen. [Met; Feb 6, 9, 13, 19, 26, March 4, 7]
Feb 7
Kicking off his first of three seasons as “Artist-in-Association” with the New York Philharmonic, during which the pianist will regularly collaborate with the orchestra in concerto and chamber music performances, INON BARNATAN plays Dvorak’s Piano Quintet with members of the orchestra. [AFH]
Feb 12
American composer SEAN SHEPHERD’s frequently performed work for orchestra, Wanderlust, will receive its French premiere by the Orchestre National de France conducted by James Gaffigan, as part of the Festival Presence 2015 at Radio France in Paris. [Paris, France]
Feb 12 – 14
SUSAN GRAHAM sings Berlioz’s La mort de Cléopâtre with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic in Brussels and Antwerp. [Feb 12: Brussels, Belgium; Feb 13, 14: Antwerp, Belgium]
Feb 13 – 15
To launch a new series titled “Live Context: Arts and Ideas,” the BING CONCERT HALL presents “Haydn – Patronage & Enlightenment.” This in-depth investigation of culture and the arts in the late 18th century comprises three concerts that offer a broad selection of the composer’s music. The Stanford Philharmonia Orchestra, Stanford Chamber Strings, Stanford Chamber Chorale, and St. Lawrence String Quartet take part in such Classical milestones as the Missa in Angustiis (“Nelson” Mass) and Symphony No. 44 in E minor (“Mourning”). [Stanford, CA; Feb 13, 14, 15]
Feb 13 – April 12
PABLO VILLEGAS takes Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez to two Texas cities, first joining the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under Miguel Harth-Bedoya in February, and then heading to the San Antonio Symphony in April. [Feb 13, 14, 15: Fort Worth, TX; April 10, 11, 12: San Antonio, TX]
Feb 14
ALISA WEILERSTEIN performs music from her recently released Decca album, Solo, at San Francisco’s St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. [San Francisco, CA]
Feb 14 – March 4
In his third season as General Music Director at Zurich Opera, FABIO LUISI leads the company’s new production of Martinu’s rarity, Juliette, directed by Zurich’s Intendant Andreas Homoki. [Zurich, Switzerland; Feb 14, 17, 19, 22, 24, 27, March 1, 4]
Feb 15 – 27
MATT HAIMOVITZ, klezmer clarinetist and composer David Krakauer and friends embark on a tour of rep from the recent Oxingale Records release Akoka. A reframing of Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, the program includes the title work by Krakauer and a remix by electronica artist Socalled. [NYC, DC, LA, Seattle; dates & venues tba]
Feb 17, 19
Continuing his “Beethoven Journey” in Europe, LEIF OVE ANDSNES performs the composer’s five piano concertos in Paris, divided over two evenings. [Paris, France; Feb 17, 19]
Feb 18
The BING CONCERT HALL presents the Nile Project as part of its Live Context: Art + Ideas series. The Nile Project is a group focused on the ecological sustainability of the critical history-rich waterway. Musicians from Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and other Nile River Basin lands sing their new songs about the world’s longest river and the people it sustains. Playing ancient and modern instruments, the group includes the beguiling voice of Ethiopian-American singer Meklit Hadero. [Stanford, CA]
Feb 20
DAVID GREILSAMMER teams up with Avi Avital to play a program of works – many arranged for mandolin and piano – by Mozart, Bach, Berg, Pärt and Bartók at the University of Chicago. [Chicago, IL]
Feb 20 – 22
PALM BEACH OPERA presents the company’s first world premiere: Ben Moore’s Enemies: A Love Story. Based on the novel by Nobel Prize-winning Yiddish author Isaac Bashevis Singer and adapted into an Oscar-nominated movie, the opera’s story examines the immigrant experience. [West Palm Beach, FL; Feb 20, 21, 22]
Feb 21
THE CHOIR OF TRINITY WALL STREET performs Ginastera’s Turbae ad Passionem Gregorianam at Carnegie Hall. Scored for large orchestra, mixed chorus, three solo singers, and children’s choir – and considered by the composer himself to be his masterwork – the piece takes its point of departure from the great passions of J.S. Bach. It was premiered by Robert Page in the early 1970s and has rarely been performed since. [CH]
Feb 23, 25
LEIF OVE ANDSNES’s “Beethoven Journey” once again takes him across the Atlantic to New York, where he performs all five of the composer’s piano concertos over the course of two evenings at Carnegie Hall, with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. [CH; Feb 23, 25]
Feb 26
Violinist Carolyn Huebl and pianist Mark Wait perform the world premiere of MICHAEL HERSCH’s Zwischen Leben und Tod: twenty-two pieces after images of Peter Weiss for violin and piano at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. [Nashville, TN]
Feb 26 – March 5
SUSAN GRAHAM embarks on a recital tour of California, stopping in Davis, Palm Desert, Berkeley, and Palo Alto. [Feb 26: Davis, CA; Feb 27: Palm Desert, CA; March 1: Berkeley, CA; March 5: Palo Alto, CA]
MARCH
March 1
GIL SHAHAM presents all the solo sonatas and partitas of J.S. Bach at Symphony Center, in a special multimedia collaboration with photographer and video artist David Michalek. [Chicago, IL]
March 5 – 7
PABLO VILLEGAS plays Manuel de Falla’s La vida breve with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. [Washington, DC; March 5, 6, 7]
March 8 – 18
PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD joins Tamara Stefanovich to perform an all-Boulez program for two pianos in five American cities, including stops at Cal Performances, the Chicago Symphony Center, and Carnegie Hall. [March 8: Ithaca, NY; March 12: Berkeley, CA; March 15: Chicago, IL; March 16: CH; March 18: Chapel Hill, NC]
March 12 – 14
FABIO LUISI conducts the Cleveland Orchestra in a performance of Cobalt, Scarlet: Two Colors of Dawn by Luca Francesconi, Liszt’s Second Piano concerto (with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist), and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. [Cleveland, OH; March 12, 13, 14]
March 16 – April 10
JOSEPH CALLEJA returns to the Met to reprise his much-lauded portrayal of Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor opposite soprano Albina Shagimuratova in the title role. [Met; March 16, 19, 24, 28, April 1, 4, 7, 10]
March 18
For his second solo recital at Carnegie Hall, NICHOLAS PHAN assembles a pastiche song cycle, called A Painted Tale, to tell a story of love gained and then lost. The cycle, a collection of early English song, is composed of music by Blow, Dowland, Lanier, Morley, Purcell and others. The program will be recorded in the fall for release by Avie in early 2015. [WH]
March 19
2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Silver Medalist JOYCE YANG, who the New York Times says has “demonstrated impressive gifts as a chamber musician,” joins the Takács String Quartet in Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series to perform Dvorák’s Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81. [ATH]
March 19 – 22
DANIIL TRIFONOV, who made his Cleveland Orchestra debut at the Blossom Music Festival in 2012, now joins the orchestra for the first time at Severance Hall, playing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 under the baton of Jahja Ling. [Cleveland, OH; March 19, 20, 21, 22]
March 19 – 24
In his New York Philharmonic debut, INON BARNATAN joins the orchestra and its music director ALAN GILBERT to play Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G minor in four performances: at the orchestra’s Lincoln Center home and at Long Island University’s Tilles Center. [March 19, 20, 24: AFH; March 21: Greenvale, NY]
March 19 – April 4
DANIEL HOPE returns to the American South for his 12th season as Associate Artistic Director of the Savannah Music Festival. [dates and programs tbd]
March 20 – April 11
ANGELA MEADE returns to the role of Elvira opposite Placido Domingo and Francesco Meli in Verdi’s Ernani, the opera that marked her professional debut on the Met’s stage in 2008. James Levine conducts. “Ms. Meade’s Elvira showed what an uncommonly gifted rising artist is capable of” (New York Times). [Met; March 20, 23, 26, 31, April 4, 8, 11]
March 20 – April 20
ANNA NETREBKO plays the Tudor queen opposite Luca Pisaroni in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at Zurich Opera (in her house role debut) and immediately afterwards at Vienna State Opera – in productions by Giancarlo del Monaco and Eric Génovèse respectively. [March 20, 24, 29, April 2: Zurich, Switzerland; April 10, 13, 17, 20: Vienna, Austria]
March 25, 26
ALESSIO BAX reunites with London’s Southbank Sinfonia, with whom he recorded his Mozart disc of 2013. This time, under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy, Bax goes Russian, with a pair of performances of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini at Cadogan Hall in London and Town Hall in Birmingham. [March 25: London; March 26: Birmingham, UK]
March 25 – 28
BROOKLYN RIDER continues its ongoing relationship with Carolina Performing Arts with a residency at the University of North Carolina, which features the world premiere of a new work by Pulitzer Prize-winner John Luther Adams performed within an art installation. The residency culminates with a concert featuring works from the Brooklyn Rider Almanac. [Chapel Hill, NC; March 25, 26, 28]
March 26 – 28
ALAN GILBERT leads the New York Philharmonic and violinist Leila Josefowicz in the world premiere of John Adams’s Scheharazade.2, which was co-commissioned by the performing orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The program also includes the 1911 original version of Stravinsky’s Petrushka and Lyadov’s 1909 tone poem The Enchanted Lake. [AFH; March 26, 27, 28]
March 26 – April 21
DANIIL TRIFONOV makes his debut with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, playing Rachmaninov’s First Piano Concerto under the baton of Jaap van Zweden; the piece is also the vehicle for Trifonov’s return to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Semyon Bychkov in April. In between, he turns to the Russian composer’s Third Piano Concerto for his return to the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Krzysztof Urbanski at the Kennedy Center. [March 26, 27, 28, 29: Dallas, TX; April 2, 3, 4: Washington, DC; April 16, 17, 18, 21: Chicago, IL]
March 27
Fifteen years after his landmark recording of Bach’s complete cello suites on a modern instrument, MATT HAIMOVITZ performs these works at Strathmore on a Baroque cello as part of Bach Listening Room, representing Haimovitz’s new critical re-examination of the manuscripts. Haimovitz and his label, Oxingale Records, have commissioned overtures to each of the suites from composers influenced by folk music from around the globe, including Philip Glass and Wolfgang Rihm. The program will be recorded for a spring 2015 release on Oxingale. [Bethesda, MD]
March 29
GIL SHAHAM plays his solo Bach project, a collaboration with artist David Michalek, at Disney Hall in Los Angeles. [Los Angeles, CA]
APRIL
April 1, 2
The BING CONCERT HALL presents the world premiere of The Demo, a visually immersive music-theater work exploring the dawn of the digital age. Created by composer Mikel Rouse, performer Ben Neill, and director Bob McGrath, The Demo reimagines Douglas Engelbart’s 1968 demonstration of the fundamental features of personal computing, a watershed moment in Silicon Valley history that has since been dubbed “The Mother of all Demos.” [Stanford, CA; April 1, 2]
April 4, 7
JOYCE YANG performs with her frequent duo partner, violinist Augustin Hadelich, at Chamber Music International in Dallas. A few days later, still in Texas, the 2005 Silver Medalist gives a solo recital, presented by the Van Cliburn Foundation, to mark the retirement of the foundation’s jury chair, John Giordano. [April 4: Dallas, TX; April 7: Fort Worth, TX]
April 4 – 15
DANIEL HOPE joins pianist Wu Han, violist Paul Neubauer, and cellist David Finckel for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s coast-to-coast tour of North America. Visiting nine cities – including Washington DC, Toronto, Vancouver, Detroit and Savannah – they play Mahler’s Quartet in A minor, Schumann’s Quartet in E-flat major, and Brahms’s Quartet No. 1 in G minor. [April 4: Savannah, GA; April 6: Santa Fe, NM; April 7: Urbana, IL; April 8: Toronto, Canada; April 10: Washington DC; April 11: Detroit, MI; April 13: Princeton, NJ; April 14: Vancouver, Canada; April 15: Costa Mesa, CA]
April 8 – 11
ALAN GILBERT and the New York Philharmonic give the U.S. premiere of French composer Thierry Escaich’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe, a Philharmonic co-commission, performed by Artist-in-Residence Lisa Batiashvili and her husband, oboist François Leleux. The same forces will play J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe, and Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony concludes the program. [AFH; April 8, 9, 10, 11]
April 11 – 19
DEBORAH VOIGT sings the role of Hanna Glawari for the first time, in Michigan Opera Theater’s production of Lehar’s The Merry Widow. [Detroit, IL; April 11, 15, 18, 19]
April 14, 17
Following his performances in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at the Met, JOSEPH CALLEJA gives recitals at Boston’s Jordan Hall and Kansas City’s Folly Theater. [April 14: Kansas City, MO; April 17: Boston, MA]
April 14 – May 8
Metropolitan Opera Principal Conductor FABIO LUISI conducts the company’s new production of a popular double bill: Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. The April 25 performance will be broadcast worldwide as part of the Met’s “Live in HD” series. [Met; April 14, 18, 21, 25, 29, May 2, 5, 8]
April 16 – May 1
ALAN GILBERT takes the New York Philharmonic on its European Spring Tour, visiting cities from London to Paris, Dublin to Cologne and many more. In London and Paris, the Philharmonic presents Giants Are Small’s theatrical reimagining of Stravinsky’s ballet Petrushka, adapted from the Philharmonic’s sold-out 2013 season finale, A Dancer’s Dream: Two Works by Stravinsky. The London performance – part of the Philharmonic’s second residency at the Barbican Centre under the auspices of its International Associates Initiative – marks the production’s European premiere and the Philharmonic’s first time reprising a Giants Are Small production and performing it on tour. While in London, Gilbert also gives the Royal Philharmonic Society’s annual lecture. In Cologne, the Philharmonic presents the world premiere of Péter Eötvös’s Senza sangue, with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and baritone Russell Braun. [dates and venues tbd]
April 16 – May 1
INON BARNATAN and ALISA WEILERSTEIN embark on a 5-city U.S. tour, stopping in Winston-Salem, San Juan, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, and Boston. [April 16: Winston-Salem, NC; April 18: San Juan, PR; April 26: Sonoma, CA; April 27: Santa Barbara, CA; May 1: Boston, MA]
April 23
A noted interpreter of Russian repertoire, ALISA WEILERSTEIN plays Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and conductor Pablo Heras-Casado at Carnegie Hall. [CH]
April 24 – May 7
SUSAN GRAHAM returns to the Metropolitan Opera to take on the title role in Susan Stroman’s new production of Lehar’s The Merry Widow, which also stars STEPHEN COSTELLO as Camille and is conducted by FABIO LUISI. [Met; April 24, 27, 30; May 7]
April 24 – May 9
An alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, NICHOLAS PHAN returns to the company for his debut performances as Tobias Ragg in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. [Houston, TX; April 24, 26, 29, May 2, 8, 9]
April 26 – May 3
JOSEPH CALLEJA makes his Australian debut, giving concerts with orchestras in three major cities: Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. [April 26: Sydney, Australia; April 29, 30: Brisbane, Australia; May 3: Melbourne, Australia]
April 29
The METROPOLITAN OPERA GUILD presents the 10th annual Opera News Awards in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza. First introduced in 2005, the Opera News Awards gala dinner – with spoken tributes to and video performance clips of the awardees – has become a highlight of the opera season. [The Plaza]
April 30, May 1
JOHN ELIOT GARDINER and his Monteverdi Choir join the English Baroque Soloists for a performance of Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine on the stage of Carnegie Hall, a highlight of the venue’s month-long “Before Bach” festival of early music. The following night, the same forces present a concert performance of the Italian composer’s opera L’Orfeo. [CH; April 30, May 1]
MAY 2015
May 8, 9
ALAN GILBERT, at the helm of the New York Philharmonic, gives the U.S. premiere of Péter Eötvös’s one-act opera and Philharmonic co-commission Senza Sangue (Without Blood), following its world premiere during the orchestra’s European Spring Tour in April, with the same soloists (see April 16 above). Schubert’s Symphony in B minor, “Unfinished,” concludes the program. [AFH; May 8, 9]
May 15, 17
ALESSIO BAX closes the season of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on a Spanish theme with concerts in New York and at Boston’s Gardner Museum. On the program are De Falla’s Danza del Molinero and Fire Dance, Albeniz/Godowski’s Tango, and Ravel’s Sonata No. 2 in G major with violinist Benjamin Beilman. [May 15: ATH; May 17: Boston]
May 23 – June 10
Operatic dream team ANNA NETREBKO and JOSEPH CALLEJA star as Rodolfo and Mimi in the revival of the Royal Opera House’s production of La bohème. The performance on June 10 will be relayed live into cinemas worldwide. [London, UK; May 23, 27, 30, June 2, 5, 8, 10]
May 24
INON BARNATAN performs a recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, playing works by Schubert, Franck, Ravel, and the world premiere of Sebastian Currier’s Glow. [London, UK]
JUNE 2015
June 10 – 13
ALAN GILBERT leads the New York Philharmonic in four performances of Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake, starring Marion Cotillard as Joan, Eric Génovèse as Brother Dominique, Christian Gonon as the Narrator, Simone Osborne as Marguerite, Faith Sherman as Catherine, tenor Thomas Blondelle, and bass Steven Humes. The production is directed by Côme de Bellescize. [AFH; June 10, 11, 12, 13]
June 13 – 30
STEPHEN COSTELLO creates the role of Michele in Marco Tutinof’s La Ciociara (Two Women), which receives its world premiere at San Francisco Opera. The work is based on Alberto Moravia’s novel of the same name, which was also adapted into a classic movie starring Sophia Loren and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Joining Costello are soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci and baritone Mark Delavan, with Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducting and Francesca Zambello directing this co-production with the Teatro Regio of Turin, Italy. [San Francisco, CA; June 13, 19, 23, 28, 30]
June 15 – 24
ANNA NETREBKO reprises her account of Tchaikovsky’s blind heroine in a European tour of Iolanta, which includes a stop at London’s Royal Albert Hall on June 24. [June 15: Lucerne, Switzerland; June 18: Copenhagen, Denmark; June 21: Monte Carlo, Monaco; June 24: London, UK]
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Abbreviations for New York City concert venues are as follows:
92Y = 92nd Street Y
AFH = Avery Fisher Hall
ATH = Alice Tully Hall
CH = Carnegie Hall
Met = Metropolitan Opera
SPC = St Paul’s Chapel
TC = Trinity Church
WH = Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall
ZH = Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall
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Louise Barder
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