Week of Events
‘Marx In London!’ UK Premiere
Roland Wood stars as Karl Marx in the U.K. premiere of the comic opera Marx in London! at Scottish Opera. The production, which covers Marx’s time in London in 1871 will be staged in Glasgow on Feb. 13-17 before moving to Edinburgh Feb. 22-24. Conducted by Stephen Barlow and designed by Yannis Thavoris. https://www.scottishopera.org.uk/shows/marx-in-london/
Ukrainian Piano Duet Gets US Premiere
Leonid Desyatnikov is a Ukrainian composer born in 1955. His piano duet Trompe-l'œil will receive its U.S. premiere at a Carnegie Hall recital by pianists Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy on Feb. 13. The duo will also play Stravinsky’s four-handed arrangement of The Rite of Spring and Schubert’s Fantasia in F minor, D. 940. https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2024/02/13/pavel-kolesnikov-piano-samson-tsoy-piano-0730pm
Eun Sun Kim makes OSM debut
Eun Sun Kim, music director of the San Francisco Opera, makes her debut with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Feb. 15-17. She will conduct Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition as well as two works featuring pianist Louis Lortie: Mozart’s Rondo, K. 382, and Fauré’s Ballade, Op. 19. https://www.osm.ca/en/concerts/mozart-and-faure-with-louis-lortie-and-eun-sun-kim/
Carlos Simon Hosts New Works Program
Composer Carlos Simon will curate an evening of new and recent works on Feb. 15, 17 with the Atlanta Symphony. Besides Simon’s own Motherboxx Connection and brea(d)th, the program includes Uzee Brown’s We Shall Overcome and other works to be announced. Among the scheduled guests are performance artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph, soprano Kearstin Piper Brown, […]
‘Sleepless City’ Premieres in London
Bookended by two Stravinsky works, the London Philharmonic’s Feb. 16 program includes the world premiere of Ciudad sin Sueño, a fantasia for piano and orchestra (featuring Javier Perianes) by Spanish composer Francisco Coll. Under the baton of Gustavo Gimeno, the evening prolongs the Iberian vibe with Villa Lobos’ Nights in the Gardens of Spain. https://lpo.org.uk/event/colour-and-fantasy/
Ortiz ‘Altar’ Reaches West Coast
On Feb. 16-17, music director Rafael Payare will lead the San Diego Symphony in two works by Ravel—Le tombeau de Couperin and La valse—and one by Debussy—Images—as well Gabriela Ortiz’s Altar de bronce. The Ortiz, a co-commission by the SDS, will feature guest trumpeter Pacho Flores. This will be the work’s West-Coast premiere. https://jacobsmusiccenter.org/archives/events/ravel-debussy-and-ortiz/
A Composer Known For Her Inventiveness
The San Francisco Chronicle has described 32-year-old composer Katherine Balch as “some kind of Thomas Edison” because of the complexity and inventiveness evident in her pieces. The Pittsburgh Symphony has commissioned a new work from her, which will receive its world premiere on Feb. 16-18 in a program conducted by Manfred Honeck. Shostakovich’s First Cello […]
New Opera ‘Beta’ Warns of Digital Risk
New Opera ‘Beta’ Warns of Digital Risk
Beta, a world premiere by Deutsche Oper Berlin running Feb. 17-March 2, is investigative music theater exploring not only the potential of digital tools but also the risks inherent in the relinquishing of private data. The opera is by Christiane Mudra (libretto, research, and stage direction and Dariya Maminova (music) and will incorporate CGI and VFX […]
