From Aragon to Granada, the classic arts scene in New York is never quiet. Here is just a sampling of some of the classic arts events happening this week:
This week, the Metropolitan Opera performs two different operas about poets caught in the midst of a Spanish civil war. On the classic side, Il Trovatore will return to the Met stage for the first time since 2018, closing its longest absence from the Met stage since a six-year gap between February 2003 and February 2009, and the longest gap in between performances of Il Trovatore in Met history. Verdi’s melodramatic masterpiece, and origin of the famous “Anvil Chorus,” stars tenor Michael Fabiano as the titular troubadour Manrico, baritone Igor Golovatenko as the Count di Luna, and soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen as Leonora. Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton plays the pivotal role of Azucena, Manrico’s mother, who holds a terrible secret that could change everything. Meanwhile, Golijov’s Ainadamar, which opened last week, and concerns the life of poet Federico García Lorca, who was arrested and executed by the Falange during the Spanish Civil War, some five centuries after the one depicted in Il Trovatore.
American Ballet Theatre will have its fall gala October 23, as the centerpiece of its fall season at the David H. Koch Theatre. The gala will feature a one-time-only program performed by ABT Principal Dancers, as well as young dancers from the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and ABT Studio Company. The fall season will then continue, with a “Signature Works” program starting performances October 26. The program will include Natalia Markova’s The Kingdom of the Shades, after Petipa’s staging of Ludwig Minkus’ La Bayadère; Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s Great Galloping Gottschalk pas de deux; Alexei Ratmansky’s Neo; George Balanchine’s Sylvia Pas de Deux; and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room.
The Richard Tucker Foundation will have its annual gala concert at Carnegie Hall October 27. The concert will feature performances from Richard Tucker Award winners including Nadine Sierra, Jamie Barton, Stephanie Blythe, J’Nai Bridges, Stephen Costello, Michael Fabiano, Ryan Speedo Green, Quinn Kelsey, and Rachel Willis-Sørensen, with pianists Bryan Wagorn and Howard Watkins.
Carnegie Hall presents a Concert for the Children and Youth of Ukraine October 23. Christopher Eschenbach will conduct the Orchestra for Ukraine, which includes artists from more than a dozen countries. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter will join the ensemble to perform John Williams’ Theme from Schindler’s List, and the program will conclude with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, featuring soprano Olga Kulchynska, mezzo-soprano Emily D'Angelo, tenor Matthew Polenzani, bass-baritone Vladyslav Buialskyi. The program will also include the national anthem of Ukraine, and Valentyn Silvestrov’s Prayer for Ukraine.
Carnegie Hall will also host performances this week from pianist Yulianna Avdeeva (October 22); soprano Lisette Oropesa with pianist Ken Noda (October 23); The Knights (October 24); pianist Nduduzo Makhathini (October 25); Abel Selaocoe and the Bantu Ensemble (October 26); Ensemble Connect (October 27); and Jason Robert Brown with members of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (October 25).
Clarinettist Anthony McGill joins the New York Philharmonic October 23-25 to perform Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, one of the last pieces the composer completed before his death. Raphael Payare conducts the program, which also includes Sofia Gubaidulina’s Fairytale Poem and Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Symphony.
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents the Calidore String Quartet giving the first installment of their Beethoven Quartet Cycle at Alice Tully Hall October 22, comprising the composer’s first three String Quartets. The second concert in the cycle, featuring quartets four, five, and six, will take place October 27. The Society will also present a concert of Beethoven, Corigliano, and Brahms October 25, featuring Beethoven’s Trio in C minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Brahms’ Quartet No. 1 in G minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, and Corigliano Poem in October, featuring tenor Paul Appleby.
Pulitzer and Grammy-winning composer Caroline Shaw returns to the 92nd Street Y with chamber ensemble Sō Percussion with music from their new album Rectangles and Circumstance, based on words by Emily Dickinson, William Blake, Gertrude Stein, and others. Soprano Alicia Olatuja will also appear to perform Shaw’s 2017 work Narrow Sea, with texts drawn from The Sacred Harp.
Sergio Bernal, former Principal Dancer of the Ballet Nacional de España, comes to the Joyce Theater this week to perform three nights of A Night with Sergio Bernal, as well as two matinees. Created by Bernal and choreographer Ricardo Cue, the program “melds the bravado and speed of Spanish flamenco with the grace and precision of ballet.”
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