From Grammy-winning string quartets to Oscar-winning film scores, 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:
Film composer John Williams will lead the New York Philharmonic’s Spring Gala concert April 25, conducting excerpts from some of his most beloved film scores, including Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List. Williams’ frequent collaborator Steven Spielberg will present some of the scores from their films together.
April 27-29, violinist Christian Tetzlaff will perform with the NY Philharmonic, presenting a program comprising concertos by Brahms and Lutosławski, as well as Zosha Di Castri’s Lineage. On April 29, Zosha Di Castri herself will curate an evening of Nightcap, the Philharmonic’s cabaret-style series of music and conversation in the new Kenneth C. Griffin Sidewalk Studio in the newly renovated David Geffen Hall.
At the Metropolitan Opera this week, performances continue of La Bohème, L’Elisir d’Amore, and Champion. April 27 will see the return of Sonja Frisell’s production of Aida to the Met stage, for the last time before Frisell’s 1988 staging is replaced by a new production, directed by Michael Mayer, in the 2024-25 season.
Saturday, April 29, Terence Blanchard’s Champion will be broadcast to movie theaters worldwide as part of the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series. There will be an encore broadcast May 3. The opera, which opened at the Met April 10, is about the life of welterweight boxing champion Emile Griffith, and stars Ryan Speedo Green and Eric Owens as Griffith at different stages of his life.
April 28, the Regina Carter Quintet, led by jazz violinist Regina Carter, will present Gone in a Phrase of Air at the 92nd Street Y. The concert is “an exploration of the impact of urban renewal on African American and immigrant communities beginning in the 1950s, and the displacement that resulted—of people and of culture—from neighborhoods in Carter’s hometown of Detroit to others in St. Louis, Chicago, New York City, and more.”
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is at Carnegie Hall this week. Cellist Gautier Capuçon will join them April 24 to perform the New York premiere of Thierry Escaich’s Les Chants de l'aube, Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, in a program which will also include works by Ravel and Rachmaninoff. The orchestra will be joined by violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and soprano Golda Schultz April 25 for a program comprising works by Mozart, Sibelius, and Thomas Adès. Both programs are conducted by BSO music director Andris Nelsons.
Additional performers at Carnegie Hall this week include Emanuel Ax, Imani Winds, the Jerusalem Quartet, the Verona Quartet, Les Arts Florissants, violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte with harpsichordist William Christie, and the Cecilia Chorus of New York.
April 30 will be Carnegie Hall’s Spring Fest Family Day, featuring interactive and educational musical activities recommended for children ages 3-10. Activities will include sing-alongs, instrument building, and an exploratory “sound playground,” all themed around the season of spring.
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will present two programs. April 27, there will be a program of works by Beethoven, Rachmaninov, and Price performed at the Rose Studio. April 30, the Emerson String Quartet will perform works by Brahms, Dvorak, and Mendelssohn at Alice Tully Hall.
The New York City Ballet continues performances this week of All Balanchine and Balanchine + Robbins programs. A Balanchine + Ratmansky program will start performances April 25, and run though May 7, featuring George Balanchine’s La Source, choreographed to music by Delbes, and Alexei Ratmansky’s Namouna, A Grand Divertissement, choreographed to music by Lalo. Ratmansky will join the NYCB next season as Artist in Residence.
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