From threepenny operas to multi-million dollar productions, the classic arts scene in New York is never quiet. Here is just a sampling of some of the classic arts events happening this week:
New York City Ballet鈥檚 Winter season kicks off January 23 with a tribute to Jerome Robbins. The program, running through February 3, features three works by the company鈥檚 co-founding choreographer: Fancy Free, In The Night, and The Four Seasons. The Four Seasons is the ballet scene from Verdi's opera Les v锚pres siciliennes, as the convention of French grand opera at the time dictated that there be a ballet in the third act. For this standalone ballet performance, Robbins supplemented the original Four Seasons ballet with additional ballet music from the French versions of I Lombardi and Il Trovatore, both Italian operas for the French premieres of which Verdi added ballet scenes. In the Night is set to a selection of Nocturnes by Chopin. Fancy Free, Robbins' first ballet, was a collaboration with Leonard Bernstein, and follows three sailors on shore leave in Manhattan. Robbins and Bernstein later expanded the idea of the ballet into the musical On the Town.
NYCB will also present a second program this week, running January 25 through February 3, featuring Christopher Wheeldon鈥檚 Polyphonia, set to a selection of music Gy枚rgy Ligeti; Peter Martins鈥� Barber Violin Concerto, set to the violin concerto by Samuel Barber; and Justin Peck鈥檚 The Times Are Racing, set to from the album America by Dan Deacon.
The Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble will perform music from 鈥淭he Golden Twenties鈥� at Carnegie Hall January 22. The pairing of classical and modernism is a theme in the program, which will include two of Schoenberg鈥檚 arrangements of waltzes by Johann Strauss Jr., as well as Hindemith鈥檚 humorous arrangement of the 鈥淥verture to The Flying Dutchman as Played by Bad Spa Orchestra at 7 AM by the Well.鈥� Hindemith鈥檚 Kammermusik No. 1, and music from Weill and Brecht鈥檚 The Threepenny Opera complete the program.
Weill will be well-represented at Carnegie Hall this week, as January 23, the Philadelphia Orchestra visits to play the composer鈥檚 second symphony. Conducted by Yannick N茅zet-S茅guin, the all-20th-century program will also include Stravinsky鈥檚 笔茅迟谤辞耻肠丑办补, and Gershwin鈥檚 Rhapsody in Blue, in a celebration of the work鈥檚 centennial.
Carnegie Hall will also host performances this week from the American Symphony Orchestra, performing Dvo艡谩k鈥檚 Requiem with soloists Leah Hawkins, Lindsay Ammann, Joshua Blue, and Stefan Egerstrom; pianist Behzod Abduraimov; and the Orpheus chamber ensemble, performing Chopin鈥檚 first piano concerto with soloist Nobuyuki Tsujii.
The New York Philharmonic will perform Vertigo in concert January 23-26. The Hitchcock film starring James Stewart and Kim Novak will be shown while the orchestra, led by conductor Norman Huynh, plays Bernard Herrmann鈥檚 score live alongside it.
The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra performs at the 92nd Street Y January 25, led by music director Richard Egarr, and featuring countertenor Reginald Mobley. The program includes several works by Handel (selections from operas and two concertos grosso), as well as the New York premieres of works by Errollyn Wallen and Tarik O鈥橰egan.
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will present a concert of Elgar and Vaughan Williams January 25. Pianist Shai Wosner, violinist Arnaud Sussmann, violist Paul Neubauer, cellist Nicholas Canellakis, and bassist Blake Hinson will play Elgar鈥檚 Sonata in E minor for Violin and Piano, and Vaughan Williams鈥� Quintet in C minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Double Bass.
The Metropolitan Opera鈥檚 winter season concludes this week with more performances of Verdi鈥檚 Nabucco, Puccini鈥檚 Madama Butterfly, and Bizet鈥檚 Carmen, the latter two of which will return to the Met stage this spring.
To stay up to date with classic arts news, subscribe to 半岛体育's classic arts newsletter.
