What concerts are you looking forward to? (Part II)

[brewski]

Tomorrow night at 7:30 (Eastern), this livestream, broadast on this page. (Will not be archived.)

Juilliard Orchestra
David Robertson, Conductor
Angeline Ma, Piano

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7
John Adams: Doctor Atomic Symphony

[Brian]

Sunday afternoon:

Glinka - Ruslan and Ludmila overture
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 2 "Ukrainian" (sort of)
Stravinsky - The Firebird suite, 1947 version

Dallas Symphony
Fabio Luisi

Does it strike you as an odd program? Maybe a little short or light or soloist-free? That's because Stravinsky himself conducted this exact program with this orchestra in the late 1940s, and Fabio decided to replicate it as a little historical tribute.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Tonight Yuja Wang at Carnegie Hall. What will she play? More important, what will she wear?

[(poco) Sforzando]

Tomorrow night at 7:30 (Eastern), this livestream, broadast on this page. (Will not be archived.)

Juilliard Orchestra
David Robertson, Conductor
Angeline Ma, Piano

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7
John Adams: Doctor Atomic Symphony

I might have gone, but I was seeing Yunchan Lim at Carnegie. Good but not outstanding.

[brewski]

Tomorrow, my first encounter with Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, thanks to the Curtis Opera Theatre. Have been listening to the classic 1967 recording (with Britten conducting) to get a sense of it, and so far, very impressed.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Tomorrow, my first encounter with Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, thanks to the Curtis Opera Theatre. Have been listening to the classic 1967 recording (with Britten conducting) to get a sense of it, and so far, very impressed.

Love that opera.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Next live event on Sunday May 3: Puccini's Trittico in concert, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. (Who next season also conducts the complete Ring cycle in concert.)

[KevinP]

Not looking forward to this, but only because it was yesterday.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Next live event on Sunday May 3: Puccini's Trittico in concert, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. (Who next season also conducts the complete Ring cycle in concert.)

Waiting for Gianni Schicchi to wrap up the afternoon. From my 5th row center parquet seat, this is turning into a fabulous event.

[KevinP]

I am looking forward to this one though, in two days' time.

The NZSQ

Mika Cornelius Universal Veil
Schubert No. 10, in E flat major
Gareth Farr Mondo Rondo
Missy Mazzoli Death Valley Junction
Benjamin Britten String Quartet No. 1

[brewski]

On Friday at 2:00 pm (ET), this livestream below. Stasevska is a big champion of the Lutosławski, and last year did it in Philadelphia, also followed by La Valse.

Mazzoli: Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres)
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major
Lutosławski: Symphony No. 4
Ravel: La valse

Frankfurt Radio Symphony
Bertrand Chamayou, piano
Dalia Stasevska, conductor

[Florestan]

Tonight Yuja Wang at Carnegie Hall. What will she play? More important, what will she wear?

Well?

[brewski]

Also coming up, during a very full weekend, this lineup featuring the orchestra's principal bassist. Also looking forward to the Mozart, which I probably haven't heard in 30 years (live or recorded), and the Hindemith, which doesn't show up that often.

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Naomi Woo, conductor
Joseph Conyers, bass

Mozart: Overture to Così fan tutte
Tan Dun: Contrabass Concerto: Wolf Totem (2014)
Shaw: Entr'acte, for string orchestra (2011-14)
Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances
Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber

[(poco) Sforzando]

Well?

Keeping you in suspense 

[Florestan]

Keeping you in suspense 

Naughty, naughty! 

[Wanderer]

Yesterday and tomorrow, Carmen at the Greek National Opera.

Don José

Charles Castronovo (5/5/2026)

Andrea Carè (7/5/2026)

Carmen
Gaëlle Arquez

Εscamillo

Dionysios Sourbis (5/5/2026)

Nikos Kotenidis (7/5/2026)

Zuniga

Yannis Selitsaniotis (5/5/2026)

Georgios Papadimitriou (7/5/2026)

Moralès

Georgios Iatrou (5/5/2026)

Sotiris Triantis (7/5/2026)

Micaëla

Vassiliki Karayanni (5/5/2026)

Maria Mitsopoulou (7/5/2026)

Frasquita

Chrissa Maliamani (5/5/2026)

Matina Tsaroucha (7/5/2026)

Mercédès

Chrysanthi Spitadi (5/5/2026)

Diamanti Kritsotaki (7/5/2026)

El Dancaϊrο 

Haris Andrianos (5/5/2026)

Marios Sarantidis (7/5/2026)

Εl Remendado

Yannis Kalyvas (5/5/2026)

Andreas Karaoulis (7/5/2026)

Conductor: Konstantinos Terzakis
Stage direction: Romain Gilbert
Sets: Antoine Fontaine
Costumes: Christian Lacroix
Lighting: Hervé Gary
Lighting revival: Stéphane Le Bel
Choreography: Vincent Chaillet
Chorus master: Agathangelos Georgakatos
Children's chorus mistress: Konstantina Pitsiakou

With the Orchestra, Chorus, and Children's Chorus of the Greek National Opera


The production is a recreation of the 1875 Parisian premiere of the work and, unsurprisingly, it works much better than any other modern staging I've seen - especially compared to the avant-garde ones, where one often has to fight against all the extraneous directorial conceptual noise to reach the work. Here, everything clicked.

Superb singing and acting by Arquez and Castronovo, everyone else at an excellent level (Karayianni stood out in particular). The children's chorus was an absolute delight - wonderful singing and great stage presence. Looking forward to the second performance tomorrow night.

[brewski]

Yesterday and tomorrow, Carmen at the Greek National Opera.

...

Looking forward to the second performance tomorrow night.

This production looks like a fascinating artifact of its time. Bravo to the GNO for going to the trouble of recreating it. As an aside, I often wonder why opera companies don't revive productions from the past, especially if the sets haven't been destroyed.

Also, good for you, going more than once. I fully affirm attending any opera or concert multiple times, if it's something you like. After all, then it's gone, and who knows when it will return.

[Brian]

I got to interview the director of that Carmen when that exact recreation-production was here in Dallas. (It premiered in Paris with Bru Zane.) They were actually afraid that people would hate it! They see this as an experiment to find out whether today's audiences will still enjoy the style of opera production. Suffice to say the question has been answered. 

Much more detail about that production at this link.

[JBS]

This production looks like a fascinating artifact of its time. Bravo to the GNO for going to the trouble of recreating it. As an aside, I often wonder why opera companies don't revive productions from the past, especially if the sets haven't been destroyed.

Also, good for you, going more than once. I fully affirm attending any opera or concert multiple times, if it's something you like. After all, then it's gone, and who knows when it will return.

Probably because the sets have been destroyed. The Metropolitan Opera has a dedicated warehouse, but even that can fill up fast. And costumes must need a redo on a regular basis even if only light tailoring to fit the new singer is needed.  If an opera isn't done that often, it's probably simpler and cheaper to do it from scratch, especially if a new production is being shared with other opera companies.

[brewski]

I got to interview the director of that Carmen when that exact recreation-production was here in Dallas. (It premiered in Paris with Bru Zane.) They were actually afraid that people would hate it! They see this as an experiment to find out whether today's audiences will still enjoy the style of opera production. Suffice to say the question has been answered. 

Much more detail about that production at this link.

Brian, thanks for weighing in with that great article! Really engrossing in many ways, from the lighting issues, to Marina Viotti's "best metal" Grammy.

Probably because the sets have been destroyed. The Metropolitan Opera has a dedicated warehouse, but even that can fill up fast. And costumes must need a redo on a regular basis even if only light tailoring to fit the new singer is needed.  If an opera isn't done that often, it's probably simpler and cheaper to do it from scratch, especially if a new production is being shared with other opera companies.

And of course, this makes sense. Part of me longs for the chance to see productions from the past, especially if highly praised. But then, ephemerality is a given in this art form.