From Mozart to Mahler, 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.
Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) returns to the Met for the first time since 2017, the longest absence of the opera buffa staple from the Met stage since a six-year gap between February 1976 and 1982. This also marks the return of Rossini to the Met since a run of Semiramide in 2018. Il Barbiere di Siviglia is based on the first of a trilogy of plays by Pierre Beaumarchais following the comic antics of the barber Figaro, the Count Almaviva, and the Countess Rosina. Barbiere tells the story of how the Count and Countess met and eloped, with Figaro assisting in helping Rosina escape the eye of her guardian Doctor Bartolo. The Met has assembled an all-star cast, led by Rossini superstars Isabel Leonard and Lawrence Brownlee as Rosina and the Count, reprising their acclaimed portrayals from a set of performances at the Met in 2014. Baritone Davide Luciano plays Figaro, with baritone Nicola Alaimo as Bartolo.
Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) also continues performances at the Met this week. Although the opera was written before Barbiere, Nozze is based on the second play in Beaumarchais’ trilogy, about Figaro’s approaching marriage to the Countess’ maid Susanna, and the Count and Countess’ increasingly strained marriage. Though written independently of each other, some 40 years apart and by different composers, Barbiere and Nozze are often considered a set, and this week audiences at the Met will have the opportunity to take in both on consecutive days. Le Nozze di Figaro stars bass-baritone Michael Sumuel as Figaro, soprano Olga Kulchynska as Susanna, baritone Joshua Hopkins as the Count, and soprano Federica Lombardi as the Countess.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin will lead the Philadelphia Orchestra in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 at Carnegie Hall April 15. Nicknamed the “Tragic” Symphony, the approximately 80-minute work calls for an exceptionally large orchestra augmented with some instruments not often found in symphony orchestras, such as cowbells, and, in the final movement, a giant hammer.
The Dover String Quartet will be joined by harpist Bridget Kibbey, clarinettist Romie de Guise-Langlois, and percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Rose Studio April 17 for a concert of contemporary music. The program will include the New York premiere of two Chamber Music Society co-commissions: A work by Pierre Jalbert for Clarinet and String Quartet, and a work by Sebastian Currier for Harp and String Quartet. The program will be completed by two works for Percussion and String Quartet by Andy Akiho and Samuel Carl Adams.
Pegasus: the Orchestra will perform an America-themed program at the Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall April 19. Karén Hakobyan will conduct the concert, which will open with the world premiere of Nicholas Gawley’s Appalachia, a Pegasus commission. Pianist Asiya Korepanova will then join the orchestra for Amy Beach’s Piano Concerto in C sharp minor, and the program will conclude with Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.”
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