Cellist Camille Thomas makes her National Symphony Orchestra debut playing Elgar’s Cello Concerto under the baton of Gustavo Gimeno. In a Nov. 2-4 program that concludes with Brahms’ Fourth Symphony, the orchestra will also give the East Coast premiere of Pasajes, a work written as part of the Amplifying Voices project by Tania León. https://www.kennedy-center.org/nso/home/2023-2024/gimeno-thomas/ […]
One of the most sought-after British composers today, Belize-born Errollyn Wallen has created a new work called Dances for Orchestra, which will receive its world premiere on Nov. 2-3 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The rest of the program, conducted by Ryan Bancroft, is thoroughly American: Ives’ Three Places in New England and Copeland’s complete […]
Music director Nathalie Stutzmann will lead the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a program of Brahms rarities on Nov. 2-4. The neglected Brahms choral works are Nänie, Schicksalslied, and Gesang der Parzen. The concert continues with Rachmaninoff’s tone poem The Isle of the Dead and ends with selections from Dvořák’s fiery Slavonic Dances. https://www.aso.org/events/detail/nathalie-stutzmann-songs-of-destiny
Celebrated lutenist Thomas Dunford makes a rare New York appearance in a duo recital at Carnegie Hall with mezzo-soprano Lea DeSandre on Nov. 2. The program, titled Lettera Amorosa, includes songs, arias, and madrigals by Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Handel, and Merula. Dunford will also play some solo toccatas by Kapsberger. https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2023/11/02/lea-desandre-mezzosoprano-thomas-dunford-lute-0730pm
On Nov. 3-4 pianist Alexandra Dariescu and conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya make their Indianapolis Symphony debuts playing Nadia Boulanger’s newly discovered Fantaisie variée. https://www.indianapolissymphony.org/event/tchaikovskys-pathetique/
7 Deaths of Maria Callas, conceived by Marina Abramović, will receive its U.K. premiere Nov. 3-11 at the English National Opera. Seven powerful sopranos will recreate death scenes made famous by Callas, singing classic arias; the score also includes new music by Marko Nikodijević. Actor Willem Dafoe co-stars with singers Eri Nakamura, Elbenita Kajtazi, Nadine […]
The Metropolitan Opera explores a touchstone moment in American history with the company’s debut of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, which premiered in 1986, in a new production by Robert O’Hara. The opera, composed by Anthony Davis to a libretto by Thulani Davis, stars Will Liverman and Leah Hawkins. Performances run Nov. […]
Veterans of Carnegie Hall, the Kronos Quartet celebrates its 50th Anniversary there on Nov. 3. A vast roster of special guests will be on hand to toast this ground-breaking ensemble, including Laurie Anderson, Jake Blount, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Wu Man, the Aizuri and Attacca Quartets, and many more. https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2023/11/03/kronos-quartet-five-decades-0800pm
Bass-baritone David Wadden makes his debut with Pacific Northwest Opera on Nov. 3-12 in The Marriage of Figaro, part of PNO’s all-Mozart season. With Jonathan Khuner conducting this production by Mitchell Kahn, the cast includes Katie van Kooten as the Countess, Hallie Schmidt as Susanna, and Jeremy Harr as Figaro. https://pnopera.org/
Based on the 2007 film and the memoir that inspired it, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is an opera by Joby Talbot and librettist Gene Scheer that will receive its world premiere at the Dallas Opera Nov. 3-11. Lucas Meachem, Sasha Cooke, and Andriana Chuchman star in this production directed by Leonard Foglia. https://dallasopera.org/performance/diving-bell-and-the-butterfly/
Musicians of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal present a Tribute to Ligeti on Nov. 4, celebrating the composer’s 100th birthday. This program includes a variety of chamber works: Ramifications for strings; Kammerkonzert for 14 musicians; the Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano; and Six Bagatelles for wind quintet. https://www.osm.ca/en/concerts/tribute-to-gyorgy-ligeti/
In its Nov. 4 season opener, the San Diego Symphony, conducted by music director Rafael Payare, will present the world premiere of A Casual Walk to Distinction, by Spanish composer Juan Colomer. The orchestra, along with soloist Steven Banks will also play Billy Child’s Saxophone Concerto in the work’s West Coast premiere. Soprano Liv Redpath […]
Nov. 4 marks the world premiere of The Old Man and the Sea, a new chamber opera by Paola Prestini and Royce Vavrek. While Ernest Hemingway’s famous story is the core of this piece, Vavrek’s libretto interpolates other tales about looking back on one’s life and accomplishments. Karmina Šilec directs this production at Arizona State […]
A premiere at the Hamburg State Opera on Nov. 4-12, Handel’s Factory tells of the composers life at the height of his fame. The work uses a libretto by Christoph Klimke freely adapted from George Frideric Handel's Resurrection by Stefan Zweig. The music by Johannes Harneit (who will also conduct) is based on works of […]
As part of the California Festival, 13 members of the San Francisco Symphony will present a chamber concert on Nov. 5. Except for Brahms’ String Quartet No. 2, all the works will be from the past decade: Reena Esmail’s Saans, Samuel Adams’ Sundial, and a work called Self Portrait by SFS violinist Sarn Oliver, who […]
As part of the Sonic Spectrum series at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, five instrumentalists will offer 21st-century works on Nov. 9, including world premieres by Todd Cochran and Libby Larsen. The program also features pieces by Reena Esmail and Saad Haddad and the New York premiere of Wang Jie’s Blame the Obituary, […]
Victoria Vita Polevá is a Ukrainian composer. Her new cello concerto will receive its world premiere by its commissioning orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, on Nov. 9-12. Inbal Segev will be the soloist. Two works by Strauss—Don Juan and the Suite from Der Rosenkavalier—are also on the program, as is Terricone by fellow Ukrainian Anna Korsun. […]
The Cincinnati Symphony has co-commissioned I Want to Be Alive, a trilogy for orchestra from Icelandic composer Daníel Bjarnason. On Nov. 10-11 the CSO, directed by Gustavo Gimeno, will play its first section, “Echo/Narcissus,” which was completed in 2023. Christian Tetzlaff also joins the orchestra for Szymanowski’s Violin Concert No. 1 in a program that […]
Cutting-edge string quartet Brooklyn Rider teams up with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter to give the New York premieres of arrangements of two works by Rufus Wainwright (Trois valses anglaises and Three Songs for Lulu) plus a new arrangement by Osvaldo Golijov of selections from Schubert’s Winterreise. Schubert’s Death and the Maiden quartet anchors the […]
As part of the San Francisco Symphony’s California Festival, conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen will lead the orchestra in his own work, Kínēma, featuring clarinet soloist Carey Bell. This Nov. 11-12 program will also present the world premiere of a commission by the orchestra, Jens Ibsen’s Drowned in Light. Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements completes the program. […]
Jannik Giger is a Swiss composer and video artist. The world premiere of his Troisième œil (“Third Eye”) will be given on Nov. 11 by the Basel Chamber Orchestra at Wigmore Hall. Music director Kristian Bezuidenhout will also play the fortepiano in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9, and Alina Ibragimova will be the soloist for […]
Jeffrey Kahane, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, will conduct the world premiere of Nina C. Young’s violin concerto, Traces, on Nov. 11 and 12, with Jennifer Koh as soloist. The program opens with C.P.E. Bach’s Symphony in D, H. 663, and closes with Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony No. 3. https://www.laco.org/events/pathways/
The Ireland-based Gealán Quartet has only been around since 2021, but they’re already proving their commitment to new music by commissioning String Quartet No. 3 from fellow countryman Michael Doherty. The Gealán’s fall tour of this work includes a stop at the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Nov. 12 for a program that also […]
At the Komische Oper Berlin, the world premiere of Nils Holgersson’s Wondrous Adventures will run Nov. 12-Jan. 11. This children’s opera, with music by Elena Kats-Chernin and a libretto by Susanne Felicitas Wolf, tells the story of a boy who is shrunken by the curse of an angry gnome, provoking him to run away on […]
For the past 20 years, members of the St. Louis Symphony have participated in a series called Live at the Pulitzer. This year’s eclectic line-up of ensembles begins on Nov. 14 with string players of the SLSO playing daring and experimental works by Sky Macklay, Molly Joyce, Michael Gordon, Leilehua Lanzilotti, and Andy Akiho. Akiho’s […]
Dalia Stasevska leads the Seattle Symphony on Nov. 16-18 in a program called Nordic Passion, featuring music from Scotland and Finland. To represent the 21st century, complementing Sibelius’ venerable Symphony No. 5, electric bassist Lauri Porra will play his own concerto, Entropia. The concert opens with Nautilus by Scottish composer Anna Meridith, in a 2021 […]
In its first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera on Nov. 16-Dec. 14, Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, based on the writings of Gabriel García Márquez, will enjoy a new production by Mary Zimmerman, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Soprano Ailyn Pérez stars, along with Gabriella Reyes, Greer Grimsley, and Mattia Olivieri. https://www.metopera.org/season/2023-24-season/florencia-en-el-amazonas/
Relaunching the world premiere production from June 2023, Deutsche Oper Berlin presents Giorgio Battistelli’s Il teorema di Pasolini Nov. 16-28. Directed by Dead Centre, the opera is freely based on Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1968 novel and film Il teorema. Battistelli conducts a cast that includes Ángeles Blancas Gulin and Davide Damiani. https://deutscheoperberlin.de/en_EN/calendar/il-teorema-di-pasolini.17511836
On Nov. 17-26, Pacific Opera Project will offer two one-act operas dealing with the law. The first is Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg about the unlikely friendship between those two Supreme Court Justices. That will be followed by Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury, with a new libretto by POP’s artistic director, Josh Shaw. https://www.pacificoperaproject.com/scalia-ginsburg-trial-by-jury
Prepare for a night of wildness during the San Diego Symphony’s Nov. 17-18 program. Rafael Payare will conduct a line-up of high-energy music, including Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 7, and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (complete). The orchestra will also present the world premiere of Danse Macabre by Russian-Ukranian composer Vladimir Tarnopolsky. https://jacobsmusiccenter.org/archives/events/stravinskys-rite-of-spring
Juraj Valčuha, music director of the Houston Symphony, will lead his orchestra in the U.S. premiere of Pretty by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Julia Wolfe on Nov. 17-19. Two works by Ravel are included: his Piano Concerto in G, featuring Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and La valse. Bartók’s rousing Dance Suite, inspired by musical traditions from his native […]
The LA Opera takes an operatic look at two of the most fascinating figures of the visual arts when they present Gabriela Lena Frank’s El Último Sueño de Frida & Diego (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego) Nov. 18-Dec. 9. Daniela Mack and Alfredo Daza play the two title roles, while Lina González-Granados conducts. […]
On Nov. 18, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra will play a 2022 work by their current composer in residence, Miguel del Aguila. His Concierto con brio will feature oboist Nancy Ambrose King and clarinetist Ryan King. Music director Matthew Kraemer conducts this concert, which also includes works by Saint-Saëns and Ibert. https://www.icomusic.org/concerts/suite-brilliance/
Staatsoper Berlin will present a new production of Charpentier’s Médée conceived by legendary director Peter Sellars. Simon Rattle conducts, and Magdalena Kožená stars in the title role, with Reinoud Van Mechelen as Jason and Luca Tittoto as Creon. The production runs Nov. 19-Dec. 2. https://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en/veranstaltungen/medee.12155/#event-68663
The Philharmonia Orchestra will present the European premiere of highlights from Wayne Shorter’s Iphegenia on Nov. 19, in a program dedicated to the late saxophonist and composer’s symphonic works. With Clark Rundell on the podium, an ensemble of jazz masters will assist the orchestra: saxophonist Ravi Coltrane (son of the legendary John Coltrane), Esperanza Spalding […]
The 19th-century Parisian composer Louise Farrenc has finally been gaining the reputation she deserves. On Nov. 19, in a program called Quintet Odyssey, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will play her Quintet in A minor, Op. 30. Alongside works by Dvořák, the CMS has programmed John Corigliano’s Soliloquy for clarinet and string quartet. […]
Sarah Gibson was commissioned to write to make this mountain taller by a 30-orchestra consortium under the aegis of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. When the Pittsburgh Symphony plays it Nov. 24-26, it will be only the work’s second performance (the first was with the Sarasota Symphony in the spring of 2023). This program, conducted […]
Mezzo-soprano Catriona Morison and baritone Christian Immler will sing the words of Franz Kafka on Nov. 24, joining the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the U.K. premiere of the Prague Sinfonie, a “song symphony” by Detlev Glanert. Conductor Semyon Bychkov will lead Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in the second half of the program. https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/eznv9r
As part of its spotlight on British-born and Berlin-based composer Rebecca Saunders, the Elbphilharmonie will present Yes, her setting of Molly Bloom’s closing monolog from James Joyce’s Ulysses. Enno Poppe conducts the 19-member Ensemble Musikfabrik in this Nov. 24 program. https://www.elbphilharmonie.de/en/whats-on/saunders-yes-ensemble-musikfabrik/20267
Wigmore Hall is celebrating “Laurence Osborn Day” over the course of three short concerts on Nov. 25, including two world premieres and a London premiere by Osborn. The Britten Sinfonia will alternate between works by C.P.E. Bach and Osbourne; the Marian Consort will present his compositions surrounded by pieces from the 16th century; and the […]
Violinist Daniel Hope and pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips will perform the U.K. premiere of Jake Heggie’s Fantasy Suite 1803, a work inspired by Beethoven’s 1803 residency at the Theater an der Wien. Also on the Nov. 27 program are an Impromptu by Enescu and Dvořák’s Sonatina, Op. 100. https://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/202311271300
John Williams composed Five Sacred Trees for the New York Philharmonic’s 150th anniversary in 1995. This cinematic piece for orchestra and solo bassoon will be performed on Nov. 30 and Dec. 2 by the Atlanta Symphony with soloist Andrew Brady, formerly the ASO’s principal bassoonist. Guest conductor Anthony Parnther will also lead the orchestra in […]
When the Cleveland Orchestra programmed Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 for its Nov. 30-Dec. 2 program, they also co-commissioned a work specifically to precede it on the concert. Ces belles années (These Beautiful Years) is the result, a piece by French-born American composer Betsy Jolas that will be receiving its U.S. premiere. Daniel Harding conducts; Lauren […]
With a libretto by Leonard Foglia (who also directs) and music by Javier Martinez, the mariachi opera El Milagro del Recuerdo (The Miracle of Remembering) is a prequel to 2013’s Cruzar la Cara de la Luna. The San Diego Opera production, running Dec. 1-3, will feature mezzo-sopranos Claudia Chapa and Sishel Claverie and baritone Héctor Vásquez, who […]
Rafael Payare is the guest conductor Dec. 1-3 for the Philadelphia Orchestra’s U.S. premiere of Ephemerae, a concerto for piano and orchestra by Peruvian composer Jimmy López Bellido. The soloist will be Javier Perianes, from Spain. Celebrated for his interpretations of Mahler, Payare will also conduct that composer’s First Symphony. https://www.philorch.org/performances/our-season/events-and-tickets/2023-2024-season/verizon-hall/mahlers-symphony-no-1/
Rachel Podger will be both soloist and director for the London premiere of Chad Kelly’s new arrangement of Bach’s Goldberg Variations for chamber orchestra. The new instrumentation was inspired by the many ways Bach’s Musical Offering has been reimagined. Brecon Baroque presents the work on Dec. 3 at the London Chamber Music Society. https://www.londonchambermusic.org.uk/concert/brecon-baroque-and-rachel-podger-violin-director/
