WASHINGTON — The Washington, D.C., area’s many classical music ensembles collectively launch their 2010-2011 season this month and next with fingers crossed. Audiences and donors, both individual and corporate, are either continuing to retrench or are already tapped out, courtesy of the ongoing Great Recession. This, in turn, has had a significant effect on the content of programming both in repertoire, and in the number of events actually staged.
Ticket sales and generous gifts tend to slow appreciably in such an economic environment if there’s anything besides Beethoven or Puccini on the program. For better or worse, classical fans like what they like, and their Classical Top 40 is still anchored firmly in the 19th century’s boundless supply of tuneful, evergreen favorites.
Pianist Lang Lang performs in NSO's Sept. 25
Gala Concert. (Photo courtesy Lang Lang's
website.)
As a result, with the possible exception of the National Symphony Orchestra — which boasts a new music director and benefits from being part of the taxpayer-supported Kennedy Center — donor-dependent ensembles are watching their pennies while carefully adjusting their programming (and even prices) to fill the maximum number of seats. Hopefully, for the economic winds will change sometime before the next millennium.
Given this ongoing penny-pinching, we can’t expect much music that’s new and daring this season. The area’s performing arts troupes, by and large, can’t or won’t afford risky stuff that often results in half-empty houses or worse. But fortunately, our rather conservative 2010-2011 musical arts menu still features quite a few tasty dishes and blue-plate specials that we’re highlighting for you here.
Our fall preview isn’t intended to be comprehensive. Rather, it’s a listing, with commentary, pinpointing what this writer believes to be the most interesting classical bets on tap for the season’s fall stanza. If something piques your interest along the way, just click one of the links for ticket prices and availability as well as further details. We’ll be back in early January with our spring pick hits.
Festival Time at the Kennedy Center:
Traditionally, the Kennedy Center has kicked the fall performing arts season into high gear with a September full of festivals appealing to a wide demographic. This year is no exception.
The KenCen leads off this weekend by launching two festivals. The first is what’s become its traditional Open House Arts Festival. The doors open this morning for this September 11 event. It’s loaded with a variety of happenings meant to attract families and friends, new and old alike. The incentive? Like any good open house, it’s free. And as we prepare to post this piece, the weather looks absolutely gorgeous.
If you decide to attend and can get your kids’ noses out of their cell phones for a minute, they’ll also have an opportunity to browse actual books, courtesy of the Multicultural Children’s’ Book Festival featured on the Center’s terrace level. Most events are walk-in, but some may require free tickets. Click the link here for topical details. Click this link for a complete list of events and times. (BTW, while events are free, parking at the Center is not.)
It goes without saying (even though we’re saying it) that Washington is not only our nation’s capital. It’s a world capital as well. The KenCen duly recognizes this every year by highlighting the arts of one or more nations. This fall, it’s Mexico’s turn. (India gets the nod in Spring 2011.)
2010 marks the bicentennial of Mexican independence. It’s also been 100 years since that country’s 1910 Revolution, which ultimately ushered in the Mexico of today. The Center’s “Celebrate Mexico 2010 Festival” celebrates this special year for our neighbors to the south with a variety of colorful musical and related events. For a complete calendar, click here (Sept 11-Oct. 2).
Orchestral:
National Symphony Orchestra
Since its grand opening some forty years ago, the Kennedy Center’s most prominent tenant has been and continues to be the National Symphony Orchestra. The NSO kicks off its 2010-2011 performance season on September 25 with its annual Gala Concert, featuring superstar performers Renée Fleming and Lang Lang.
NSO's Christoph Eschenbach. (Photo courtesy
Kennedy Center.)
This is a special year indeed for the NSO, as it’s the first for the NSO’s (and the Center’s) new Music Director Christoph Eschenbach. He dazzled audiences this past spring by conducting a stirring performance of Verdi’s Requiem in the Concert Hall.
Continuing with the choral motif, Maestro Eschenbach will conduct the ensemble’s first regular season concerts with a focus on Beethoven’s mammoth Ninth Symphony. Washington’s Choral Arts Society will add their voices to the symphony’s grand final movement (Sept. 30-Oct. 2).
Also on the NSO’s first program: The DC premiere of young German composer Matthias Pintscher’s Hérodiade Fragments. The featured soprano soloist is Marisol Montalvo.
While Maestro Eschenbach’s first NSO season will offer plenty of Beethoven, he won’t be observing our general “rule” about new music during his initial year at the helm. The spiky Pintscher work is the first of many contemporary pieces he’ll be introducing or reviving this season.
Maestro Eschenbach will host Christian Tetzlaff as the featured soloist in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (Oct. 7-9), pairing it with Anton Bruckner’s immense Symphony No. 6. The following weekend, Mr. Eschenbach will offer an all-Mahler program, matching Mahler’s 5th Symphony (and its famous “Death in Venice” Adagietto) with the composer’s somber Kindertotenlieder (Songs for Dead Children) featuring contralto Nathalie Stutzmann as soloist.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
With the advent of Montgomery County’s spiffy Strathmore facility and the popular part-time residency of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), area classical fans have been enjoying not one but two outstanding orchestral ensembles. Making things more competitive — as the NSO struggled to find a replacement for the long-departing Leonard Slatkin — the BSO brought in a breath of fresh air a couple seasons back by hiring Marin Alsop as its new Music Director and chief conductor. The energetic Maestra has already punched up the BSO’s repertoire while netting much-needed recording opportunities for Baltimore’s venerable orchestra.
Good BSO-Strathmore bets this fall include a performance of Mahler’s 7th Symphony under the baton of Ms. Alsop (Sept. 25); a program of Beethoven and Shostakovich (Oct. 16) with the added attraction of the rarely-heard “Blumine” movement Mahler removed from his First Symphony; and an appearance by violinist Midori (Oct. 21) who’ll be performing the Shostakovich Concerto No. 1 under the baton of Gilbert Varga. That program also features works by Glinka and Stravinsky.
The BSO’s outreach appears to be encompassing more and more of Maryland. If they’re not already aware of this fact, Frederick-area residents may want to check out BSO’s offerings in that fair city this season. Their main performance venue is Frederick’s downtown Weinberg Center for the Arts with BSO’s Chamber Series appearing at the All Saints Episcopal Church. Say, maybe we should start calling BSO the MSO (Maryland Symphony Orchestra).
National Philharmonic
The Washington area’s symphonic blessings don’t just end with the NSO and the BSO. Two fine, major regional orchestras also boast an impressive concert schedule. In residence at Strathmore is the excellent National Philharmonic Orchestra under the musical directorship of Piotr Gajewski. Maestro Gajewski joins NSO’s and BSO’s Mahler Marathon by offering that composer’s magnificent, theologically original “Resurrection” Symphony (No. 2) on October 8, featuring soprano Iwona Sobotka and mezzo Magdalena Wór. Additionally, works by Greek composer Andreas Makris and Polish composer Mieczyslaw Karlowicz will be on tap.
The National Philharmonic will return on October 24 with performances of Dvorak’s 9th Symphony (“From the New World”) and the composer’s lesser-known cello concerto with the latter featuring Zuill Bailey as soloist.
Fairfax Symphony
After suffering its own fiscal troubles a couple of years back, the Fairfax Symphony has been reborn under the baton and musical directorship of Christopher Zimmerman. The ensemble launches its season this weekend on September 11 at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts with pianist Philippe Bianconi performing Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto. Also on the card: Tchaikovsky’s “The Tempest” and Rachmaninoff’s substantial Symphony #3.
Alexandria Symphony
Somewhat neglected by the media, including this reviewer, Alexandria, Virginia also boasts its own symphony orchestra, the aptly named Alexandria Symphony. And it’s a good one. Helmed by Music Director Kim Allen Kluge, the ensemble will open its 2010-2011 season at Alexandria’s acoustically superb Schlesinger auditorium with a program entitled “Norway Comes to Washington.” The featured work is Grieg’s very popular Piano Concerto with Norwegian pianist, Steffen Horn in the solo spot. As counterpoint, the program will conclude with Tchaikovsky’s stirring 4th Symphony (Oct. 2-3.)
Opera:
Washington National Opera
(WNO star Tamara Wilson discusses doing Verdi in DC via WNO's YouTube video feature.)
Like many opera companies, WNO has experienced ongoing budget problems of late, and they don’t appear to be over, at least as of this writing. Opera’s expensive to stage, and in this environment, that means safer programs and less operas or, sometimes, no opera at all. (See Baltimore Opera, deceased last season.)
WNO’s solution to the crunch — hopefully temporary — has been to delay its once-promising American Ring Cycle indefinitely and trim this season’s opera offerings down to five plus one concert program. Tough stuff for a company once aspiring to put on eight operas a season.
As this critic has pointed out numerous times over the years, WNO’s ticket prices are easily competitive with those of Washington’s universally lousy sports teams, making the opera a far better deal these days for the entertainment dollar. Maybe if a few dozen Redskins, Wizards, and Caps season ticket holders decided to support a winner for a change...
Salvatore Licitra stars in WNO's "Masked Ball."
In any event, WNO’s short fall stanza begins this weekend when Verdi’s intriguing Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) launches this evening, September 11. It’s billed as “a timeless tales of love and revenge,” which it actually is. The opera runs through the 25th, and features famed tenors Salvatore Licitra and Frank Porretta alternating in the role of King Gustavus. Widely acclaimed Verdi soprano Tamara Wilson also stars in this production. Note to autograph hounds: Mr. Licitra will be signing CDs outside the Opera House main entrance after the September 19 matinee performance of Un Ballo.
Hot on the heels of Verdi, WNO will offer Richard Strauss’ fascinating one-act shocker Salome (Oct. 7-23) with soprano Deborah Voigt performing the title role which includes Salome singing sweetly to John the Baptist’s severed head. Based on Oscar Wilde’s decadent verse play, Salome promises to be further enhanced in a new production by Francesca Zambello who’s drawn considerable praise — and a few brickbats — for other productions here. For more information on Salome and the rest of WNO’s season, here’s the company’s main link.
Virginia Opera
The Virginia Opera’s toughing out the tough times, too, this season, by slimming down its ambitions and its schedule. Based in Norfolk, this professional company — the nation’s 21st largest at last count — has long made a go of each season by opening there and then traveling to venues in Richmond and northern Virginia (at GMU’s Center for the Arts), collecting a loyal statewide following along the way.
This fall’s offerings include Verdi’s ever-popular Rigoletto (October 15 and 17) and Mozart’s always-amusing Cosi fan tutte (They All Do It, December 3 and 5). True, nothing new here opera wise. But the company generally offers fine performances at reasonable prices, albeit with somewhat lesser-known singers. For northern Virginians, there’s the added bonus of not having to fight bridge traffic on the way to Washington, DC.
An aside: This reviewer is consistently amazed by the hearty coughing, yakking, and candy-wrapper rustling that goes on during opera performances these days, particularly during those delicate musical moments where you could otherwise almost hear the proverbial pin drop. Virginia Opera offers some useful and amusing opera etiquette tips here for eager but perhaps uninformed opera veterans and newbies alike.
Washington Concert Opera
Maestro Antony Walker returns to lead
the Washington Concert Opera.
(Photo courtesy WCO.)
Not surprisingly, the tiny Washington Concert Opera has also been busily trying to stay afloat, financially, a periodic issue for this gem-like little company. WCO routinely offers somewhat lesser-known but mind-bogglingly great singers in un-staged or lightly staged performances of rarely-seen operas. Fortunately, they’re back again this year. Their short 2010-2011 season begin on October 24 at GWU’s Lisner Auditorium with a single concert performance of Francesco Cilea’s infrequently-heard Adriana Lecouvreur. The opera concerns…oh, let’s let WNO’s publicist tell us: “Cilea’s thrilling masterpiece is a story of love, betrayal, jealousy, even poisoned violets!”
The performance, as always, boasts a full orchestra and star soloists including Washington fave, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bishop and superb tenor James Valenti, all under the baton of popular Antony Walker who’s now also at the helm of the Pittsburgh Opera. Check out WCO’s much-niftier-than-before new website here for details.
Bel Cantanti
This tiny company produces budget versions of famous operas as a kind of proving ground for talented young area singers. Their performance venues have tended to be a movable feast. We enjoyed catching their Carmen production close to home last season at the new 1st Stage theater facility in Tysons Corner, Virginia. However, it doesn’t look like they’ll be back there this year, settling in at Rockville’s Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington where they also performed last season.
Bel Cantanti’s first offering (Sept. 24-Oct. 10) is a double bill of popular operatic one-acts, Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci (The Clowns) and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, the latter of which we caught this past summer in a marvelous performance at the Castleton Festival near Warrenton, Virginia.
Everything in-between — Visiting ensembles, chamber and solo recitals, cabaret, suburban venues and film:
WPAS
We don’t often get to review the numerous performances offered throughout the DC area by the venerable Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS). Frankly that’s because, in so many instances, the stellar quality of the artists whose appearances they sponsor — like Yo-Yo Ma and Renée Fleming, to name just two — tends to sell out the house without further comment being required. Also, each performance is usually a one-night stand. Nearly all of them are worthy of note, but we’ll highlight a few of the more unusual ones here.
WPAS presents Valery Gergiev and the
Mariinsky Orchestra performing Mahler's
"Symphony of a Thousand." (Photo courtesy
Mariinsky Orchestra.)
Take for example the appearance of Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra on October 19. They’ll be performing Mahler’s over-the-top Symphony No. 8, aka the “Symphony of 1000,” so named for the number of performers it allegedly requires to pull the concert off. The Russians will be assisted by the Choral Arts Society plus select soloists in this Kennedy Center concert.
The last time we heard the 8th Symphony here was with the NSO under the baton of Leonard Slatkin. (He’s now at the helm of the Detroit Symphony.) Although we’ve generally been admirers of the much-maligned Slatkin, his sloppy, uneven, disjointed Mahler 8th was neither his nor the NSO’s finest hour, probably due to gross under-rehearsal.
One might anticipate a better performance from Maestro Gergiev and the Russian ensemble, no doubt because they’ve done it many times before. In any event, the 8th, with its massive choral and orchestral forces, including extra brass and the KenCen’s mighty pipe organ, is one of classical music’s outrageous (and at times, very moving) wonders. On anticipation alone, it should be worth the ticket price. It’s expensive to mount and thus can’t be staged with any frequency. So catch it if you can.
On a lesser scale, at least size-wise, are WPAS’ more intimate chamber concerts and recitals. On October 16, pianist Ran Dank presents an eclectic program at the KenCen’s Terrace Theater, perhaps Washington’s finest room for piano and chamber recitals. The young pianist’s offerings include Scriabin’s bizarre, trilly, “Black Mass” Sonata No. 9 and additional works by Ives, Bartók, Chopin, and Liszt. Mr. Dank’s program is a genuinely an ambitious assortment of classical approaches ranging from the bombastic, to the sublime, to the ethereally weird. It’s the way a modern recital program should be.
Looking good on October 20 (assuming you’ve already recovered from the Mahler) is the appearance of exquisite pianist András Schiff (Strathmore). He’ll be performing a program of industrial-strength Schumann, whose marvelously Romantic piano and chamber works have steadily grown on this reviewer over the years.
The November 16th program of the Calder Quartet is in much the same eclectic vein, offering fewer but longer works. In addition to Beethoven’s “Serioso” Quartet in F minor, Op. 95, they’ll be bookending the master’s work with quartets by two very different composers, the iconoclastic, folkloric Hungarian, Béla Bartók and the late-impressionist Frenchman, Maurice Ravel. Their recital will take place at the historic synagogue located at 6th and I Sts. NW.
It’s impossible to touch upon more than a handful of WPAS’ numerous area offerings here. Happily, they’ve solved the problem of scope themselves this year by putting up perhaps the most dazzlingly beautiful online brochure in existence. Although it takes a minute or three to digest its navigation system, it’s well worth your time. You get the whole schedule, photographs of the artists arrayed in an exquisite design; and, frankly, a great marketing pitch for WPAS’ various series. Click the link and try out the brochure. You’ll agree it’s worth the voyage. WPAS hopes you’ll buy a few tickets, too.
PS: Their regular site is here.
Young Concert Artists Series
While we’re on the topic of recitals, let’s not forget the wonderful Young Concert Artists series (YCA). This long-running series runs on parallel tracks in New York City and Washington DC and offers recitals by up-and-coming young artists who are, well, still in “up-and-coming” status. But many of the artists formerly featured in this series, like pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and composer Daniel Kellogg, have gone on to notable careers. Others have become first chair performers in first-rate ensembles.
The main purpose of YCA is to provide their young artists – all chosen by audition – with a couple of steady concert seasons in numerous venues, highlighted by their New York and DC appearances. By gaining this kind of exposure and attention, the performers may have an easier time booking concert dates, thus getting their performance careers truly launched, which is more critical than ever in the current environment.
As a consequence, these artists play their hearts out in fiendishly difficult virtuoso compositions and their performances tend to be unbelievably good. An added bonus: ticket prices are quite inexpensive, perhaps the best value for your classical dollar in Washington.
And one more thing. If your own talented but reluctant would-be child prodigy is currently finding the soccer field more alluring, taking him or her to one of these recitals might provide just the shot of inspiration to get that next Horowitz pointed in the right direction. YCA's young artists are living proof that there’s glory and fulfillment to be found outside the soccer field or the football gridiron.
YCA Violinist Caroline Goulding. (Photo by
Andy Chiciak.)
First on tap for YCA this fall is an appearance by 17-year old violin phenom Caroline Goulding. Her ambitious October 22 program features works by Corgliano, Tartini, Beethoven, Respighi, and Stravinsky. Her appearance is co-sponsored by WPAS.
Also on the YCA schedule this year, pianist Gleb Ivanov will offer a physically taxing all-Russian program with works by Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff (December 8). All YCA concerts take place in the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater.
In Series
Scene from In Series production of WAM! last
season. (Photo courtesy In Series.)
Washington’s endearingly different In Series isn’t strictly an opera company. Actually, it’s whatever it wants to be, which sometimes makes it difficult for the media to understand, perhaps robbing the company of precious coverage. The Series’ main claim to fame is its never-ending parade of endlessly inventive classical/popular cabaret programs. Each one is different, mixing music and occasionally a superimposed plot that brings together song, poetry, and theatrics, all on a budget that’s hair-raisingly thin.
Some of the Series’ best evenings, however, have featured updates of old operatic faves and budget performances of rarely seen Spanish popular operas known as “zarzuelas.” Also notable are evenings that cluster around Latino poetry readings, often embellished, again, with dance and song. And for those not fluent in Spanish, more than enough of this material is presented in English that understanding and enjoying the programs are not a problem.
This fall, the In Series launches with something new, a pair of one act operettas originally scheduled last season but scrubbed because of monetary constraints. This double-bill of Leonard Bernstein’s almost forgotten Troubled in Tahiti and William Bolcom and Arnold Weinstein’s Casino Paradise offers two differing satirical looks at, what else, the American Family. Both Bernstein and Bolcom are known for their willingness to deploy the American vernacular in their compositions. So this poppy, jazzy program promises to be one of the most interesting fall offerings in the city. (Sept. 18-Oct. 2 at the Source).
No doubt to take advantage of the scheduled soloists for this double-bill, the Series is also offering a vocal/dramatic recital entitled “Bob and Clara and Bill and Joan.” In Series aficionados will readily guess that this event mixes the music and writings of Robert and Clara Schumann along with still-living American composer Bill Bolcom and his songstress wife, Joan Morris — for whom he penned a series of delightful jazz cabaret songs. (We heard a few of these a season or two ago at Wolf Trap’s Barns.) Bolcom is probably the finest serious unserious composer in the business these days. That promises to make this event a thoroughly enjoyable one. (Sept. 26 and Oct. 2 at the Source.)
Wolf Trap Barns Discovery Series.
The Barns, Wolf Trap’s smaller facility, is probably best known for the intimate pop and folk performances it stages throughout the year, particularly when the outdoor Filene Center is closed for the season. But if you look closely at their website, you’ll discover the Barns’ “Discovery Series” of chamber concerts, each of which is recorded for later public radio broadcast. The Series presents remarkable ensembles that offer interesting and often offbeat programs. This “Discovery” season launches with the American String Quartet. They’ll appear with guest artist and famed pianist Mahahem Pressler (October 22).
GMU Center for the Arts:
In addition to the Fairfax Symphony, and the Virginia Opera, the GMU Center for the Arts in Fairfax City boasts its own rather substantial concert program throughout the year. When the famous people show up, they don’t need much PR. Tickets will sell. But lesser-known, sometimes hard-to-categorize ensembles can be interesting, too.
Take for example, “Brooklyn Rider” (Oct. 16). Vets of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project, they explore traditional classical composers like Beethoven, Bach, and Haydn while introducing (or re-introducing) more modern fare like Philip Glass, Derek Bermel, and Osvaldo Golijov.
(See their YouTube feature below.)
Flamenco is an interesting art form, containing elements of pop and serious music alike. Audiences are most familiar with the work of flamenco guitarists, but GMU presents female jazz-flamenco style chanteuse Buika on October 30. She’s been called the “flamenco queen” and mixes traditional flamenco with jazzy, Afro-Cuban music and cabaret or “torch” songs long popular in Latin America. In Series fans who live in Northern Virginia might want to giver Buika a try.
(For a sample of Buika's unique, smoky vocal style, check out her YouTube video below.)
Clarice Smith Center
Throughout the year, the University of Maryland’s handsome Clarice Center serves as a primary venue for the talented student and faculty musicians involved with the school’s well-known and well-respected music program. These performances are generally free or inexpensive and are a godsend for suburban Marylanders on a budget.
The center does periodically offer performances by interesting guest artists, however. We try to keep our eyes peeled for them. There’s a good one coming up on September 24, called “The Gershwin Project.” It’s an ensemble of, believe it or not, Russian musicians who are into all things Gershwin, sometimes with an interesting twist. Take for example their September program which features two pianists performing the Rhapsody in Blue and Gershwin’s own piano Concerto in F. The former, intriguingly, will be performed with a smaller jazz band and will feature something we don’t often hear in this work—real improv. Hopefully, Gershwin is smiling somewhere up there in Jazz Heaven. Dekelboum Concert Hall at the Clarice Smith Center.
Opera at the Movies
WNO will continue its “Opera in the Outfield” tradition this fall. The company is a free HD simulcast of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera on the jumbo screens and sound system of Washington Nationals’ Stadium. The date and time: Sunday September 19 at 2 p.m. For details, including how to get free tickets, click here.
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for live opera transmitted in HD to a movie screen near you, there’s “Met Live at the Movies,” which kicks off its season on October 9 at 1 p.m. with a new production of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” prequel, Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold). Bryn Terfel stars, for the very first time at the Met, as Chief God, Wotan.
Also, the Met is on public radio Saturday afternoons during the season, here on WETA-FM, Washington's one and only classical station.
One final note to all of the above: Schedules, performers, and programs are always subject to revision. So be sure to check their websites for latest details.
That’s it for this installment. Happy concertgoing!
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