It's another great week of shows — you read last week about AVA's Faust, which has most of its run this week — we've got another tour continuation, a work night on the town, and as I like to offer you, something to stretch your ideas of what classical music can be.
Spotlight: Symphonie fantastique After 5 and more — Thursday through Saturday, Marian Anderson Hall
Philadelphia Magazine called The Philadelphia Orchestra’s “Orchestra After 5” the best classical music outing of 2024, and it’s easy to see why — the evening starts with a happy hour and fun activities, you get an hour’s worth of great music, and then there’s a talkback with members of the orchestra. And then, since it’s a work night, you get back home at a reasonable hour (if you want). This Thursday’s program will have only one piece on the program, as Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique fills up that whole time, but it’s certainly a great, dramatic way for a new listener to dip a toe into classical music. Or, if you’re all about the music (whether or not “already” is part of that sentence), joining the Symphonie on Friday afternoon and Saturday night’s programs are Augusta Holmès’ “La Nuit et l’amour” and a new cello concerto by Guillaume Connesson. Both shows will be led by the orchestra’s former Principal Guest Conductor, Stéphane Denève.
Happy Hour Fantastique: Nov. 21 at 5 p.m.; Symphonie fantastique: Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. and Nov. 23 at 8 p.m., Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 South Broad Street, $21-195.
Two PCMS performances — Wednesday and Thursday, Perelman Theater and Benjamin Franklin Hall
The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society has two shows going on this week — on Wednesday, mezzo Fleur Barron joins the Parker Quartet at the Perelman Theater for songs by Brahms and Mahler, as well as a new song cycle for string quartet and voice by Anthony Cheung, a co-commission with PCMS. The quartet will also perform a Brahms string quartet and a work by John Luther Adams. The next day, guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre makes his PCMS debut at the American Philosophical Society’s Benjamin Franklin Hall for a diverse program spanning the Baroque to the 20th century.
Parker Quartet/Fleur Barron: Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m., Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 South Broad Street, $30, tickets and information.
Raphaël Feuillâtre: Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m., Benjamin Franklin Hall, 427 Chestnut Street, $30, tickets and information.
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia — Friday and Sunday, Perelman Theater
This performance has New York written all over it — it’s the place where Béla Bartók wound up after fleeing fascism in Europe, it’s got a strong connection to Leonard Bernstein both personally and artistically, and it’s the current home of Aaron Jay Kernis (who happens to be from our neck of the woods). They’re all represented by the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia’s program this weekend which carries that NYC theme, with contrasting works by Kernis and Bartók, followed by Bernstein’s Serenade featuring violinist Sandy Cameron.
Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 24 at 2:30 p.m., Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 South Broad Street, $29-104, tickets and information.
Curtis Symphony Orchestra — Friday, Marian Anderson Hall
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Curtis Institute’s Head of Conducting, takes the helm of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra this Friday evening in Marian Anderson Hall for three composers with connections to America, as Thanksgiving is right around the corner. First is Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, whose travels stateside gave him important inspiration for his music; his Ballade was his big break, having received a co-sign from fellow Englishman Edward Elgar. Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 is next on the program, and since she has the American music covered, the closing offering from Antonín Dvořák will be his more Bohemian-themed Symphony No. 8. If you can’t make this one but can make it to New York on Sunday, they’re playing the same program at David Geffen Hall.
Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m., Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 South Broad Street, $24-59, tickets and information.
Tempesta di Mare, Duo Silvio — Wednesday through Nov. 24, various locations
There are more opportunities than not to hear members of Philadelphia’s Baroque orchestra this week. You may have already caught their Unmatched ensemble — flute, recorder, oboe, bassoon, and violin, with harpsichord and theorbo accompaniment — in Chestnut Hill this past Saturday. They’ll be back in the area for one more performance at Topper Theatre at Villanova University. Then, Duo Silvio (founding lutenist Richard Stone and his former student Cameron Welke) will have three shows: one on Thursday as part of Market Street Music in Wilmington, one on Saturday in Chestnut Hill, and one on Sunday at the Museum of the American Revolution.
Unmatched: Nov. 20 at 7 p.m., Topper Theater, 800 East Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, free admission, reserve via email or by calling 610-519-7474; more information.
Duo Silvio: Nov. 21 at 12:30 p.m., Old Town Hall, 510 North Market Street, Wilmington, DE, free admission, more information;
Nov. 23 at 5 p.m., Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, 20 East Mermaid Lane, $30;
Nov. 24 at 3 p.m., Museum of the American Revolution, 101 South 3rd Street, $30; tickets and information.
Nate Wooley’s Folk Music — Saturday, Solar Myth
Have you ever heard someone say that “improvisation is composition?” (I use quotes, but it’s true.) Well, trumpeter Nate Wooley and his trio Folk Music, with drummers Chris Corsano and Ches Smith, will be composing live at Solar Myth this Saturday. Folk Music, says Wooley, is named as such “for the idea of making something from scratch using the full life-experience and creativity of the musicians, a story that changes with each re-telling, that progresses each time the musicians come together to tell it again” — in essence, the way folk music starts from nothing and evolves through repetition and oral tradition. The name may be Folk Music and it may largely employ the idiom of jazz, but the concept fits well under the umbrella of classical music — indeed, it is larger than one usually expects.
Nov. 23 at 8 p.m., Solar Myth, 1131 South Broad Street, $30; tickets and information.
Looking ahead:
Barbara Hannigan/Bertrand Chamayou — Dec. 10, Perelman Theater
Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason — Dec. 13, Perelman Theater
WRTI Silent Night Sing-In — Dec. 13, Kimmel Center lobby
David Watson/Bill Nace Duo — Dec. 14, Pageant Soloveev
What Remains When We Are Gone? — Dec. 20-22, various locations
And of course, plenty of holiday concerts in the coming month!
