Even though it seems like winter just won’t quit, our region always enjoys a spring rush of concert activity — and the weather fortunately has no bearing on plans that music groups make well in advance. So ignore any lingering snow, pretend spring is here, and enjoy what’s on offer! Remember, you can receive Fanfare to your inbox; subscribe here.
Spotlight: Variant Six and Filament: Crux — Friday at Church of the Gesu, North Philadelphia; Saturday at First and Central Presbyterian Church, Wilmington
The superb artists of Variant Six and Filament are joining forces in a program perfect for the Lenten season. They’re calling it “Crux,” or “Cross,” which is certainly more direct than Membra Jesu nostri patientis sanctissima (Latin for Limbs Most Holy of Our Suffering Jesus) — the actual collective title of a profound cycle of seven sacred cantatas by the Baroque master Dietrich Buxtehude. Each cantata meditates on a different part of Christ’s body on the cross, in ascending order: feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart, and face. Performances of this Baroque treasure are rare, not least because of its technical and expressive demands, which these artists undoubtedly can meet. So treat yourself before this fleeting opportunity passes.
March 6 at 7:30 p.m., Church of the Gesu, N. 18th Street, Philadelphia, $25; March 7 at 3 p.m. at First and Central Presbyterian Church, 1101 N. Market Street, Wilmington, DE, $25; tickets and information.
Philadelphia Ballet: The Merry Widow — Thursday through Sunday, Academy of Music
Opera fans know Franz Lehar’s delightful confection, with its classic operetta scenario: the Merry Widow is pursued by every eligible bachelor except the man she truly loves, who also loves her, but perversely refuses to admit it. Spoiler alert: Everything works out in the end. The delight is in the journey, and the twist here is... no voices! Instead, in John Lanchbery’s inspired adaptation of Lehar’s score, ballet dancers pirouette and jeté their way through the trials and tribulations of the widow Hanna and her erstwhile lover, Danilo. Why not savor the old story in a new way?
March 5 through 15 at various times, Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad Street, $29-$270; tickets and information.
The Philadelphia Orchestra: Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony — Friday through Sunday, Marian Anderson Hall
Part of Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s ongoing Mahler cycle stretching over several seasons, the Second Symphony marks the composer’s first major statement on death and the afterlife. Its impetus, a massive symphonic poem he called “Totenfeier” (“Funeral Rites”), would become the symphony’s opening movement. Additional movements came to him with relative ease, but Mahler needed a “Resurrection” statement. He found inspiration in a poem with that title, added verses of his own, and produced the symphony’s stunning fourth and final movements, with soloists and a large chorus. The sheer forces required mean the “Resurrection” Symphony can’t be done often, and this will be an event, with stunning soloists in soprano Ying Fang and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato (who was riveting in last season’s Mahler Third).
March 6 at 2 p.m., March 7 at 8 p.m., and March 8 at 2 p.m., Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 S. Broad Street, $66-$252; tickets and information.
Isidore Quartet — Friday, Perelman Theater
The exciting young Isidore Quartet arrives in Philadelphia with impressive credentials: a recent Avery Fisher Career Grant and prizes in the Banff International String Quartet Competition, both recognized launchpads for up-and-coming ensembles. All its members are Juilliard graduates, and claim inspiration from the example of that institution’s legendary namesake quartet. They’ve also invested significant energy in the quartets of jazz pianist and composer Billy Childs. This program includes his Quartet No. 4, written for the Isadore, plus Haydn’s “Sunrise,” Op. 76 No. 4, and Dvořák’s poetic Op. 106.
Mar. 6 at 7:30 p.m., Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 S Broad Street, $32; tickets and information.
Looking Ahead:
The Philadelphia Orchestra: Weber, Liszt, and Beach with Marc-Andre Hamelin — March 12 and 14, Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Canadian-born and Temple University-trained, pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin is a wonder. Anyone who has attended his recitals or heard his recordings of virtuoso keyboard works — the ones that other pianists avoid for their sheer complexity (Alkan, anyone?) — knows there is nothing this guy can’t play. And not just play: his performances are often revelatory, and shed fascinating light on composers often dismissed as producers of mere showpieces. While I might wish the Orchestra had booked him for something more unusual than Liszt’s Second Concerto, I know this will be a great time. The program also promises an attractive rarity: the “Gaelic” Symphony by Amy Beach, herself a formidable concert pianist who prioritized composing once married (in the common practice of her day). Inspired by Dvořák's exhortation that American composers make use of folk tunes, she built this symphony on Celtic melodies.
March 12 at 7:30 p.m., March 14 at 8 p.m., Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 S. Broad Street, $29-$230; tickets and information.
