From Adams to Zemlinsky, 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.
The Metropolitan Opera’s 2024-25 season concludes this week with final performances of Puccini’s La Boheme, Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, and John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra. The Met will be back in the fall with Mason Bates’ The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, but in the meantime, there will be no shortage of operas to see in New York.
The Little Opera Theatre of New York presents Zemlinsky's Zimmer | Zemlinsky's Room at the Brooklyn Academy of Music June 5-8. Described as "a chamber opera in three parts," the work features music by Alexander Zemlinsky, including his one-act opera A Florentine Tragedy. The performance will feature new chamber orchestrations by Roland Freisitzer, conducted by Tiffany Chang. The production is directed by Philip Shneidman.
The American Symphony Orchestra will present a concert performance of Guntram, the first opera by Richard Strauss, at Carnegie Hall June 6, with the Bar Festival Chorale. A relatively early work by the 29-year-old Strauss, Guntram is composed in a strongly Romantic style, before the composer started incorporating the elements of modernism that would be typical of his later operas. Leon Botstein conducts the performance, which stars tenor John Matthew Myers as the singer Guntram, baritone Alexander Birch Elliott as Duke Robert, soprano Angela Meade as Robert’s wife Freihild, and bass-baritone Kevin Short as Freihild’s father the Old Duke. Mezzo-soprano Katharine Goeldner, tenors Rodell Rosel and Bernard Holcomb, and bass-baritone Christopher Job complete the principal cast.
The New York Philharmonic will perform its annual series of Concerts in the Parks this week, led by incoming Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel. From June 4-8, the orchestra will offer free concerts in parks in all five boroughs, performing Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, the Allegro maestoso from Arturo Sandoval’s Trumpet Concerto No. 2 (with the composer as soloist), Gonzalo Grau’s Odisea: Concerto for Venezuelan Cuatro and Orchestra, and selections from Stravinsky’s Firebird.
The Orchestra of St. Luke’s annual Bach festival kicks off June 3 at Carnegie Hall with a program of Vivaldi and Bach. The orchestra, conducted by Lional Meunier, will be joined by soprano Gemma Nha and countertenor Reginald Mobley to perform Vivaldi’s “Nulla in mundo pax sincera” and “Nisi Dominus”, as well as Bach’s Psalm 51: "Tilge, Höchster, Meine Sünden"
The New England Symphonic Ensemble will give two concerts at Carnegie Hall June 7. The matinee concert, beginning with Rossini’s Overture to La Scala di Seta, will include Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with soloist Davide Alogna, as well as Fauré’s Requiem and “Cantique de Jean Racine”; and Mozart’s “Coronation” Mass and “Regina coeli.” The evening concert will begin with Piazzola’s Concerto for Bandoneón and Orchestra, with soloist Juanjo Mosalini, and also include additional works by Piazzola, as well as Bach’s “Magnificat” and Mozart’s “Vesperae solennes de confessore.”
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