#Trifonov Plays Brahms

[russian-dallas]

Календарь культурных событий Большого Далласа с 31 декабря по 23 января

Календарь культурных событий Большого Далласа с 31 декабря по 23 января

Симфонический оркестр Далласа представляет празднование Нового года (Dallas Symphony presents New Year’s Eve) Симфонический оркестр Далласа представляет 31 декабря, начиная с 7.30 вечера, празднование Нового года. В классической программе — вальсы Штрауса, в неформальной — танцы и веселье с диджеем DJ Souljah. А также шампанское, множество мест для фотографирования, изысканно одетая публика — все…

[olenijprazdnik]

ВЕЛИКОЕ ИСПОЛНЕНИЕ чаконы Баха!!!

Daniil Trifonov plays Bach-Brahms: Chaconne in D Minor for the Left Hand

[theloniousbach]

COUCH TOUR: DANIEL TRIFONOV, 92nd STREET Y, 13 APRIL 2021

I was on the fence about this recital as the program was largely not in my wheelhouse (Debussy’s piano works are not very popular in the home despite my interest; Prokofiev is only a very recognizable name; and Brahms is often unwieldy) even though Daniel Trifonov is heralded as a generational talent.

Virtuosity is cool, so the enthusiasm of a pianist who answers my persistent questions was enough to melt my hesitancy. I won’t hare after any of these works, but I hope to see Trifonov again soon. He has the kind of touch and taste that I value in my pantheon of jazz players. He can play the rumbles and the required bombast but finds the music not just the effect. Similarly, he has all the technique that is breathtaking to watch and hear, but it’s a means not an end. And, best of all, he finds the spaces in the quiet even as a very physical player.

He wore an untucked long sleeve white shirt which suggested unusually long arms and hands. In the final Sarcasm (okay, give Prokofiev credit for that title), those hands almost strummed the keys perpendicularly brushing the notes. In the one before it, his left elbow jutted at an odd angle to coax the notes. But, on the whole and despite the name, the Prokofiev didn’t inspire me to get to know him better.

Pour Le Piano’s Sarabande in the middle was gentle and pensive, but the Prelude was flashy including crossed hands and Gershwin-y and the Toccata was big. There’s other Debussy I like better and more than enough to put on for myself despite the domestic alienation.

The Brahms Sonata No. 3 in F Minor probably deserves a bit more attention. It’s young Brahms with some bombast but also some quite striking quiet and thoughtful moments. I noted his touch in the treble in the first movement and a real caress of the chords in the second.

Still it turned out, as I guessed, that I was there for the performer not the program. But I��m very glad I was there.

[lindsay36ho]

Alexandre Kantorow Wins Tchaikovsky Competition

The 16th International Tchaikovsky Competition concluded at night on June 27, naming the winners across its six categories. In the piano category the Gold Medal went to the French pianist Alexandre Kantorow.

Notably, Kantorow was the only finalist playing Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto and not the ever popular First. Hear his performance of this work and Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in the Final Round at medici.tv

Alexandre Kantorow in the middle section of Fauré’s Nocturne no. 6, opus 63 from the second round of the competition:

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The young French pianist recently released a much-praised album of Saint-Saëns piano concertos for the BIS label. BIS started to record with him already five years ago and surely must be very proud over this collaboration.

”Kantorow is the real deal – a fire-breathing virtuoso with a poetic charm…” — Gramophone, June 2019

An Unexpected Special Prize Awarded

The jury led by Denis Matsuev awarded two Silver Medals and three Bronze medals (see full list of prize winners) but this year’s competition will also be remembered by a significant administrational blunder. The Chinese pianist Tianxu An was awarded fourth place and a “Special Prize for courage and restraint” for his ability to handle the orchestra’s mix-up of Tchaikovsky First Concerto and the Rachmaninov Paganini Rhapsody. See his confusion in this short video clip.

The official explanation of the incident: “Due to a gross error committed by an employee of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra “Evgeny Svetlanov” on June 25, 2019, before the Competition performance of An Tianxu, the musical scores by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff for the orchestra and the conductor were arranged in a reverse order which differed from the pattern requested by the participant. In this connection, the performance began with a failure, because the participant was unable to immediately understand what had happened, and switched to another musical piece already during the performance. By a unanimous decision of the Jury, Denis Matsuev, the Jury Chair in the Piano category, officially invited An Tianxu to re-play his program. The participant officially refused.”

The Tchaikovsky Piano Competition is held every four years in Moscow, and is considered one of the more prestigious competitions in the world, alongside other events like the Van Cliburn Competition (Texas) the Leeds Competition, The Chopin Competition (Warsaw), The Queen Elisabeth Competition (Brussels) and the Arthur Rubinstein Competition (Tel-Aviv).

Recent winners of the Tchaikovsky competition included Daniil Trifonov (2011) and Dmitry Masleev (2015).

All performances of the 2019 competition are available at: tch16.medici.tv/en/replay/

from Piano Street’s Classical Piano News https://www.pianostreet.com/blog/piano-news/alexandre-kantorow-wins-tchaikovsky-competition-9928/

[un-nmd]

Recent listening—

I was at two concerts recently, both with Sir Andrew Davis conducting the MSO at Hamer Hall. The following were performed in the afternoon of 11/3/17:

Paul Stanhope, The Heavens Declare (1999) A 20th century composition both literally and stylistically, and for other labels try perhaps: post-minimalist, neo-tonal, Stravinskian. Hear shades of Britten too in the harmonic quality—which is unmistakably betrays its modernity just as most contemporary works do (most often you can pick it straight away though the difference is ineffable—and is this change loss? Did music break, music as Brahms, Strauss, Mahler knew it, somewhere between 1910 and 1960?) But the work, yes, what is it like? There are periods of clarity and periods of broadness. In the former there is very little cantabile phrasing; e.g. the choir uttering each syllable isolate, staccato, unpredictably syncopated, recalling Oedipus Rex. And this usually above what seemed to be rapid meter changes plus more rhythmic complexity in the orchestra—could have been describing The Rite here but know that Stanhope’s ode to the cosmos never was jagged or particularly percussive. Neither did it indulge very much in dissonance of any kind (dodecaphonic, Bartókian, Wagnerian). And early cross-rhythm I was so eager to relate to Igor ended up in textures such as you would find in, instead, Adams. (However the shimmering harmonies towards the close did gave shades of The Firebird finale.) Formwise it didn’t give much away after my one and only hearing though it does set a sectioned text, in Latin (”a medium not dead but turned to stone”). And now overall lots to be heard in this; a composition of assured skill that does not resort to German angst or intellectual esotericism in order to prove its worth.

Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 7 (1905) Tenor horn cracked its opening note in an opening phrase that was unexpectedly legato as Sir Andrew Davis begun the Langsam slightly quicker than what is typical—but the former was soon forgotten and the latter was soon reconciled as the mastery of all involved (including of course Mahler) took hold and never let up. Most astonishing were the note-perfect solos of the principal horn—such accuracy in such exposed lines is almost superhuman. The section tuttis were equally fine (bells up on numerous occasions). The horn writing itself is one of the primary reasons Mahler 7 (or really any Mahler) remains a concert favourite, with the triumphant finale being another. As always with Mahler it is triumph well-earned, owing to the length of the work, and yet while knowing that they contribute to this effect I still don’t know what to make of the middle movements. Are they genuinely frivolous or ironically so? The latter option is the obvious and accepted answer for the Ländler of the 9th but for the 7th’s central trio the question remains open.

And these last three were performed on the evening of 17/3/17:

Richard Strauss, Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (1895) Definitive early Strauss this; exuberant, virtuosic, thrilling and likewise a fitting rendition last night, a perfect opener with a perfect opening from principal horn, and on that, well played by the whole section (many a difficult figure sounding with impressive precision which actually clarifies how challenging the parts really are). In general Strauss comes alive (or let me qualify with: even more so) in concert due to the intricacy of the writing; plenty to miss in a one-dimensional playback—however in the concert hall there’s a visual element that helps with the complexity, e.g. you can tell for sure whether a certain line was played by cor anglais or oboe just by looking, or horn vs. trombone, or contrabassoon vs. bass, or when strings contrapuntally divide you can literally see the movements of each of the parts, or when a percussionist picks up cymbals and the entire brass section lifts mouthpiece to embouchure you prepare your ears for something massive, and so on.

Sergei Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor (1891) With soloist Daniil Trifonov. There’s a logical difference between the actual performances of piano concertos and the recordings thereof which I didn’t expect or prepare for: heard live in a large concert venue the piano sounds so much smaller than the orchestra, resulting in either the piano figurations being muffled out or the orchestra having to be overly accommodating with tuttis. Nevertheless, Trifonov remained utterly convincing throughout, carrying himself with a serious theatricality, painting resonant melodies, gliding over technically difficult passages with (yes I know its cliched) utter ease—and he was willing to play silence, to prolongate, not with a charlatan’s exploitation of an audience’s sensibilities but with a mature patience and knowing, never excessive. He played one encore. I suspect the piece, a brief, Romantic fantasy, was of his own composition.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 in B minor (1893) After resuming the podium Sir Andrew Davis picked up not baton but microphone, turning not to the orchestra but to the audience: as difficult as it might be, he said, to keep from applauding after the tremendous, tumultuous third movement, I must request that you refrain from doing so that we might properly enter into the final movement’s cry of anguish. And when the moment came audience complied. We were left in equal silence at the finale’s close—it was beyond all doubt the end (of the evening, of Tchaikovsky, or whatever you saw it to be) and yet, spellbound, we hung in a rare, eloquent delay before rightful applause filled the hall once again, for Sir Andrew Davis and for the MSO but most of all for the fragile, misanthropic, emotional, hypochondriac, depressed, homosexual Russian whose cry of anguish still reverberated 125 years after his death.

[mastcomm]

Carnegie Hall’s New Season: Here’s What We Want to Hear

The classical music world has been changing, and some of those shifts will be felt at Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie announced Tuesday that next season would feature the Berlin Philharmonic’s first concerts at the hall under its new chief conductor, Kirill Petrenko; the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s first with its music director, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla; and the Carnegie debut of Teodor Currentzis and the orchestra he founded, MusicAeterna.

“With the orchestras, there are a huge number of firsts,” Clive Gillinson, the hall’s executive and artistic director, said in an interview.

Rhiannon Giddens, the singer, songwriter, banjo player and musical polymath, will be featured in a Perspectives series in which she will trace the connections between popular and classical songs, team up with other banjo players to explore the experience of African-American women and delve into the complicated history of minstrelsy.

Jordi Savall, the early-music specialist and viola da gamba virtuoso, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera, will also be featured in series. A festival called “Voices of Hope: Artists in Times of Oppression” will explore musical responses to injustice, and Andrew Norman will hold the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair.

Among dozens of offerings, what to hear? This is the best of the best: the performances we at The New York Times are most looking forward to.

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oct. 7-9

There are three opportunities to hear Gustavo Dudamel conduct the West Coast’s leading ensemble at Carnegie this fall, in the orchestra’s first hall appearance in 30 years. The season-opening gala on Oct. 7 features a brief John Adams fanfare, Grieg (Lang Lang playing the Piano Concerto) and more Grieg (selections from “Peer Gynt”); Oct. 9 brings Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. But in between is the most promising program, with two New York premieres: a curtain-raiser by the young composer Gabriella Smith and Andrew Norman’s Violin Concerto (with the always-fascinating Leila Josefowicz), with the gentle chaser of Ginastera’s “Estancia.” JOSHUA BARONE

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Oct. 23-24

Conducting sensation Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla and her orchestra, which is celebrating its centenary this year, give two concerts that perfectly showcase their tastes and flair for programming. One adeptly balances the familiar with the new and unusual, with Ravel’s “La Valse” and Debussy’s “La Mer” framing Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s Violin Concerto and Thomas Adès’s “Angel Symphony,” which they will premiere this spring. The other focuses on British music, with Tippett’s oratorio “A Child of Our Time” following Sheku Kanneh-Mason as the soloist in Elgar’s Cello Concerto. DAVID ALLEN

MusicAeterna, Nov. 4

One of the great stories in classical music over the past decade has been how the Greek-born, Russian-trained conductor Teodor Currentzis formed his own idiosyncratic orchestra in Siberia, garnering a Sony recording contract and triumphing around the world. Their American debut last year at the Shed was one of the major events of the cultural year, and now Currentzis and the orchestra will bring their blistering intensity to Carnegie, with Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony and the Adagio from Mahler’s Symphony No. 10. MICHAEL COOPER

American Composers Orchestra, Nov. 5

As part of Andrew Norman’s composing residency, this ensemble presents the New York premiere of “Begin,” a chamber-orchestra piece first heard in Los Angeles last year. The rest of the program is just as tantalizing, with world premieres by Ellen Reid, Jane Meenaghan and George Lewis. SETH COLTER WALLS

Jordi Savall, Nov. 5 and 9

Four days after Mr. Savall leads his period-instrument orchestra Le Concert des Nations and vocal ensemble La Capella Reial de Catalunya in Monteverdi’s glorious Vespers in Carnegie’s main auditorium, he’ll bring those groups downstairs, to the more intimate Zankel Hall, for Monteverdi’s complete “Madrigals of War and Love,” a rare chance to hear a collection of genre-blurring pieces that altered music history. ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Lise Davidsen, Nov. 12

In the wake of feverish hype in the opera world, the Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen made her Metropolitan Opera debut this fall in Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” and, if anything, surpassed the high expectations. Her silvery voice had both thrilling power and nuanced expressivity. It will be fascinating to hear her in a recital setting; with the pianist James Baillieu, she sings works by Grieg, Mahler, Berg (“Seven Early Songs”) and Wagner (“Wesendonck Lieder”). ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Berlin Philharmonic, Nov. 18-20

When I went to Berlin last year for Kirill Petrenko’s debut concerts as the Philharmonic’s chief conductor, I was struck by the excitement he generated among its players. Now New Yorkers will be able to judge for themselves. This program, featuring the great dramatic soprano Nina Stemme singing Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene from Wagner’s “Götterdämmerung,” gives him a chance to show off his operatic chops, which he honed during a memorable run at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. (In a rarity for Carnegie, this program is played twice, on Nov. 18 and 20; on the 19th, the Philharmonic performs Webern, Mendelssohn and Brahms.) MICHAEL COOPER

Ksenija Sidorova, Feb. 3

The Carnegie lineup is full of superb voices, violinists, pianists — the meat and potatoes of classical music. So less conventional instruments pop out, like the accordion played by this Latvian virtuoso. “Revelatory,” according to my colleague James R. Oestreich, Ms. Sidorova will perform arrangements of Bach, Mozart and Tchaikovsky alongside works tailor-made for accordion by Sofia Gubaidulina, Alfred Schnittke and others. ZACHARY WOOLFE

Louisville Orchestra, Feb. 20

Go ahead and call the Louisville Orchestra a “regional” (as opposed to “major”) ensemble. That’s a meaningless distinction for the many people excited by the adventurous programs the dynamic young conductor Teddy Abrams and his excellent players have been giving. For example, the concert they will present at Carnegie will offer Andrew Norman’s “Sacred Geometry,” Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” (with dancers from Louisville Ballet) and Jim James’s song cycle “The Order of Life,” performed with its composer, a Louisville native and the leader of the rock band My Morning Jacket. ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 14

For all my worries about the direction that the Boston Symphony has taken under its music director, Andris Nelsons, there have been two pluses during his tenure so far: his Shostakovich survey (steadily being released on record to considerable acclaim) and his opera. A Shostakovich opera, then, ought to come off well, especially this composer’s best, “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.” The soprano Kristine Opolais is scheduled as Katerina, with Brandon Jovanovich as Sergey. DAVID ALLEN

Mark Padmore and Mitsuko Uchida, April 16

The tenor Mark Padmore once told me he was reminded of all the words for “rehearsal” when working with the pianist Mitsuko Uchida: “In French, ‘répétition,’ which speaks for itself; in German, ‘probe’ — proving or trying. In English, it has nothing to do with hearing. Its etymology is to till the earth in preparation for seed. Working with Mitsuko, all three of those things, those attitudes to rehearsing, are absolutely present.” Now imagine how they’ll sound in “Dichterliebe” and other Schumann works. JOSHUA BARONE

Alexandre Tharaud, April 18

This is, as always, a good season for piano recitals at Carnegie, with Vikingur Olafsson, Daniil Trifonov, Igor Levit and Jean-Yves Thibaudet all making solo appearances worthy of anticipation. But Mr. Tharaud’s program is particularly intriguing. It bridges the gap between the French Baroque — Couperin, Rameau and the more obscure composers Jean-Henri d’Anglebert and Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer — and the French early 20th century, with works by Ravel and Reynaldo Hahn that will benefit from this artist’s sensual grace. ZACHARY WOOLFE

Met Orchestra, June 10

It’s been many years since the great mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier last sang at Carnegie, which makes her return with this superb ensemble — freed from its Lincoln Center pit after the opera season ends — a true event. Wagner’s lush “Wesendonck Lieder” is on the agenda, conducted by Semyon Bychkov, who fills out the evening leading Shostakovich’s “Leningrad” Symphony. ZACHARY WOOLFE

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/carnegie-halls-new-season-heres-what-we-want-to-hear/

[janinediary]

Daniil Trifonov plays Bach-Brahms: Chaconne in D Minor for the Left Hand

[absolutegravityman]

Daniil Trifonov plays Bach-Brahms: Chaconne in D Minor for the Left Hand

[russian-dallas]

Симфонический оркестр Далласа представляет программу «Трифонов играет Брамса

Симфонический оркестр Далласа представляет программу «Трифонов играет Брамса

Симфонический оркестр Далласа представляет программу «Трифонов играет Брамса» (Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Trifonov Plays Brahms) Симфонический оркестр Далласа представляет программу «Трифонов играет Брамса», во время которой вместе с пианистом Даниилом Трифоновым, под управлением Фабио Луизи исполнят Концерт для фортепиано с оркестром № 1 Брамса и Симфония № 4 Шмидта. Даты и время…

[mastcomm]

Carnegie Hall’s New Season: Here’s What We Want to Hear

The classical music world has been changing, and some of those shifts will be felt at Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie announced Tuesday that next season would feature the Berlin Philharmonic’s first concerts at the hall under its new chief conductor, Kirill Petrenko; the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s first with its music director, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla; and the Carnegie debut of Teodor Currentzis and the orchestra he founded, MusicAeterna.

“With the orchestras, there are a huge number of firsts,” Clive Gillinson, the hall’s executive and artistic director, said in an interview.

Rhiannon Giddens, the singer, songwriter, banjo player and musical polymath, will be featured in a Perspectives series in which she will trace the connections between popular and classical songs, team up with other banjo players to explore the experience of African-American women and delve into the complicated history of minstrelsy.

Jordi Savall, the early-music specialist and viola da gamba virtuoso, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera, will also be featured in series. A festival called “Voices of Hope: Artists in Times of Oppression” will explore musical responses to injustice, and Andrew Norman will hold the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair.

Among dozens of offerings, what to hear? This is the best of the best: the performances we at The New York Times are most looking forward to.

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oct. 7-9

There are three opportunities to hear Gustavo Dudamel conduct the West Coast’s leading ensemble at Carnegie this fall, in the orchestra’s first hall appearance in 30 years. The season-opening gala on Oct. 7 features a brief John Adams fanfare, Grieg (Lang Lang playing the Piano Concerto) and more Grieg (selections from “Peer Gynt”); Oct. 9 brings Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. But in between is the most promising program, with two New York premieres: a curtain-raiser by the young composer Gabriella Smith and Andrew Norman’s Violin Concerto (with the always-fascinating Leila Josefowicz), with the gentle chaser of Ginastera’s “Estancia.” JOSHUA BARONE

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Oct. 23-24

Conducting sensation Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla and her orchestra, which is celebrating its centenary this year, give two concerts that perfectly showcase their tastes and flair for programming. One adeptly balances the familiar with the new and unusual, with Ravel’s “La Valse” and Debussy’s “La Mer” framing Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s Violin Concerto and Thomas Adès’s “Angel Symphony,” which they will premiere this spring. The other focuses on British music, with Tippett’s oratorio “A Child of Our Time” following Sheku Kanneh-Mason as the soloist in Elgar’s Cello Concerto. DAVID ALLEN

MusicAeterna, Nov. 4

One of the great stories in classical music over the past decade has been how the Greek-born, Russian-trained conductor Teodor Currentzis formed his own idiosyncratic orchestra in Siberia, garnering a Sony recording contract and triumphing around the world. Their American debut last year at the Shed was one of the major events of the cultural year, and now Currentzis and the orchestra will bring their blistering intensity to Carnegie, with Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony and the Adagio from Mahler’s Symphony No. 10. MICHAEL COOPER

American Composers Orchestra, Nov. 5

As part of Andrew Norman’s composing residency, this ensemble presents the New York premiere of “Begin,” a chamber-orchestra piece first heard in Los Angeles last year. The rest of the program is just as tantalizing, with world premieres by Ellen Reid, Jane Meenaghan and George Lewis. SETH COLTER WALLS

Jordi Savall, Nov. 5 and 9

Four days after Mr. Savall leads his period-instrument orchestra Le Concert des Nations and vocal ensemble La Capella Reial de Catalunya in Monteverdi’s glorious Vespers in Carnegie’s main auditorium, he’ll bring those groups downstairs, to the more intimate Zankel Hall, for Monteverdi’s complete “Madrigals of War and Love,” a rare chance to hear a collection of genre-blurring pieces that altered music history. ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Lise Davidsen, Nov. 12

In the wake of feverish hype in the opera world, the Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen made her Metropolitan Opera debut this fall in Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” and, if anything, surpassed the high expectations. Her silvery voice had both thrilling power and nuanced expressivity. It will be fascinating to hear her in a recital setting; with the pianist James Baillieu, she sings works by Grieg, Mahler, Berg (“Seven Early Songs”) and Wagner (“Wesendonck Lieder”). ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Berlin Philharmonic, Nov. 18-20

When I went to Berlin last year for Kirill Petrenko’s debut concerts as the Philharmonic’s chief conductor, I was struck by the excitement he generated among its players. Now New Yorkers will be able to judge for themselves. This program, featuring the great dramatic soprano Nina Stemme singing Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene from Wagner’s “Götterdämmerung,” gives him a chance to show off his operatic chops, which he honed during a memorable run at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. (In a rarity for Carnegie, this program is played twice, on Nov. 18 and 20; on the 19th, the Philharmonic performs Webern, Mendelssohn and Brahms.) MICHAEL COOPER

Ksenija Sidorova, Feb. 3

The Carnegie lineup is full of superb voices, violinists, pianists — the meat and potatoes of classical music. So less conventional instruments pop out, like the accordion played by this Latvian virtuoso. “Revelatory,” according to my colleague James R. Oestreich, Ms. Sidorova will perform arrangements of Bach, Mozart and Tchaikovsky alongside works tailor-made for accordion by Sofia Gubaidulina, Alfred Schnittke and others. ZACHARY WOOLFE

Louisville Orchestra, Feb. 20

Go ahead and call the Louisville Orchestra a “regional” (as opposed to “major”) ensemble. That’s a meaningless distinction for the many people excited by the adventurous programs the dynamic young conductor Teddy Abrams and his excellent players have been giving. For example, the concert they will present at Carnegie will offer Andrew Norman’s “Sacred Geometry,” Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” (with dancers from Louisville Ballet) and Jim James’s song cycle “The Order of Life,” performed with its composer, a Louisville native and the leader of the rock band My Morning Jacket. ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 14

For all my worries about the direction that the Boston Symphony has taken under its music director, Andris Nelsons, there have been two pluses during his tenure so far: his Shostakovich survey (steadily being released on record to considerable acclaim) and his opera. A Shostakovich opera, then, ought to come off well, especially this composer’s best, “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.” The soprano Kristine Opolais is scheduled as Katerina, with Brandon Jovanovich as Sergey. DAVID ALLEN

Mark Padmore and Mitsuko Uchida, April 16

The tenor Mark Padmore once told me he was reminded of all the words for “rehearsal” when working with the pianist Mitsuko Uchida: “In French, ‘répétition,’ which speaks for itself; in German, ‘probe’ — proving or trying. In English, it has nothing to do with hearing. Its etymology is to till the earth in preparation for seed. Working with Mitsuko, all three of those things, those attitudes to rehearsing, are absolutely present.” Now imagine how they’ll sound in “Dichterliebe” and other Schumann works. JOSHUA BARONE

Alexandre Tharaud, April 18

This is, as always, a good season for piano recitals at Carnegie, with Vikingur Olafsson, Daniil Trifonov, Igor Levit and Jean-Yves Thibaudet all making solo appearances worthy of anticipation. But Mr. Tharaud’s program is particularly intriguing. It bridges the gap between the French Baroque — Couperin, Rameau and the more obscure composers Jean-Henri d’Anglebert and Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer — and the French early 20th century, with works by Ravel and Reynaldo Hahn that will benefit from this artist’s sensual grace. ZACHARY WOOLFE

Met Orchestra, June 10

It’s been many years since the great mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier last sang at Carnegie, which makes her return with this superb ensemble — freed from its Lincoln Center pit after the opera season ends — a true event. Wagner’s lush “Wesendonck Lieder” is on the agenda, conducted by Semyon Bychkov, who fills out the evening leading Shostakovich’s “Leningrad” Symphony. ZACHARY WOOLFE

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/carnegie-halls-new-season-heres-what-we-want-to-hear/