The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-06)

SUNDAY, MARCH 6 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ EE E3

John Williams birthday concert

The program isn’t listed yet, but I’m hoping

this close encounter with one of the most

celebrated composers of our time goes beyond

his impossibly nuanced-yet-earwormy work

for the big screen and into his lesser-known

concertos, symphonies and chamber works.

French conductor Stéphane Denève will lead

this all-star birthday bash featuring Yo-Yo Ma,

Steven Spielberg, Anne-Sophie Mutter and

others. Please refrain from bringing your own

popcorn.

John Williams: The 90th Birthday Gala Concert

June 23 at the Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

‘Der Freischütz (The Marksman)’

Considered by many the first great German

Romantic opera, Weber’s beguiling “Der

Freischütz” will open Wolf Trap Opera’s sea-

son, 201 years to the date of its premiere.

Lidiya Yankovskaya conducts and R.B.

Schlather directs this rare staging, featuring

sopranos Alexandria Shiner as Agathe and

Sunwoo Park as Ännchen. Forthcoming pro-

ductions on Wolf Trap’s summer calendar

include Verdi’s “La Traviata” (July 15) as well

as Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah” (Aug. 12-20).

Der Freischütz (The Marksman) June 18-26 at

the Barns at Wolf Tr ap. wolftrap.org.

Carmen

Nothing says spring like a free spirit,

nothing says free spirit like “Carmen” and — if

the sneak peek offered last November at

Washington National Opera’s “Come Home: A

Celebration of Return” was any indication —

few can sing Carmen as soprano Isabel

Leonard can. She’ll make her role debut

alongside tenor Michael Fabiano making his

WNO debut as Don José. Bass-baritone (and

2018 Marian Anderson Vocal Award winner)

Ryan Speedo Green appears as Escamillo,

soprano Vanessa Vasquez sings Micaëla and

Francesca Zambello directs.

Carmen May 14-28 at the Kennedy Center.

kennedy-center.org.

Awadagin Pratt and Baltimore

Symphony Orchestra

It’s a b ig, busy season for the BSO (among

other things, Marin Alsop pops back in to lead

Beethoven’s Ninth on April 7-10), but this

particular program just feels like one you

might call a corker. The orchestra welcomes

pianist Awadagin Pratt to lead a new concerto

by Jessie Montgomery and otherwise takes on

Mozart’s majestic Symphony No. 39 in E-flat

major (K. 543) and the unlikely bookends of

Henze’s “Mänadentanz” from (“The Bassarids”)

and Strauss’s “Der Rosenkavalier” suite.

Awadagin Pratt and the BSO May 5-8 at the

Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and the Music Center at

Strathmore. my.bsomusic.org/overview/16905.

spring arts preview | classical music

SONNY ROSS/ILLUSTRATION FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

RICHARD THOMASis

ATTICUS FINCH in

HARPER LEE’S

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

A new play by AARON SORKIN

Directed by BA RTLETT SHER

“A GAME-CHANGING ‘MOCKINGBIRD.’

GENUINELY RADICAL AND PULSING WITH RELEVANCE.”

CHRIS JONES

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