From accordion to xylophone, 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:
Ahead of the start of the 2023-24 season, the Metropolitan Opera’s annual Summer HD Festival kicks off August 25 with a screening of the 1987 romantic comedy film Moonstruck, directed by Norman Jewison, and starring Cher. Per the New York Times, the Met is in talks with composer Ricky Ian Gordon to create an opera based on the movie, with the film's original screenwriter John Patrick Shanley returning as librettist.
The Summer HD Festival will then continue through September 4 with daily free screenings in Lincoln Center Plaza of operas from the Met’s catalog. August 26 will see this past season’s broadcast of Michael Mayer’s production of Verdi’s La Traviata starring Nadine Sierra, Stephen Costello, and Luca Salsi. The opera on view August 27 will be Cherubini’s Medea, in its first-ever Met Opera production, directed by David McVicar, which opened the 2022-23 season, starring Sondra Radvanovsky and Matthew Polenzani.
Hear Accordions Around the World at Bryant Park August 25. This year’s festival features Diana Burco's Colombian vallenato, Finland’s Suistamon Sähkö, and the Ragini Ensemble in partnership with Brooklyn Raga Massive.
August 26, Fathom Events will present Renée Fleming's Cities that Sing: Paris, broadcast to cinemas around the country. Directed by Directed by Francois-Rene Martin, the film follows the star soprano as she “explores the City of Lights through its music and culture.” It will be followed in September by Renée Fleming's Cities that Sing: Venice.
BargeMusic presets two concerts this weekend. August 25, cellist Benjamin Capps and pianist Doris Stevenson perform works by Debussy, Messiaen, Shostakovich, Schumann, and Rachmaninoff. August 26 and 27, violinist Mark Peskanov, cellist Edward Arron, and pianist Jeewon Park before trios by Mendelssohn and Beethoven.
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