From Ballo to Balanchine, 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:
American Ballet Theater will kick off their fall season October 18 at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, with a program of “Classics Old and New.” The program will include Piano Concerto No. 1, choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky to the piano concerto by Shostakovich; Petite Mort, choreographed by Jiří Kylián to music from two of Mozart’s piano concertos; and Études, choreographed by Harald Landler to music by Carl Czerny.
ABT’s second fall season program, “20th Century Works: Balanchine and Ashton,” will start performances October 21, and include George Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial, and Frederick Ashton’s The Dream. Ballet Imperial is choreographed to Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and was first staged in 1941 as a tribute to the Russian ballet tradition. The Dream tells the story of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, using Mendelssohn’s incidental music written for the play. Later this season, New York City Ballet will present Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a full-length ballet using the Mendelssohn incidental music, supplemented with additional music by Mendelssohn.
Un Ballo in Maschera returns to the stage of the Met this week for the first time since 2015. Verdi’s opera, about the assassination of King Gustave III of Sweden, stars tenor Charles Castronovo as the King, baritone Quinn Kelsey as the King’s friend and adviser Count Anckarström, and soprano Angela Meade as the Count’s wife Amelia, with whom the King is having an affair. The love triangle leads to tragic events which come to a head at a masked ball where a team of conspirators are plotting to assassinate the King. Soprano Liv Redpath and mezzo-soprano Olesya Petrova round out the cast as the King’s page Oscar, and the fortune teller Ulrica. David Alden’s film noir-inspired production features scenic design by Paul Steinberg, costume design by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, and lighting design by Adam Silverman.
Performances also continue at the Met this week of La Bohème and Dead Man Walking. Dead Man Walking’s run will conclude October 21, which performance will also be broadcast live to cinemas around the world, kicking off the Met’s 2023-24 Live in HD season.
Pianist Yefim Bronfman joins the New York Philharmonic October 19-21 for the New York premiere of a new piano concerto by Elena Firsova. The concert will also Ligeti’s Mifiso la sodo and Concert Românesc, as well as Serenade No. 1 by Brahms. David Robertson conducts.
Carnegie Hall will host performances this week from the Australian Haydn Ensemble (October 16), pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason (October 17), the The Philadelphia Orchestra (October 17), the Belcea Quartet (October 19), pianist Khatia Buniatishvili (October 19), the Sphinx Virtuosi (October 20), pianist Alexandre Kantorow (October 20), and more.
Cellist Jay Campbell and pianist Conor Hanick will perform at the 92nd Street Y October 20, where they will present the world premiere of Reticulárea from Marcos Balter’s Three Enigmas. They will also perform Kerning from Three Enigmas, which they premiered in 2020, along with sonatas by Debussy and Poulenc.
The Galvin Cello Quartet will perform at the Kaufman Music Center October 20, giving a program of works by Vivaldi, Forino, Wagner, Piazzola, Gershwin, Gabriela Lena Frank, and David Popper, as well as a new commissioned work by Zhou Tian.
To stay up to date with classic arts news, subscribe to Playbill's classic arts newsletter.
