21C Media Group’s Classical Music Preview 2012-2013

S

SEPTEMBER 2012
Sep 1                    TRINITY WALL STREET’s Trinity Choir releases its second album on Musica Omnia: a live recording of Handel’s Israel in Egypt. The choir is joined by the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Julian Wachner.
 
Sep 4, 25              The Dacapo label issues the first release in its “Nielsen Project” with ALAN GILBERT and the New York Philharmonic. The new disc, comprising the Danish composer’s Symphony No. 2, “The Four Temperaments,” and Symphony No. 3, “Sinfonia Espansiva,” represents the first of four CDs presenting Nielsen’s six symphonies and three concertos; the series will be released as a complete set in 2015, the 150th anniversary of Nielsen’s birth. Distributed by Naxos, the CDs mark the New York Philharmonic’s first complete recording of these works, some of which were championed by Leonard Bernstein (who recorded Nielsen’s Fifth Symphony with the orchestra). The new recording “mastered for iTunes” will be available on Sep 4, and the CD is released on Sep 25.  
 
Sep 6 – May 23      Concerts at One, TRINITY WALL STREET’s longest-running series of free concerts (presented on Thursday afternoons), expands again this year with its own mini-festival kicking off the season. Twelve in 12, featuring NOVUS NY with conductor Julian Wachner, performs twelve different works by twelve recent Pulitzer Prize winners in music composition. Works include John Adams’s Son of Chamber Symphony, Steve Reich’s Daniel Variations, STEVEN STUCKY’s Sonate en forme de preludes, Puts’s Einstein on Mercer Street, and Corigliano’s Winging It. [Trinity Church] 
Sep 8                    Maltese tenor JOSEPH CALLEJA takes the stage of London’s Royal Albert Hall to headline the Last Night of the Proms, the BBC’s summer music festival. The concert, which also includes violinist Nicola Benedetti performing the Bruch Violin Concerto, will be broadcast live on BBC1 at 7:30 pm GMT. [London, UK] 
Sep 9 – 18             Soprano ANGELA MEADE, winner of the 2012 Beverly Sills Award, makes her Vienna State Opera debut as Elena in Verdi’s I vespri siciliani, with Gianandrea Noseda conducting. Upon hearing Meade, Opera Today exclaimed: “a dramatic coloratura at last.” [Vienna, Austria; Sep 9, 12, 15, 18] 
Sep 11                  Norwegian pianist LEIF OVE ANDSNES makes his Sony Classical label debut with The Beethoven Journey, on which he directs the Mahler Chamber Orchestra from the keyboard in performances of the composer’s First and Third Piano Concertos. Recorded live in Prague, the album is the cornerstone of a multi-year project. Also titled “The Beethoven Journey,” this features Andsnes performing and recording all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos with the MCO and playing them with many other leading orchestras and conductors. “The Beethoven Journey” will culminate in the 2014-15 season, when Andsnes and the MCO will undertake “full cycle” residencies in North America, Europe, and Asia.
 
Sep 15 – April 14   This season, trailblazing cellist MATT HAIMOVITZ continues “Beyond Bach,” his exploration of solo cello works, throughout North America. Programs include a wide range of music for solo cello by Bach, Rorem, Gabrielli, Carter, Golijov, Corigliano, and others. [Sep 15: Phoenix, AZ; Oct 18: Columbia, MO; Nov 2: Joplin, MO; Nov 8: Clinton, SC; Nov 30: Flushing, NY; April 14: New Canaan, CT] 
Sep 16                  German bass RENÉ PAPE appears at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala for a recital of lieder by Schubert, Wolf, and Schumann with pianist Camillo Radicke. [Milan, Italy] 
Sep 18                  Music by composer/pianist MICHAEL HERSCH is showcased in the Peabody Institute’s Sylvia Adalman Artists Recital Series, with performances by Miranda Cuckson, Gary Louie, the Blair String Quartet, and the composer himself.  Hersch is the chairman of Peabody’s composition department. [Baltimore, MD] 
Sep 19 – 22, 27    LEIF OVE ANDSNES joins American conductor ALAN GILBERT in the New York Philharmonic’s season-opening concert. They perform Kurtág’s …quasi una fantasia… and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 on a program that concludes with Gilbert conducting Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. The New York Philharmonic also launches Gilbert’s fourth season as music director with a gala concert on Sep 27 featuring violinist Itzhak Perlman. [AFH; Sep 19, 20, 21, 22, 27] 
Sep 20 – Oct 13          Russian bass ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV returns to Washington National Opera to sing the title role in a revival of John Pascoe’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. (Washington, DC; Sep 20, 22, 26, 29, Oct 1, 4, 7, 9, 13] 
Sep 21 – 23           Described by the New York Times as a baritone of “sturdy voice and ceaseless curiosity,” THOMAS HAMPSON opens the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s new season with orchestral songs by Richard Strauss; Manfred Honeck conducts. [Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, PA; Sep 21, 22, 23] 
Sep 21 – April 27   MATT HAIMOVITZ and pianist Christopher O’Riley launched a unique partnership last season with Shuffle.Play.Listen: an album and tour of contemporary classical masterpieces (by Stravinsky, Hermann, Bartók, and more) alongside O’Riley’s transcriptions of rock and pop music (by Radiohead, John McLaughlin, Arcade Fire, and others). The duo continues its “Shuffle.Play.Listen” tour of America throughout the season. [Sep 21: Des Moines, IA; Oct 12: St Louis, MO; Oct 27: Appleton, WI; Jan 18: University Park, PA; March 28: Coralville, IA; April 12: Greenvale, NY; April 27: Tacoma, WA] 
Sep 23 – 30           Italian conductor FABIO LUISI officially begins his tenure as General Music Director of Zurich Opera when he conducts its season-opening performances of Janácek’s Jenufa. The new production by Dmitri Tcherniakov stars Kristine Opolais in the title role. [Zurich, Switzerland; Sep 23, 26, 30] 
Sep 24 – Feb 9    Russian soprano ANNA NETREBKO returns to New York to headline her second consecutive season-opening gala at the Metropolitan Opera, where she makes her house role debut as Adina in L’elisir d’amore. Tenor Matthew Polenzani sings opposite her as Nemorino in a new staging by Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher. [Met; Sep 24, 27, Oct 1, 5, 10, 13; Jan 30, Feb 2, 6, 9] 
Sep 28 – 30           The world premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer STEVEN STUCKY’s Symphony (2012) will open the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 2012-13 season with Gustavo Dudamel conducting. The work was co-commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, which will give its New York premiere under ALAN GILBERT’s direction in late November. [Los Angeles, CA; Sep 28, 29, 30] 
Sep 30 – Feb 24         The AMERICAN PIANISTS ASSOCIATION launches a season of performances by the five finalists for its 2013 Classical Fellowship Awards, valued at more than $100,000. Among the adjudicated events are concerto appearances with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. First up in the “playoffs” are Claire Huangci and Sean Chen, playing Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 3 and 4 respectively, followed by Sara Daneshpour in Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Andrew Staupe in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27, K. 595, and Eric Zuber in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1. [Indianapolis, IN; Sep 30, Nov 11, Dec 2, Jan 27, Feb 24] 
OCTOBER
 
Oct 1 – 27              EASTMAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC celebrates the 150th anniversary of Claude Debussy’s birth with “The Prismatic Debussy,” comprising three weekends of performances and a month-long exhibition of manuscripts at Sibley Music Library. Highlights include the Eastman Philharmonia, Wind Ensemble, and Chorale playing music for large ensembles; a PRISM chamber concert entitled “Debussy in Transcription”; and the North American premiere of five newly-discovered songs. [Rochester, NY; exhibition: Oct 1 – 27; performances: Oct 13, 20, 26, 27] 
Oct 1 – Dec 17,
 March 4 – May 20  
The popular Bach at One series, presented by MUSIC AND ARTS AT TRINITY WALL STREET, returns to the historic St. Paul’s Chapel from October to December and again from March to Trinity Sunday in May. The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra continue their presentation of Bach’s complete cantata output. [St. Paul’s Chapel] 
 
Oct 1 – Dec 17,
     Oct 4 – 7          LEIF OVE ANDSNES makes another high-profile stop on his “Beethoven Journey,” performing both the First and Third Piano Concertos with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel. [Los Angeles, CA; Oct 4, 5, 6, 7] 
Oct 6 – 30              LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO opens its 58th season with a new production of Richard Strauss’s Elektra from the recently-knighted director Sir David McVicar, conducted by music director Sir Andrew Davis. Christine Goerke makes her Lyric debut singing her first U.S. Elektra, following her recent triumph in Madrid, where she debuted in the role. Lyric’s cast also features Jill Grove as Elektra’s mother, Clytemnestra, and Emily Magee and Alan Held as her siblings. [Chicago, IL; Oct 6, 10, 13, 19, 22, 26, 30]Oct 9                     In this, the year marking the sesquicentennial of Claude Debussy’s birth, Deutsche Grammophon releases PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD’s new complete recording of both books of the French composer’s preludes. The US release of the CD heralds the return of Aimard to Carnegie Hall where he gives a solo recital the following month (see Nov 15).
Oct 9                     Named one of NPR’s favorite new artists of 2011, American tenor NICHOLAS PHAN follows up his warmly-received all-Britten recording with Still Falls the Rain: Songs of Benjamin Britten, released on Avie Records. Phan’s previous Britten album, Winter Words, made many “Best of 2011” lists, including those of the New York Times, New Yorker, Time Out New York, Boston Globe, and Toronto Star.
 
Oct 9 – 12             British violinist DANIEL HOPE makes it part of his mission to expose audiences to the music of composers forced into exile. This fall, he presents “Forbidden Music – Music from Terezín”: a program including works by Czech composers Erwin Schulhoff, Hans Krása, and Gideon Klein, all of whom were interned at the Nazi concentration camp Terezín and ultimately put to death. [Austin, TX: Oct 9, 10; Washington, DC: Oct 12] 
Oct 10 – 13           ALAN GILBERT continues “The Nielsen Project” with the New York Philharmonic, giving performances of the Danish composer’s Clarinet and Violin Concertos that will be recorded for future release on Denmark’s Dacapo label. The program also includes Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2, “Little Russian”. [AFH; Oct 10, 11, 12, 13] 
Oct 10 – Nov 2    Described by the Associated Press as “a prodigiously gifted singer whose voice makes an immediate impact,” Philadelphia-born tenor STEPHEN COSTELLO makes his San Francisco Opera debut when he reprises the role of Greenhorn/Ishmael in the west coast premiere of Moby-Dick by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer. [San Francisco, CA; Oct 10, 13, 18, 21, 23, 26, 30, Nov 2] 
Oct 11, 14            ANGELA MEADE makes her Los Angeles Opera debut as Donna Anna in Peter Stein’s staging of Don Giovanni, led by Plácido Domingo. According to the New Yorker, “Meade is astounding. She is a very musical singer, naturally and intelligently riding the phrase.” Bass-baritone Ildebrando D’Arcangelo joins Meade on stage as Don Giovanni. [Los Angeles, CA; Oct 11, 14] 
Oct 15 – Nov 9    THOMAS HAMPSON, in “the peak of his vocal form” (Chicago Tribune), returns to LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO in the title role of Simon Boccanegra. His previous Lyric appearances in Verdi operas include the title role of Macbeth and Germont in La traviata. [Chicago, IL; Oct 15, 20, 24, 28, 31, Nov 3, 6, 9] 
Oct 19, 21            RENÉ PAPE joins Valery Gergiev and the World Orchestra for Peace, which was founded by Sir Georg Solti, for two concerts – the first at Carnegie Hall – celebrating the Hungarian conductor’s 100th birthday. Pape contributes opera arias by Verdi and Mozart to a program that also includes works by Bartók, Mahler, Mozart, and Strauss. [CH: Oct 19; Chicago, IL: Oct 21] 
Oct 19, 22            Following a successful house debut in Don Giovanni last season, ANNA NETREBKO returns to La Scala with her signature portrayal of Mimì in La bohème. [Milan, Italy; Oct 19, 22] 
Oct 19 – Nov 10          HOUSTON GRAND OPERA’s 2012-13 season opens with a new production of Puccini’s La bohème from award-winning British director John Caird. Dmitri Pittas and Katie van Kooten star as the lovers Rodolfo and Mimì. [Houston, TX; Oct 19, 21, 27, 30, Nov 2, 4, 10] 
Oct 22                  CLASSICAL ACTION: PERFORMING ARTS AGAINST AIDS hosts the 14th installment of “Up Our Alley,” its annual bowling fundraising extravaganza for the classical music industry. [Bowlmor Lanes, Times Square] 
Oct 23                   After making its Carnegie Hall debut last October, the intrepid string quartet BROOKLYN RIDER appears once again at Zankel Hall.  The quartet joins composer/singer/pianist Gabriel Kahane to play his new work written especially for Brooklyn Rider. [ZH] 
Oct 26 – Nov 11    HOUSTON GRAND OPERA’s second show of the season is The Italian Girl in Algiers, starring Daniela Barcellona in her HGO debut opposite Lawrence Brownlee. The new production is by the Spanish creative team of director Joan Font and designer Joan Guillén. [Houston, TX; Oct 26, 28, Nov 3, 7, 9, 11] 
Oct 25                  Receiving a warm response at the 2012 Salzburg Festival, the Israel Philharmonic will take the same program – Schoenberg’s Kol Nidre and Israeli composer Noam Sheriff’s Mechaye Hametim (Revival of the Dead) – to its Carnegie Hall gala, where the Sheriff work will receive its New York premiere. THOMAS HAMPSON and the Collegiate Chorale will join the orchestra again for a reprise of the Salzburg concert, about which the New York Times reported: “Abetted by Mr. Hampson’s tour de force, in which he also served as narrator in the Schoenberg and spoke and sang in the Sheriff, the evening’s performances were everywhere excellent … The concert was greeted warmly, even clamorously.” [CH]

Oct 26 – Nov 17    ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV, “a bass of elegance and unforced resonance” (New York Times), stars in the Met’s revival of Le nozze di Figaro; this marks the first of Abdrazakov’s two Mozart title roles at the house this season. [Met; Oct 26, 29, Nov 3, 7, 10, 13, 17] 
Oct 30                  The “wonderously gifted” (Gramophone) pianist ALESSIO BAX follows his well-received Rachmaninov recording with an album of solo Brahms. This new Signum Classics release includes the Four Ballades, Op. 10; Klavierstücke, Op. 76; Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35, Books I and II; and Hungarian Dance No. 5 (arr. Cziffra/Bax).
 
Oct 30 – Jan 13           ANNA NETREBKO sings the title role of Tchaikovsky’s rarely-heard one-act opera Iolanta in concerts across Europe. [Oct 30: Ljubljana, Slovenia; Nov 3: Stuttgart, Germany; Nov 5: Munich, Germany; Nov 8: Amsterdam, Netherlands; Nov 11: Paris, France; Nov 14: Berlin, Germany; Nov 18: Frankfurt, Germany; Nov 21: Nuremberg, Germany; Nov 23: Prague, Czech Republic; Nov 27: Essen, Germany; Nov 30: Vienna, Austria; Jan 10, 13: Barcelona, Spain] 
NOVEMBER
 
Nov 8 – Dec 14           FABIO LUISI returns to the Metropolitan Opera, where he holds the title of Principal Conductor, to conduct his first opera of the 2012-13 season for the company: a new David Alden production of Un ballo in maschera. The all-star cast includes Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Dolora Zajick, Sondra Radvanovsky, Kathleen Kim, and Marcelo Álvarez. [Met; Nov 8, 12, 15, 19, 24, 27, 30, Dec 4, 8, 14] 
Nov 10                 As a prelude to her Washington National Opera debut next spring, the company presents soprano ANGELA MEADE in recital at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, with Bradley Moore at the keyboard. The program includes songs by Richard Strauss and Liszt, and arias by Bellini, Verdi, and Mozart. [Washington, DC] 
Nov 11                 The RICHARD TUCKER MUSIC FOUNDATION honors its 2012 Richard Tucker Award winner, soprano AILYN PÉREZ, at the annual Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala. Pérez is joined for the evening by some of the opera world’s biggest stars, the Met Orchestra and New York Choral Society. [AFH] 
Nov 11 – 26          LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO presents Francisco Negrin’s new production of Massenet’s Werther, starring tenor Matthew Polenzani in his role debut as the love-struck poet. This is also the first Werther for Sir Andrew Davis, who leads a cast that includes the Lyric debuts of French mezzo-soprano Sophie Koch as Charlotte and baritone Craig Verm as Albert. Soprano Kiri Deonarine portrays Charlotte’s sister Sophie. A co-production with San Francisco Opera. [Chicago, IL; Nov 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26] 
Nov 14 – 20          SIR JOHN ELIOT GARDINER conducts his award-winning Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir on both coasts, in all-Beethoven programs featuring the Missa solemnis and Symphony No. 9. The tour, which includes two Carnegie Hall concerts, coincides with the release of Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7 – captured live at the venue by WQXR last November – on the conductor’s Soli Deo Gloria label. [Nov 14: Chapel Hill, NC; Nov 16, 17: CH; Nov 19, 20: Costa Mesa, CA] 
Nov 15                 French pianist PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD explores the work of his compatriot Claude Debussy this season, which marks the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Aimard’s solo recital at Carnegie Hall showcases Debussy’s second book of preludes, along with Schumann’s Études symphoniques and works by Heinz Holliger. [CH] 
Nov 16                  BROOKLYN RIDER continues its three-year residency at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. As part of UNC’s “Rite of Spring at 100” celebration, the quartet presents a program called “Make it New”, which includes Stravinsky’s Three Pieces for String Quartet, Bartók’s String Quartet No. 2, and new works by Shara Worden,  Gabriel Kahane, Vijay Iyer, John Zorn, and Colin Jacobsen.  [Chapel Hill, NC]  
 
Nov 18, 28           ALESSIO BAX performs a New York solo recital of music by Rachmaninov and Mussorgsky in Rockefeller University’s evening series. Ten days earlier, he returns to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for a solo turn in Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata and chamber music by Mendelssohn and Bloch. [Nov 18: ATH; Nov 28: Rockefeller University] 
Nov 28 – Dec 20         The Met’s production of Don Giovanni returns with ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV as the famous lover and SUSANNA PHILLIPS as Donna Anna. The production marks the bass’s second Mozart title role at the house during the 2012-13 season. Phillips returns to the Met for the fifth consecutive season since making her Met debut in 2008. [Met; Nov 28, Dec 1, 5, 8, 11, 15, 20] 
Nov 29 – Dec 1           GIL SHAHAM takes his “Concertos of the 1930s” project to New York, playing Barber’s Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic under ALAN GILBERT.  Also on the program is the New York premiere of STEVEN STUCKY’s Symphony (2012). [AFH; Nov 29, 30, Dec 1]   
 
DECEMBER
 
Dec 2                   FABIO LUISI conducts the Met Orchestra in a wide-ranging program at Carnegie Hall. Yefim Bronfman joins the orchestra for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor,” followed by Sofia Gubaidulina’s In tempus praesens and the 1945 version of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. [CH] 
Dec 4                   The METROPOLITAN OPERA GUILD’s Annual Luncheon returns to the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf=Astoria with “Star Power! A Reunion of Met Artists Discovered through the National Council Auditions Program.” The event celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Met’s audition programs, with 25 artists whose careers were launched as winners and finalists. [Waldorf=Astoria] 
 
Dec 7 – 27            RENÉ PAPE returns to La Scala to open its 2012-13 season, which marks the bicentennial of Wagner’s birth. Pape plays König Heinrich in a new production of Lohengrin, conducted by DANIEL BARENBOIM and starring Jonas Kaufmann in the title role. [Milan, Italy; Dec 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 27]      
 
Dec 9, 12, 18         MUSIC AND ARTS AT TRINITY WALL STREET presents Handel’s Messiah led by Julian Wachner, first at home at Trinity Church and then three days later at AliceTully Hall. The following week, the Trinity Baroque Orchestra performs Handel’s Solomon with the New York Choral Society and conductor Julian Wachner at Carnegie Hall. [Dec 9: Trinity Church; Dec 12: ATH; Dec 18: CH] 
 Dec 13 – Jan 5           The Metropolitan Opera offers a rare opportunity to see Berlioz’s Les Troyens, in Francesca Zambello’s revival. Dramatic soprano DEBORAH VOIGT and mezzo-soprano SUSAN GRAHAM lead the starry cast, while Met Principal Conductor FABIO LUISI marshals the large-scale musical forces. [Met; Dec 13, 17, 21, 26, 29, Jan 1, 5] 
Dec 14                 ALESSIO BAX returns for his second appearance this year with Russia’s renowned St. Petersburg Philharmonic under music director Yuri Temirkanov, applying his “flawless technique” (New York Times) to Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C minor, KV 491. [St. Petersburg, Russia]                      
 
Dec 26 – Jan 6       TRINITY WALL STREET’s Twelfth Night Festival, New York’s winter early music festival presented in collaboration with Gotham Early Music Society (GEMS), includes performances by the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Ryland Angel, Parthenia, New York Sinfonia, Clarion, Tenet, Green Mountain Project, Juilliard 415, and recitals by Dan Tepfer and Renée Anne Louprette. [Trinity Church] 
2013

JANUARY 

Jan 9, 10              Pianist JEREMY DENK takes his “characterful, vibrant playing, warm touch, and fluid articulation” (New York Times) to Toronto where he performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. [Toronto, Canada; Jan 9, 10] 
Jan 11 – Feb 3    JOSEPH CALLEJA performs selections from his new Decca Classics recording, Be My Love: A Tribute to Mario Lanza, on tour in Europe. [Jan 11: London, UK; Jan 18: Paris, France; Jan 21: Munich, Germany; Jan 28: Vienna, Austria; Jan 31: Amsterdam, Netherlands; Feb 3: Baden-Baden, Germany]                   
 
Jan 16                  ANGELA MEADE sings the role of Leonora in her first staged Il trovatore, in David McVicar’s production at the Met. While the soprano is booked to appear there for many years to come, this single performance of Verdi’s opera provides the only opportunity to hear her at the Met this season. [Met] 
Jan 16 – Feb 3    SUSAN GRAHAM joins soprano Renée Fleming for a duo recital tour, with Bradley Moore at the piano; together they perform works by Chausson, Debussy, Fauré, and more. [Jan 16: San Francisco, CA; Jan 19: Los Angeles, CA; Jan 22: Palm Desert, CA; Jan 24: LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO, Chicago, IL; Jan 27: CH; Feb 3: Boston, MA] 
Jan 18                   As part of its continuing “Brooklyn Rider Almanac” initiative, commissioning composers from various genres to write short works for string quartet inspired by art from the last 50 years, BROOKYLN RIDER presents a concert at Dartmouth College, showcasing new pieces – including several world premieres – by Nik Bärtsch (Swiss jazz/funk keyboardist), Padma Newsome (from The National), Greg Saunier (from Deerhoof), Ethan Iverson (jazz pianist, member of The Bad Plus), and Bill Frisell (jazz guitarist). [Hanover, NH] 
Jan 26 – Feb 3    STEPHEN COSTELLO will be hitting the high Cs (nine of them, in fact) when he opens the San Diego Opera’s new season with his role debut as Tonio in Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment. [San Diego, CA; Jan 26, 29, Feb 1, 3] 
Jan 30 – Feb 3           DANIEL BARENBOIM and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra return to the United States for the first time since 2006, performing all Beethoven’s symphonies at Carnegie Hall as part of the orchestra’s “Beethoven For All” project. Founded in 1999 by Barenboim and the late esteemed scholar and critic Edward Said, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra brings together young musicians from Israel, Palestine, and other Arab countries in the Middle East, fostering mutual understanding through music. [CH; Jan 30, 31, Feb 2, 3] 
Jan 31 – Feb 8    The New York City Ballet presents the world premiere of MARC-ANDRÉ DALBAVIE’s first ballet, which will be choreographed by NYCB’s ballet master in chief, Peter Martins. These world premiere performances will be conducted by the French composer himself. [David H. Koch Theater; Jan 31, Feb 2, 6, 8] 
FEBRUARY
 
Feb 8                   SUSANNA PHILLIPS presents a solo recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, accompanied by pianist Myra Huang. Repertoire for the evening, which marks the soprano’s only solo recital in New York City this season, includes works by Copland, Schubert, Chausson, Granados, and Messiaen. [WH] 
Feb 8 – March 3    For its third new production of the season, LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO presents Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Bass-baritone James Morris stars as the cobbler-poet Hans Sachs, and soprano Amanda Majeski makes her role debut as his daughter Eva; as the knight Walter von Stolzing, tenor Johan Botha vies for Eva’s hand, and baritone Bo Skovhus, as Beckmesser, joins in the song contest.  Sir Andrew Davis leads his first Meistersinger; Marie Lambert directs David McVicar’s original staging, a co-production with the Glyndebourne Festival and San Francisco Opera. [Chicago, IL; Feb 8, 12, 16, 20, 23, 27, March 3] 
Feb 15 – Mar 8           Staying with Wagner for the composer’s bicentennial year, bass RENÉ PAPE makes his only Met appearance of the season as the noble knight Gurnemanz in François Girard’s new production of Parsifal. Daniele Gatti conducts the run, which also includes Jonas Kaufmann in the title role, Katarina Dalayman as Kundry, and Peter Mattei as Amfortas. [Met; Feb 15, 18, 21, 27, March 2, 5, 8] 
Feb 21 – 23          JEREMY DENK returns to St. Paul to perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, as part of its “Mozart the Transcendent” series. The St. Paul Pioneer Press calls Denk’s playing “ebullient and exhilarating.” [St. Paul, MN; February 21, 22, 23] 
Feb 28                 On his first orchestral recording for Signum Classics, ALESSIO BAX plays Mozart’s Piano Concertos in C minor, KV 491, and B-flat, KV 595, with the UK’s Southbank Sinfonia led by Simon Over. Among the praise the pianist has won for his distinguished discography is Classic FM Magazine’s conviction that Bax has “technique to burn but also has the unteachable ability to tug at the heart strings.”
 
MARCH
 
March 1 – 8         AILYN PÉREZ returns to the Vienna State Opera for a run of performances in Otto Schenk’s production of L’elisir d’amore. Pérez portrays Adina opposite her husband, tenor STEPHEN COSTELLO, as Nemorino. [Vienna, Austria; March 1, 4, 8]                 
 
March 6 – 9         NICHOLAS PHAN returns to the New York Philharmonic for a second consecutive season, this time to participate in its “Bach Variations” festival. Leading the concert is Japanese Bach specialist Masaaki Suzuki, in his debut with the orchestra. He conducts the Bach Collegium Japan, the Yale Schola Cantorum, and other soloists including countertenor Iestyn Davies (all making New York Philharmonic debuts), in historically-informed interpretations of Bach’s motets Singet dem Herrn and Magnificat, alongside Mendelssohn’s Christus and Magnificat. [AFH; March 6, 7, 8, 9]   
 
March 9 – 24       In the role that catapulted her to prominence at the 2010 Caramoor Festival, ANGELA MEADE stars in her first staged Norma for her debut with Washington National Opera. Dolora Zajick is Adalgisa, and Anne Bogart directs the new Kennedy Center production. The New York Post hailed Meade’s Caramoor performance as “the emergence of a brilliant new interpreter of Norma.” [Washington, DC; March 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24] 
March 9 – 28       ANNA NETREBKO makes her LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO debut singing the ill-fated Mimì opposite JOSEPH CALLEJA’s Rodolfo in a new-to-Chicago production of La bohème. Elizabeth Futral is Musetta, and Emmanuel Villaume conducts. [Chicago, IL; March 9, 12, 15, 18, 22, 28]   
 
March 11 – 30    A season after his company role debut in the title role of Verdi’s Macbeth, THOMAS HAMPSON returns to the Met for another house role debut in a Verdi opera, now playing the treacherous Iago in Otello. [Met; March 11, 15, 20, 23, 27, 30] 
March 13 – 16    ALAN GILBERT contributes to the New York Philharmonic’s “Bach Variations” festival, conducting the composer’s Mass in B minor. [AFH; March 13, 14, 15, 16] 
March 14             SUSANNA PHILLIPS sings at Carnegie Hall for the second time this season when she makes her role debut as Stella in André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire. The performance is part of Renée Fleming’s “Perspectives” residency, and features the soprano’s portrayal of Blanche DuBois, the role Previn created for her. HOUSTON GRAND OPERA artistic and music director Patrick Summers leads the Orchestra of St. Luke’s for the evening. [CH] 
March 18             ALESSIO BAX makes his Carnegie Hall debut with Argentine cellist Sol Gabetta at Weill Recital Hall. After their Kennedy Center recital, the Washington Post observed: “Bax’s musical imagination took wing. … In phrase after phrase, he sculpted lines of logic and elegance.” [WH] 
March 21 – 24    HOUSTON GRAND OPERA reprises Cruzar la cara de la luna (“To Cross the Face of the Moon”), this time on its main stage. The work was commissioned by the company in 2010 as part of its acclaimed HGOCo community initiative. The world’s first “mariachi opera” was written and directed by Leonard Foglia, and features the renowned mariachi ensemble Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán. [Houston, TX; March 21, 23, 24] 
March 21 –
          April 6       DANIEL HOPE returns for his eighth season as Associate Artistic Director of the genre-bending Savannah Music Festival. Having recently renewed his contract with the festival, Hope will continue to work in Savannah at least until 2015, when he will mark the tenth year of his tenure there. [Savannah, GA; individual dates and programming tba] 
March 22             JEREMY DENK returns to the main stage of Carnegie Hall for a recital of music by Liszt and Brahms. The pianist gave his celebrated Carnegie Hall solo recital debut in March 2011 when he stepped in as a last-minute replacement for the ailing Maurizio Pollini. [CH] 
March 26 –
           April 6      LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO presents four staged concert performances of André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire. The company’s creative consultant Renée Fleming reprises her portrayal of Blanche DuBois. Soprano SUSANNA PHILLIPS sings Stella opposite baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes in his Lyric debut as Stanley Kowalski. The cast, led by conductor Evan Rogister, making his Lyric debut too, also includes tenor Anthony Dean Griffey, and Brad Dalton directs the Lyric premiere of this new production. [Chicago, IL; March 26, 29, April 3, 6]

APRIL
April 1                 JOHN ELIOT GARDINER celebrates his 70th birthday in grand fashion with a 12-hour Bach marathon in London (venue TBC). The event begins with his Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra performing the St. John Passion and ends with the Mass in B minor. [London, UK]                     
 
April 5, 6             ALAN GILBERT leads a new installment of “CONTACT!,” the New York Philharmonic’s new-music series. The orchestra’s principal oboist, Liang Wang, plays the U.S. premiere of Poul Ruders’s Oboe Concerto; other works on the program include the New York premiere of Anders Hillborg’s Vaporized Tivoli, and the U.S. premieres of Unsuk Chin’s Gougalon and of Yann Robin’s Backdraft, a New York Philharmonic co-commission with the Fundacao Casa da Música, Portugal. [April 5: MM; April 6: Symphony Space] 
 
April 5, 6             NICHOLAS PHAN returns to the San Francisco Symphony for Handel’s Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, a cantata celebrating music. Bernard Labadie conducts. [San Francisco, CA; April 5, 6] 
April 6 – May 11         The Met’s epic “Ring” returns in 2013 for three complete cycles led by principal conductor FABIO LUISI. DEBORAH VOIGT reprises her relatively new portrayal of Brünnhilde in Die Walkure, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung. [Met; April 6: Das Rheingold; April 13: Die Walküre; April 20: Siegfried; April 23: Götterdämmerung; April 25: Das Rheingold; April 26: Die Walküre; April 29: Siegfried; May 2: Götterdämmerung; May 4: Das Rheingold; May 6: Die Walküre; May 8: Siegfried; May 11: Götterdämmerung] 
April 8                 ANGELA MEADE co-stars with fellow Met Opera National Council Auditions winner and Academy of Vocal Arts alum Michael Fabiano in the Opera Orchestra of New York’s concert performance of Verdi’s I Lombardi at Carnegie Hall.  Meade sings the role of Giselda and Alberto Veronesi conducts in OONY’s celebration of the Verdi bicentennial. As the Baltimore Sun asks, “Could Meade be the next great Verdian soprano?” [CH] 
April 11 – 13        PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD joins the New York Philharmonic with conductor David Robertson for the U.S. premiere of former Columbia University composition professor Tristan Murail’s Piano Concerto. [AFH; April 11, 12, 13] 
April 12 – 22        Returning to the Vienna State Opera, ANNA NETREBKO makes her eagerly anticipated role debut as Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. [Vienna, Austria; April 12, 15, 18, 22] 
April 15 – 20        During “Discovery Week” in Indianapolis, the AMERICAN PIANISTS ASSOCIATION showcases the five finalists competing for a prize valued at more than $100,000.  The 13-month-long competition concludes with a feast of solo recitals, chamber music, new music, a song recital with American soprano SUSANNA PHILLIPS, two evenings of concertos with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the announcement of the 2013 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellow, “a musician with the potential to make significant contributions to American cultural life.” [Indianapolis, IN; April 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20] 
April 17 – 20        ALAN GILBERT leads the New York Philharmonic in “Three Americans”: a program that includes Joshua Bell performing Bernstein’s Serenade; the world premiere of a New York Philharmonic commission from new composer-in-residence Christopher Rouse; and Ives’s Symphony No. 4. [AFH; April 17, 18, 19, 20] 
April 18 – May 5         Nina Stemme makes her U.S. role debut as Isolde in HOUSTON GRAND OPERA’s new production of Tristan und Isolde. Ben Heppner makes his HGO debut as Tristan, with HGO artistic and music director Patrick Summers in the pit. [Houston, TX; April 18, 21, 24, 27, May 2, 5] 
April 21               Hundreds of opera fans, many cultural and social luminaries among them, gather for the eighth annual OPERA NEWS Awards gala, celebrating the achievements of distinguished honorees selected for their invaluable contributions to the art form. [The Plaza] 
April 24 – 28        THOMAS HAMPSON gives the world premiere of a newly-commissioned work from Mark Adamo with the Jupiter String Quartet, and performs songs by Hugo Wolf with musicians from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. [April 24: Davis, CA; April 26: Boston, MA; April 28: ATH] 
MAY
 
May 10 – 18         NICHOLAS PHAN returns to Portland Opera for his U.S. role debut as Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff. [Portland, OR; May 10, 12, 16, 18] 
May 17 – 25         Already noted for her portrayal of Mozart’s Susanna, ANNA NETREBKO sings her first Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. [Baden-Baden, Germany; May 17, 20, 23, 25] 
May 30 – June 1         JEREMY DENK performs Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of composer/conductor John Adams. [Washington, DC; May 30, 31, June 1] 
JUNE
 
June 27 – 29          ALAN GILBERT and the New York Philharmonic present an all-Stravinsky finale to their season. Beginning with The Fairy’s Kiss, Gilbert and the orchestra then reunite with designer/director Doug Fitch and producer Edouard Getaz, with whom they previously collaborated on Ligeti’s Le grand macabre and Janácek’s Cunning Little Vixen, for a Giants Are Small production of Stravinsky’s Petrushka. [AFH; June 27, 28, 29] 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
All concerts are in New York City, except where otherwise specified.
 
AFH = Avery Fisher Hall
ATH = Alice Tully Hall
CH = Carnegie Hall
Met = Metropolitan Opera
MM = Metropolitan Museum of Art
WH = Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall
ZH = Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall