At ninety, the Scottish composer Thea Musgrave remains proliic. On May 27, at the Church of St. Mary
ILLUSTRATION BY ELEANOR DAVIS the Virgin, the New York Virtuoso Singers present a selection of her vocal and dramatic works.
CLASSICAL MUSIC
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OPERACenter for Contemporary Opera:
“Backwards from Winter”
In Douglas Knehans’s monodrama for soprano
and electric cello, a woman tells the story of the
devastating loss of her lover in reverse, from
the grief of winter to the irst blush of passion
in spring. This is not the irst time the composer
has turned to the natural world as a metaphor
for lived experience; the sounds of nature course
through the orchestral pieces on his latest album,
“Uninished Earth,” with a primitive force and a
melodic insistence that recall Stravinsky. Jenni-
fer Williams directs the world première of this
ninety-minute work. May 25 at 7:30. (Symphony
Space, Broadway at 95th St. 212-864-5400.)
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ORCHESTRAS AND CHORUSES
New York Philharmonic
Semyon Bychkov leads the Philharmonic in two
grand works—Berio’s uproarious “Sinfonia,” fea-
turing the vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth,
and Strauss’s towering “Alpine Symphony”—at
its Lincoln Center home. Then, for its popular
free Memorial Day concert, the orchestra heads
to Morningside Heights, where David Robert-
son conducts Vaughan Williams’s “Fantasia on
a Theme by Thomas Tallis” and Saint-Saëns’s
Symphony No. 3, with Kent Tritle at the organ
(tickets will be distributed starting at 6). May
24 at 7:30, May 25 at 2, and May 26 at 8; May 28
at 8. (David Gefen Hall; Cathedral of St. John the
Divine, Amsterdam Ave. at 112th St. 212-875-5656.)
The Sebastians
For many, Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos repre-
sent the peak of the Baroque maestro’s instrumen-
tal output, but his orchestral suites, with which
the composer put his mark on a popular French
form, should not be overlooked. The Sebastians,
a period-instrument group that plays with verve
and vigor, presents the irst two, alongside Bran-
denburgs No. 1 and No. 5. The group’s director,
Daniel Lee, gives a pre-concert demonstration of
the violino piccolo (a child-sized string instrument
that allowed Bach to write for the highest regis-
ters) at 6:45. May 24 at 7:30. (Good Shepherd-Faith
Presbyterian Church, 152 W. 66th St. sebastians.org.)
Ekmeles
This notable vocal ensemble is much praised for
its exacting control, a capacity that is essential
for music involving microtonality (the use of in-
tervals smaller than those customary in Western
traditions). Here, the singers perform Stockhau-
sen’s “Stimmung”—an overtone-rich 1968 medi-
tation for ampliied sextet—and Christopher Tra-
pani’s “End Words,” a 2017 work in which six live
voices blend with a six-channel electronic part de-
rived from hours of Ekmeles samples. May 26 at- (St. Peter’s Church, 346 W. 20th St. ekmeles.com.)
New York Youth Symphony
Though Samuel Barber was a Yankee, his set-
ting of James Agee’s lyrical “Knoxville: Sum-
mer of 1915,” heard twice this week, is an ex-
quisite evocation of Southern childhood. This
performance features the splendid and much dis-
cussed young soprano Julia Bullock. The orches-
tra, whose members’ ambition and proiciency
belie their youth, also plays Gershwin’s “Cuban
Overture,” Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorg-
sky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” and “Slant,” a
world première by Peter Shin. May 27 at 2. (Car-
negie Hall. 212-247-7800.)
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RECITALS
Israeli Chamber Project
This reined collective of distinguished young
Israeli performers ofers an evening of mellilu-
ous works by Schubert and Barber. In addition
to chamber music involving piano, strings, clari-
net, and voice, the program includes Aribert Rei-
mann’s transiguration of Schubert’s “Mignon-
Lieder” and an arrangement, by Yuval Shapiro,
of Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,” both
featuring the luminous soprano Sarah Shafer.
May 24 at 7:30. (Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W. 67th
St. merkinhall.org.)
“Theme and Variations”
The Jewish Museum honors John Corigliano, a
musical magpie whose work often refracts ma-
terial collected from others, with a recital cele-
brating his eightieth birthday. The pianist Dan-
iel Gortler presents a selection of pieces that
explore the idea of thematic transformation, in-
cluding Beethoven’s solemn Sonata No. 30 in
E Major and Corigliano’s “Fantasia on an Osti-
nato” (which draws on the German composer’s
Symphony No. 7). Music by Mendelssohn (his
“Variations Sérieuses”) and Schumann (the “Sym-
phonic Études”) rounds out the program. May
24 at 7:30. (Fifth Ave. at 92nd St. 212-423-3337.)
Thomas Bartlett and Nico Muhly
In 1941, Colin McPhee, the Canadian com-
poser and musicologist, recorded his ground-breaking duo-piano transcriptions of Balinese
gamelan music with the English composer
Benjamin Britten. Here, Bartlett, an expres-
sive singer-songwriter, and Muhly, a versatile
composer, similarly take to paired keyboards
to perform “Peter Pears: Balinese Ceremo-
nial Music”—a set of original songs, based
on McPhee’s transcriptions and named after
the famed English tenor who was Britten’s
muse and partner—with members of Ensem-
ble LPR. May 24 at 8:30. (Le Poisson Rouge, 158
Bleecker St. lpr.com.)
Bargemusic: Donald Berman
The eminent pianist, a compelling advocate for
contemporary works, presents a recital rich in
fresh sounds, ofering the world première of
Elena Ruehr’s “Summer on the Lakes, in 1843”
and the irst local accounts of pieces by Eric
Moe and John Aylward. Completing the pro-
gram are Bach’s Fantasy and Fugue in A Minor,
selections from Ives’s “Concord” Sonata, and
his “Varied Air and Variations.” May 25 at 8.
(Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn. bargemusic.org.)
New York Philharmonic Ensembles
Philharmonic members emerge from the rank
and ile to present a rangy collection of cham-
ber works. Included are a trio sonata by Vi-
valdi; Penderecki’s Duo Concertante, for vio-
lin and double bass; Reinecke’s Trio for Piano,
Oboe, and Horn; and Brahms’s passionate yet
restrained Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major. May
27 at 3. (Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W. 67th St.
merkinhall.org.)
International Contemporary Ensemble
This outstanding new-music group has often
championed the music of Anna Thorvaldsdot-
tir, an Icelandic composer who is known for her
spare, arresting works. Here, the pianist Cory
Smythe plays three of them, including the eerie
“Scape,” for prepared piano. He sits amid the
audience, who in turn will be encircled by ten
of his colleagues. Together, they play “Aequili-
bria,” a piece for piano, wind, and strings which
relects the grandeur of its composer’s island
home. May 27 at 4. (National Sawdust, 80 N. 6th
St., Brooklyn. nationalsawdust.org.)