From Gluck to Gubaidulina, 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.
Outgoing New York Philharmonic Music Director Jaap van Zweden leads the orchestra in performances of Mozart’s Requiem May 23-25, with an additional performance next week on May 28. The monumental work, left incomplete at the time of the composer’s death, will be performed with Musica Sacra, and soloists Amanda Forsythe, Cecelia Hall, Nicholas Phan, and Michael Sumuel. The Requiem will be preceded by a performance of Sofia Gubaidulina’s viola concerto, with soloist Antoine Tamestit.
Members of 11 dance companies will come together at City Center May 20 for Dance Against Cancer, an annual one-night performance to benefit the American Cancer Society. The companies featured will include the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Hispánico, and more. Performers will include Ayodele Casel, Irene Rodriguez, and students from the National Dance Institute and LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts.
The Metropolitan Opera will have this season’s final performances of Bizet’s Carmen May 22 and 25. Mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine stars as Carmen alongside soprano Ailyn Pérez, tenor Michael Fabiano, and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green. Performances also continue at the Met this week of Kevin Puts’ The Hours, starring sopranos Renée Fleming and Kelli O’Hara and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, starring sopranos Ying Fang and Elena Villalón, and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo.
New York City Ballet continues performances this week of two contemporary programs, featuring the work of NYCB Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, alongside works by Ulysses Dove, Gianna Reisen, Pam Tanowitz, Christopher Wheeldon, William Forsythe, and Kyle Abraham. These programs are part of NYCB’s spring season themed around celebrating the future of the company on the occasion of their 75th anniversary.
The David Virelles Nosotros Ensemble performs at Carnegie Hall May 21, giving the world premiere of Virelles’ Ọrọ, a Carnegie Hall commission. The work “explores pulses, cycles, and tonalities inspired by the rhythmic language and counterpoint of the three ritual batá drums.” The program also includes works by Henry Threadgill, Val-Inc, and Carnegie Hall’s Debs Composer’s Chair for the 2023-24 season, Tania León.
Early music ensemble Twelfth Night performs at Carnegie Hall May 23 with soprano Julie Roset and mezzo-soprano Xenia Puskarz Thomas in a concert of operatic and instrumental excerpts from Baroque composers including Vivaldi, Handel, Rameau, and more.
Carnegie Hall will also host performances this week from pianist Evgeny Kissin, who will give a recital of Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, and Prokofiev May 24, and the Sejong Soloists, who will give the second and final performance of their Spring festival May 22.
The Limón Dance Company will have their spring 2024 gala May 21, honoring Linda Murray and Lourdes Lopez. The evening will include a celebratory dinner and awards ceremony, a special performance by Limón4Kids, and a performance of José Limón’s Missa Brevis, set to the choral work by Zoltan Kodaly.
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