Usually, it鈥檚 the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year鈥檚 Day that find Lincoln Center鈥檚 always bustling campus鈥攃rowded with visitors from around the world attending world-class music, theatre, and dance events鈥攂ecoming even more festive by hosting dozens of delightful holiday performances.
And this year, the season gets off to an early start鈥攖he Big Apple Circus鈥� Hometown Playground touches down November 8 under the big tent in Damrosch Park, where variety acts from around the world, a company of local dancers, live musicians, and even rescued poodles from shelters across America (known as Abuhadba Poodles) will reside until January 5.
Much-loved perennials on the Lincoln Center campus include the Metropolitan Opera鈥檚 annual presentation of the abridged, English-language version of Mozart鈥檚 The Magic Flute, which returns in Julie Taymor鈥檚 sumptuous and lionized production (December 12鈥揓anuary 4). The opera鈥檚 17 performances will be conducted alternately by Juilliard School alum Nimrod David Pfeffer and J. David Jackson, while another Juilliard alum, Will Liverman, will be featured as the opera鈥檚 hero, Papageno.
Of course, it wouldn鈥檛 be the Christmas season without New York City Ballet鈥檚 George Balanchine鈥檚 The Nutcracker, which has been part of the company鈥檚 repertoire for more than seven decades. Tchaikovsky鈥檚 marvelous music blends with Balanchine鈥檚 wondrous staging for an all-ages delight at the David H. Koch Theater from November 29 to January 5. City Ballet鈥檚 dazzling production features its entire roster of more than 150 dancers and musicians with alternating casts that include more than 100 children from Lincoln Center鈥檚 own School of American Ballet鈥攖here鈥檚 even an onstage snowstorm!
The home of the New York Philharmonic, David Geffen Hall hosts the usual enticing array of holiday programming. As always, there鈥檚 Handel鈥檚 glorious Messiah, Presented by Gary W. Parr (December 11鈥�14). It鈥檚 led this year by Baroque specialist Ton Koopman; the vocal soloists will be soprano Maya Kherani, countertenor Maarten Engeltjes, tenor Kieran White, and bass-baritone Klaus Mertens; and the chorus Musica Sacra, under director Kent Tritle, will raise the roof. Also returning to Geffen Hall is another presentation in the Phil鈥檚 hugely popular The Art of the Score series: this time it鈥檚 the 2003 classic movie Elf, starring Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel, and Bob Newhart. Conductor Justin Freer leads the orchestra in John Debney鈥檚 score as the film is shown onscreen (December 19-22).
New this year at the Philharmonic is Sounds of the Season, two matinee concerts (December 14 and 15) in which the orchestra鈥檚 musicians will be led by American conductor and arranger Jeff Tyzik in a veritable feast for the ears that runs the gamut from beloved standards to enticing samplings from other holiday traditions.
Now in its 35th year, Jazz at Lincoln Center鈥檚 annual Big Band Holidays (Rose Theater, December 18-22) features the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis putting the swing into the yuletide鈥檚 most memorable music, along with Juilliard alums Ekep Nkwelle and Robbie Lee as guest vocalists.
At Alice Tully Hall, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center hosts its annual Baroque Festival, which opens with a concert of J.S. Bach concertos (December 6). This is followed by Baroque Organ (December 8 and 10), in which organist Paolo Bordignon and the hall鈥檚 powerful 4,200-pipe organ take center stage in music by Baroque masters including Bach, Handel, and Telemann. Then there鈥檚 Bach鈥檚 complete Brandenburg Concertos (December 13, 15, and 17), which are performed by 20 of the best chamber musicians around.
Rounding out this year鈥檚 seasonal programming is the New York premiere of poor hymnal, the latest work by composer David Lang, one of the masterminds of the Bang on a Can collective. Written for the award-winning chamber choir The Crossing and led by conductor Donald Nally, poor hymnal hearkens back to Lang鈥檚 earlier seasonal work, the Pulitzer prize-winning the little match girl passion (Alice Tully Hall, December 21).
