From E.T. to E.T.A. Hoffmann, 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.
Sutton Foster joins the New York Philharmonic for a Spring Gala concert May 6. Conductor Michael Rafter will make his NY Philharmonic debut leading a concert of Broadway favorites. May 7-9, the Philharmonic will present the music of John Williams, with David Newman conducting a program of selections from John Williams’ film scores.
New York City Ballet also has their Spring Gala this week, May 8, with a performance of George Balanchine’s Vienna Waltzes. Fifty dancers take the stage in a lavish 45-minute suite of waltzes by Johann Strauss II, Franz Lehár, and Richard Strauss. Then, continuing through May 11, there will be three more performances of Vienna Waltzes, paired with Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15, set to the work by Mozart.
Violinist Ann-Sophie Mutter will play at Carnegie Hall May 6, joined by pianist Yefim Bronfman and cellist Pablo Ferrández for piano trios by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. Carnegie Hall will also host performances this week from violinist Blake Pouliot with pianist Henry Kramer (May 8); Ensemble Connect (May 9); and the Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble, who will play rarely-heard string quartets by Puccini and Verdi (May 11).
The Oratorio Society of New York will present the world premiere of composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell’s All Shall Rise at Carnegie Hall May 5. The OSNY commission, which explores the topic of voting rights in the United States, will be performed alongside Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang. Soprano Susanna Phillips, mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford, tenor Jonathan Pierce Rhodes, and baritone Steven Eddy join as soloists.
At the Metropolitan Opera, performances continue of Richard Strauss’ Salome, which opened last week in a new production directed by Claus Guth. Following her acclaimed performance in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten earlier this season, soprano Elza van den Heever returns to star as Salome, the Princess of Judea, who courts disaster when she becomes smitten with the prophet Jochanaan, who is being held prisoner by her father King Herod. Baritone Peter Mattei plays Jochanaan, with tenor Gerhard Siegal as Herod, mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as the Queen Herodias, and tenor Piotr Buszewski as the guard Narraboth. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.
The Calidore String Quartet continue their Beethoven Quartet cycle with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center May 9 at Alice Tully Hall. This week, the performance will comprise Beethoven’s Quartet in A minor, Opt 132; and the Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130, with the famous “Grosse Fuge”, which was originally written as a finale for the quartet, but, deemed too complex to be commercial, was separated and published as a standalone work. The Chamber Music Society will also present a concert of Elgar’s string quintet, along with cello and violin sonatas by Beethoven and Brahms, May 6.
To stay up to date with classic arts news, subscribe to Playbill's classic arts newsletter.
