It’s the start of a brand-new year in dance, opera, concert music, and more! Here is just a sampling of some of the classic arts events happening this week:
The Metropolitan Opera’s annual New Year’s Eve Gala performance launched a new production of Bizet’s Carmen, which runs through January. The production is helmed by English director Carrie Cracknell, making her Met debut. Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina, who made her Met debut last year as Maddalena in Rigoletto, stars in the title role, alongside tenor Piotr Beczala as Don José. Soprano Angel Blue and bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen round out the cast as, respectively, Micaëla and Escamillo. Daniele Rustioni conducts Bizet’s score, which contains many of opera’s most enduring and iconic tunes.
This month also sees the return of Verdi’s Nabucco and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly to the stage of the Met. For Nabucco’s second run of the season, the full principal cast from earlier this season will return, including George Gagnidze as the King Nabucco; soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska and mezzo-soprano Maria Barakova as his daughters Abigaile and Fenena; bass Dmitry Belosselskiy as the priest Zaccaria; and tenor SeokJong Baek as Ismaele. Daniele Callegari conducts. Meanwhile, in Madama Butterfly, conductor Xian Zhang makes her Met debut leading a cast including soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong, tenor Matthew Polenzani, and baritone Davide Luciano.
Pianist Rudolf Buchbinder will join the New York Philharmonic January 4–7 for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. The concert, led by NN Philharmonic music director Jaap van Zweden, will also include Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 and the prelude to Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
The New England Symphonic Ensemble comes to Carnegie Hall this week for a performance of Beethoven’s 9th symphony. Peter Tiboris conducts the symphony, featuring the iconic “Ode to Joy.” The concert will also feature an appearance by John Rutter, conducting his own Magnificat. Soprano Juliet Ariadne Papadopoulos, soprano Eilana Lappalainen, mezzo-soprano Reveka Mavrovitis, tenor Abraham Bretón, and bass Philip Skinner will be the soloists.
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