From Romeo and Juliet as an opera to Romeo and Juliet as a ballet, 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:
Bartlett Sher鈥檚 production of Rom茅o et Juliette returns to the stage of the Metropolitan Opera March 7. Yannick N茅zet-S茅guin conducts Gounod鈥檚 operatic adaptation of the Shakespeare play, with soprano Nadine Sierra as Juliette and tenor Benjamin Bernheim making his Met debut as Rom茅o. They are joined by mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey as St茅phano, baritone Will Liverman as Mercutio, tenor Frederick Ballentine as Tybalt, mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti as Gertrude, and bass-baritone Alfred Walker as Fr猫re Laurent. This marks a full-circle moment for Walker, who made his Met debut in 1998 in the same opera, playing the role of Gr茅gorio.
Gounod is far from the only composer to have been inspired by Shakespeare鈥檚 beloved tragedy. Prokofiev鈥檚 ballet Romeo and Juliet is a staple of both ballet companies and concert orchestras, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra will perform selections from it at Carnegie Hall March 9. The concert will also include Arvo P盲rt鈥檚 Swansong, and Mozart鈥檚 Piano Concerto No. 9, with soloist Daniil Trifonov. Lahav Shani will conduct.
Carnegie Hall will also host performances this week from baritone Justin Austin and pianist Howard Watkins (March 5), the Camerata Ireland with soprano Celine Byrne and flautist Eimear McGeown (March 5), the Hagen Quartet (March 6), and pianist Igor Levit (March 7).
Yannick N茅zet-S茅guin will pull double duty this week, as he will lead the Orchestre M茅tropolitain de Montr茅al, one of three institutions, along with the Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra, of which he is the Music Director, in a concert at Carnegie Hall March 6. The concert will include Sibelius鈥� Symphony No. 2, Rachmaninoff鈥檚 Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Tony Siqi Yun, and the New York premiere of Cris Derksen鈥檚 Controlled Burn, with the composer on the cello.
More cello can be heard this week at Lincoln Center鈥檚 David Geffen Hall, as cellist Sol Gabetta joins conductor Elim Chan and the New York Philharmonic for Martin暖鈥檚 Cello Concerto No. 1, March 7-9. The concert will also include a brand-new orchestral arrangement of Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate鈥檚 Pisachi (originally for string quartet), and Rimsky-Korsakov鈥檚 symphonic suite Scheherezade.
The Flamenco Festival is returning to New York City Center, beginning with the National Ballet of Spain. The company will perform Rub茅n Olmo鈥檚 Invocacion March 8-10.
continues with performances by the Quartetto di Cremona and the Escher String Quartet at Alice Tully Hall. March 8, the Quartetto di Cremona will perform Shostakovich鈥檚 Quartet No. 8, Golijov鈥檚 Tenebrae for String Quartet, and Schubert鈥檚 鈥淒eath and the Maiden鈥� Quartet. March 10, the Escher String Quartet will perform the complete cycle of six string quartets by B茅la Bart贸k.
Make it a trio of quartets with the Castalian String Quartet performing at the 92nd Street Y March 8, with pianist Stephen Hough. The group will perform Hough鈥檚 own String Quartet No. 1, Haydn鈥檚 String Quartet No. 6, and Brahms鈥� Piano Quintet in F minor.
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