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Verdi's "Requiem" demands Riccardo Muti's return to Philly

Fanfare is our curated weekly guide to classical music concerts in the Philadelphia area. Subscribe now to get Fanfare delivered to your inbox every Sunday. And if you have feedback or an upcoming event to share, let us know!


Spotlight: Jasper String Quartet & Dover Quartet — Thursday at Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, Friday at Field Concert Hall

Philadelphia is fortunate to claim several superb string quartets as its own, and two of its finest are in action this week. On Thursday, the Jasper String Quartet — winners of the prestigious Plowman Chamber Music Competition and the current quartet-in-residence at Temple University — offer a concert of folk-inflected works as part of their own Jasper Chamber Concerts series. The program begins with stirring pieces by contemporary composers Roman Haas, Gabriella Smith, and Jungyoon Wie (whose Saeya, Saeya, Parang Saeya transforms a traditional Korean melody), juxtaposed with Antonin Dvorak’s Fourteenth String Quartet in A-flat major, Op. 105, his final work in the medium.

On Friday, the Dover Quartet presents a program of a strikingly similar vintage as part of the Curtis Institute’s ongoing 100th anniversary celebration (the Dover is Curtis’s ensemble-in-residence). Pieces by three contemporary composers, including Woodland Songs, a new work commissioned from the Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichcha̱achaaha' Tate, anchor the concert’s first half, with Dvorak’s melodically abundant “American” Quartet featuring after intermission. (This concert is currently sold out, but it’s not too late to join the waitlist.)

Jasper String Quartet: Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m., Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, 20 East Mermaid Lane, free with suggested donation, more information

Dover Quartet: Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m., Field Concert Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, 1616 Locust Street, sold out, but a waitlist is available, more information.

Amerita Chamber Players — Wednesday, Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel

The Amerita Chamber Players, the resident band of the America-Italy Society of Philadelphia, turn back time for an evening focused on Italian Baroque works for flute. Patrick Williams, the associate principal flute of The Philadelphia Orchestra, stars in trio sonatas by Antonio Caldara and Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco and in Vivaldi’s charmingly chirpy concerto known as Il Gardellino (The Goldfinch). Acclaimed local musicians (many of whom are current or former Philadelphia Orchestra members) Nancy Bean, Pamela Fay, Barbara Govatos, Glenn Fischbach, and Joyce Wei-Jo Chen, round out the program with works by Bach and Boccherini.

Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m., Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel, 300 South 18th Street, free, more information

The Philadelphia Orchestra — Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Marian Anderson Hall

“A man like Verdi must write like Verdi,” wrote the composer’s wife Giuseppina in response to early criticism of his Messa da Requiem. 150 years after the premiere of her husband’s 1874 masterpiece, Giuseppina’s Yogi Berra-esque logic still rings true — no piece better demonstrates Verdi’s unique ability to marry operatic grandeur and deep spirituality. In what is sure to be a highlight of the first half of its season, The Philadelphia Orchestra is joined by its former music director Riccardo Muti for three performances of the Requiem. I can’t wait to experience the magic Muti, one of the foremost living Verdi interpreters, conjures with soloists Juliana Grigoryan, Isabel De Paoli, Giovanni Sala, Maharram Huseynov, and the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir.

Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 25 at 8 p.m., and Oct. 26 at 8 p.m., Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 South Broad Street, $66-$224, tickets and information

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Courtesy of the artist

Einav Yarden — Friday, American Philosophical Society

The Berlin-based Israeli pianist Einav Yarden returns to the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society for the first time since her 2018 series debut with an intriguing recital mixing sonatas by C.P.E. Bach and Haydn, selections by the now 98-year old Hungarian composer György Kurtág, and Robert Schumann’s finger-busting Kreisleriana.

Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m., American Philosophical Society, 427 Chestnut Street, $30, tickets and information

Opera Delaware — Friday and Sunday, The Grand Opera House

If you read last week’s edition of Fanfare, you may have been enticed by our reporting on Opera Baltimore’s staging of Puccini’s La bohème. This weekend, the production travels north to Wilmington — the opera was co-produced by Opera Delaware and Opera Baltimore — sporting the same superb cast, including tenor Edward Graves as Rodolfo and soprano Toni Marie Palmertree as Mimì, at a much more manageable distance.

Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct 27 at 2 p.m., Copeland Hall, The Grand Opera House, 818 North Market Street, Wilmington, DE, $29-$109, tickets and information

Courtesy of the artist

Curtis Symphony Orchestra — Sunday, Marian Anderson Hall

The charter members of the string trio Time for Three met as students at the Curtis Institute in the early 2000s, so it feels particularly fitting that they’re featured guests for the opening concert of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra’s ‘24-’25 season, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the conservatory’s founding. The trio’s knack for jocular interplay takes center stage in Concerto 4-3, a work composed for them by a fellow Curtis alum, Jennifer Higdon. Conductor Osmo Vӓnskӓ also leads two repertoire stalwarts, both forged in defiance to Russian military aggression, Sibelius’s Finlandia and Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony.

Oct. 27 at 3 p.m., Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 South Broad Street, $24-$59, tickets and information

Zev is thrilled to be WRTI’s classical program director, where he hopes to steward and grow the station’s tremendous legacy on the airwaves of Greater Philadelphia.