In a program called Spanish Reflections, the Toronto Symphony will give two North American premieres on Feb. 28-29. The first is Francisco Coll’s Ciudad sin sueño: Fantasia for Piano and Orchestra, featuring Javier Perianes. The other is Coll’s orchestration of Falla’s piano work Fantasia Baetica. The program concludes with two suites from Falla’s The Three-Cornered […]
On Feb. 29-March 1, Long Yu will conduct the New York Philharmonic orchestra and chorus in the U.S. premiere of Émigré, a semi-staged oratorio by Aaron Zigman and Mark Campbell about Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai to escape the Holocaust. The work was co-commission by the NY Phil and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Soloists […]
Ireland’s National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Wilson, will present the European premiere of Ligeia, a trombone concerto by Joe Chindamo, with Peter Moore as soloist. The March 1 program will also include Holst’s The Planets. https://bit.ly/3tAbDoI
It is rare to hear a performance of Franz Schmidt’s 1938 religious oratorio, The Book with Seals. Dallas Symphony patrons will get that chance when Fabio Luisi conducts the work on March 1-3. Soloists will include tenor Paul Appleby, soprano Meghan Kasanders, mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, and bass Hadleigh Adams. https://www.dallassymphony.org/productions/the-book-with-seven-seals/
Alexander Scriabin’s symphonic poem Prometheus, The Poem of Fire celebrates synesthesia and cosmic unity. San Francisco Symphony music mirector Esa-Pekka Salonen has partnered with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Cartier in-house perfumer Mathilde Laurent to create a multisensory production of Prometheus that aims to realize Scriabin’s vision of a truly synesthetic work of art. March 1-3. https://www.sfsymphony.org/Discover-the-Music/Prometheus
Directed by Barrie Kosky, Komische Oper Berlin’s new production of Handel’s Hercules demonstrates that oratorios can, in fact, be staged. Mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy sings the lead role of Dejanira, long-suffering wife of Hercules (March 3-April 5). https://www.komische-oper-berlin.de/en/what/a-z/hercules/
Pieces that take their inspiration from world folk musics is the theme for the March 3 concert from the San Antonio Chamber Music Society. The Jupiter String Quartet will play Su Lian Tan’s Life in Wayang, selections from Wynton Marsalis’ Quartet No. 1, At the Octoroon Balls, and Dvořák: String Quartet No. 14 in A-flat Major, […]
On March 3 the London Symphony Orchestra will present the world premiere of John Adams’ Frenzy. Simon Rattle conducts this all-American program, which includes Roy Harris’ Symphony No. 3 and Gershwin’s Piano Concerto, featuring Kirill Gerstein. https://www.lso.co.uk/whats-on/sir-simon-rattle-listening-to-america/
Szymanovski’s little-known ballet Harnasie will be performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra on March 6, with plenty of room onstage for Wayne McGregor’s vision, described as digitally enhanced, cross-arts choreographic storytelling. To add to the evening’s excitement, there will be a world premiere of a new work by the LPO’s composer-in-residence, Tania León. Edward Gardner […]
Mary Kay Fink is the Cleveland Orchestra’s principal piccolo. The orchestra commissioned a piece to show off her skills as a soloist, Oded Zehavi’s Aurora, which will receive its world premiere on March 7-9 under the baton of Fabio Luisi. The program opens with the overture to Weber’s opera Oberon and concludes with Brahms’ lush […]
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate is a Chickasaw composer. His work Pisachi (meaning “reveal” in Chickasaw) was originally a string quartet that pays tribute to the music of the Hopi and Pueblo peoples. On March 7-9, Elim Chan will lead the New York Philharmonic in the world premiere of the orchestral version of this piece. Cellist Sol Gabetta […]
Lyric Opera of Orange County celebrates the 100th anniversary of Ethel Smyth’s Fête galante with a production directed by Diana Farrell, calling it “a debaucherous dance-dream.” This story thrusts familiar commedia dell’arte characters into the psyche of the 20th century. Performances March 8-10. https://lyricoperaoc.org/
Conrad Tao will be the guest artist with the Cincinnati Symphony for the world premiere of a new piano concerto by inti figgis-vizueta, a New York-based composer known for taking inspiration from her blended background of Black, Irish, and Andean cultures. The March 8-10 concert also includes Copland’s Suite from Appalachian Spring and Schumann’s Symphony […]
Throughout the 2023-34 season, the San Francisco Symphony will present its SoundBox series, curated by four musicians on each of four weekends. The small Soundbox space is designed to allow for multi-sensory, interactive experiences. Expect the unexpected. Get ready to see musical experiments in action. The details of the SoundBox programs remain under wraps, but […]
Deutsche Oper Berlin will present a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades March 9-27. Director Sam Brown, making his DOB debut, focuses on the unanswerable questions in the libretto. Sebastian Weigle conduct. Martin Muehle is Hermann and Sondra Radvanovsky sings Lisa. https://deutscheoperberlin.de/en_EN/calendar/pikowaja-dama-queen-of-spades.17512194
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Winter Festival 2024 celebrates string quartets. Among the most exciting of the scheduled programs is the chance on March 10 to hear the Escher String Quartet play all six of Bartók’s works for that configuration. This glorious marathon is expected to last over three hours. https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/our-concerts/at-lincoln-center/events/escher-string-quartet/
On March 12, the American Composers Orchestra will present two world premieres: a piece for mezzo-soprano and orchestra by John Glover and a new work by Tonia Ko. Called America in Weimar: On the Margins, the program also includes the New York premiere of Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate’s Lowak Shoppala' – Clans as well as pieces by […]
2024 is the centenary of the birth of composer Luigi Nono, and the Elbphilarmonie has put together a festival running March 13-15. First up is Quatuor Diotima playing Nona’s Fragmente – Stille along with Beethoven’s Op. 132. On the second night, SWR Experimentalstudio presents Nona’s Quando stanno morendo for women’s voices, flute, cello, and live […]
The Tanglewood Festival Chorus and cellist Blaise Déjardin join the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the American premiere of The Dong with the Luminous Nose. This work by Elena Langer was a BSO co-commission. The program, conducted by Mark Elder, also includes Ravel’s complete Mother Goose, Dvořák’s symphonic poem The Noonday Witch, and Janáček’s Sinfonietta. March […]
Recently named the next music director of Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä is making his Carnegie Hall debut on March 16, conducting an all-Stravinsky program with the Orchestre de Paris. On the docket are two complete ballets: The Firebird and The Rite of Spring. https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2024/03/16/orchestre-de-paris-0800pm
A program by the London Philharmonic Orchestra called The Gift of Youth on March 16 will include the world premiere of Daniel Kidane’s Violin Concerto. It will feature Julia Fischer, for whom it was written. Principal conductor Edward Gardner takes the podium for this concert, which also includes Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with sopranos […]
Indianapolis Opera blends jazz into the genre with Charlie Parker’s Yardbird on March 16. Telling a dramatic New York scene from the life story one of the greatest saxophone players of all time, Daniel Schnyder and Bridgette A. Wimberly’s work will feature Martin Bakari as “Bird” and Angela Brown as his mother. https://www.indyopera.org/yardbird.html
Music director Stéphane Denève leads the St. Louis Symphony on March 16-17 in an evening of dance music, some of which will, in fact, be danced to. With Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite as familiar bookends, the program’s focus is a new work by Adam Schoenberg, which will feature movement […]
In a special program called The Wonders We Carry Inside, Iranian-American composer Gity Razaz will curate a collection of music for the spring equinox, honoring the mystical beauty of Persian culture and the power of women to shape history both past and present. Razaz will be joined by members of the San Diego Symphony for […]
Quatuor Van Kuijk, from France, makes their Carnegie Hall debut on March 21 with the U.S. premiere of the jazz-inspired Ces messieurs by fellow Frenchman Baptiste Trotignon. The concert opens intensely, with Beethoven’s late quartet, Op. 131 in C-sharp minor. Several works by Fauré and Satie are also on the program. https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2024/03/21/quatuor-van-kuijk-0730pm
The 2023-24 season marks the inaugural year of Jonathon Heyward as music director of the Baltimore Symphony. One of the promising highlights of his debut season is the programming of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 on March 21-24. There are few works that so thoroughly test what a conductor is made of. https://my.bsomusic.org/overview/18298
French composer Guillaum Connesson has named his new organ concerto Concerto da Requiem, and it will receive its American premiere on March 21-23. Organist Christian Schmitt will present the work with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton on Paavo Järvi. The program opens with Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and concludes with […]
The New York Philharmonic has commissioned a new work by Atlanta-based composer Joel Thompson. The world premiere, conducted by music director Jaap van Zweden, will take place March 21-24. Tan Dun’s Trombone Concerto, subtitled Three Muses in Video Game and inspired by three ancient Chinese instruments, will receive its New York premiere with soloist Joseph […]
When Federico García Lorca wrote the play Don Perlimplín's Love for Belisa in His Garden, he composed the incidental music for the 1933 premiere himself. Many composers since then have attempted to turn the play into an opera; Oper Frankfurt is presenting Wolfgang Fortner’s version from 1962. The new production—the first time the work has […]
On March 22, Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the world premiere of Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder by performing the cantata at Carnegie Hall. The ASO has a special connection to this work because its founder, Leopold Stokowski, conducted the American premiere with the Philadelphia Orchestra. https://americansymphony.org/concerts/schoenberg-gurre-lieder/
The St. Louis Symphony co-commissioned Julia Wolfe’s Pretty, a work that has been described as “raucous and raw,” making the listener consider what the word “pretty” really means. On March 22-23, SLSO will have its chance to play the piece under music director Stéphane Denève. The program opens with Berlioz’s Overture to Beatrice and Benedict. […]
As part of its Bach Fest, the Milwaukee Symphony welcomes two renowned Baroque artists: Mahan Esfahani will play the Harpsichord Concerto in A major, and Rachell Ellen Wong will play the Violin Concerto in A minor. Ken-David Masur conducts this March 23-24 program that also includes the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and the Magnificat, featuring […]
In an unusual collaboration of live music and visual art on March 24, musicians of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will premiere a new instrumentation of Holst’s The Planets for organ, brass, and percussion under the baton of Thomas Le Duc-Moreau. Taking inspiration from the music being played, five cartoonists will draw extemporaneously, marking the […]
Anna Clyne’s new Piano Concerto will receive its world premiere with the Dallas Symphony and soloist Jeremy Denk on March 28-30. The concert, conducted by music director Fabio Luisi, offers a powerful pairing for the Clyne: Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. https://www.dallassymphony.org/productions/mahler-symphony-no-5/
On March 28-30, 2024, Domingo Hindoyan conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a BSO co-commission, the American premiere of Symphony No. 6 by Grammy-winning composer Roberto Sierra. Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto is also scheduled, with Pablo Ferrández as soloist. The program is rounded out with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7. https://www.bso.org/events/sierra-elgar-dvorak
Pianist Yuja Wang debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra on March 29-30, playing Bartók’s Second Piano Concerto. The program, conducted by Hannu Lintu opens with Saariaho’s Ciel d’hiver and closes with Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 https://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/tickets/calendar/classical/yuja-wang-plays-bartok/
