From Mozart to Massenet, 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.
Heartbeat Opera's new English adaptation of Jules Massenet's Manon, titled Manon!, begins performances January 27 at The Space at Irondale, with an official opening January 29. Written by Jacob Ashworth and Rory Pelsue, the musical theatre-infused adaptation includes new musical arrangements by Dan Schlosberg, and features a cast of Broadway and opera crossover artists, including Emma Grimsley as Manon, Matt Dengler as the Chevalier de Grieux, Jamari Darling as Lescaut, and Justin Lee Miller as the Comte de Grieux.
Amore Opera's production of The Magic Flute runs this week through February 1 at the Connelly Theater. Conducted by Eric Kramer and directed by Martin Everall, the production of Mozart's classic fairy-tale opera features four rotating casts mixing and matching in various combinations, so no two performances are quite the same.
New York City Ballet presents the world premiere of Justin Peck's latest ballet, titled The Wind-Up, January 29. The 26th work created by Peck for NYCB, the piece is set to the first movement of Beethoven's Eroica symphony, and features costume design by Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung. The Wind-Up will premiere on a program which also features George Balanchine's Walpurgisnacht Ballet, set to the often-cut ballet scene from Charles Gounod's opera Faust; August Bournoville's Flower Festival in Genzano Pas de Deux, set to an excerpt from the ballet by Edvard Helsted and Holger Simon Paulli; and Jerome Robbins' Opus 19/The Dreamer, set to Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1.
Violinist María Dueñas will perform Beethoven's Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic in four concerts January 29-February 1 at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall. Manfred Honeck will conduct the program which will also feature a suite of music from Richard Strauss' opera Elektra, as arranged by Honeck and orchestrated by Thomas Ille.
Conductor Leon Botstein will lead the American Symphony Orchestra and the Bard Festival Chorale in a concert titled Forging an American Musical Identity January 30 at Carnegie Hall. The program will include Dudley Buck's Festival Overture, based on the melody of "The Star-Spangled Banner"; Richard Wagner's American Centennial March, which was commissioned for the Declaration of Independence's centennial celebration in 1876; three spirituals arranged by Harry T. Burleigh and performed by mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges, tenor Freddie Ballentine, and bass Allan Williams; and George Birstow's Symphony No. 5, "Niagara."
Carnegie Hall will also host performances this week from pianist Leif Ove Andsnes (January 27); soprano Axelle Fanyo with pianist Julius Drake (January 28); bass-baritone Davóne Tines with early music band Ruckus (January 30); and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with violinist Stella Chen (January 31).
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents two concerts this week. January 26, a string quintet comprising violinists Julian Rhee and Danbi Um, violist Paul Neubauer, and cellists Nicholas Canellakis and Jonathen Swensen will perform classical-era works by Luigi Boccherini and Jean Barrière, as well as Alfredo d'Ambrosio's Suite for Strings. On February 1, soprano Adriana Chuchman will join the Sitkovetsky trio and additional instrumentalists for an all-Shostakovich program, including a chamber arrangement of the composer's fifteenth symphony.
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