WASHINGTON, June 10, 2016 – Thursday evening’s Mahler-Bruckner concert by the National Symphony Orchestra was an oddly mixed bag. This series concert, with Christoph Eschenbach at the orchestra helm, featured only two works, the relatively short and not-too-well-known “Rückert-Lieder” of Gustav Mahler, which featured contralto Nathalie Stutzmann as soloist; and Anton Bruckner’s marvelous Symphony No. ...
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2016 – Christoph Eschenbach returned to the podium Thursday evening to conduct a winning program whose focal point was the Violin Concerto of Finnish conductor-composer Esa-Pekka Salonen, performed by popular violinist Leila Josefowicz. Flanking the concerto on the program: Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 in D major (“London”) and Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 ...
WASHINGTON, March 4, 2016 – After a long local hiatus due to their recent European concert tour, the National Symphony Orchestra returned to the Kennedy Center this week with an unusual program that bookended Max Bruch’s rarely heard “Scottish Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra,” Op. 46 with a pair of wildly different Prokofiev symphonies. Read ...
WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2015 — In a Monday afternoon press release, the National Symphony Orchestra announced its appointment of Gianandrea Noseda, 51, as the ensemble’s new music director. “I am honored to become a part of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center family,” stated Mr. Noseda, “and look forward to a partnership that ...
WASHINGTON, November 6, 2015 – Given the popularity of Mahler’s First, Second (Resurrection), Fourth and Ninth Symphonies and the famous Adagio of the Fifth (used in the film “Death in Venice”), it’s not often you get a chance to hear a live performance of his massive Third Symphony. Indeed, the NSO last performed it here ...
WASHINGTON, October 30, 2015 – National Symphony Orchestra conductor and music director Christoph Eschenbach returned to the podium Thursday evening to lead a triumphal series concert highlighted by two stirring 19th century hits plus a slightly lesser-known symphonic gem from the same Romantic Era. The program included Richard Wagner’s Overture to his opera “Tannhäuser,” Edvard ...
WASHINGTON, May 13, 2015 – Continuing his two-week residency with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos performed an intense program of Baroque and Romantic sonatas Monday evening at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. He was accompanied by the NSO’s music director, Christoph Eschenbach who, in addition to his conducting duties, is also ...
WASHINGTON, May 12, 2015 – In case you missed the news, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) has put together a dynamite week of programming at the Kennedy Center that starts and ends with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach for both the solo organ and the solo violin. But wait! There’s more. Also on tap ...
WASHINGTON, May 7, 2015 – Thursday evening at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach successfully brought two complex and vivid late-Romantic masterpieces to vivid, sometimes anguished, but ultimately triumphal life; namely, Mahler’s imposing Symphony No. 5 and Sibelius’ eclectic and highly challenging Violin Concerto in D ...
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2015 – The Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall looked to be nearly sold out Thursday evening as members of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) warmed up for the usual 7 p.m. curtain. And why not? What’s not to love about a program that begins with Johann Strauss II’s fun and fizzy overture to ...
WASHINGTON, March 14, 2015 – In keeping with the Kennedy Center’s ongoing Iberian festival, which primarily highlights the performing arts of Spain and Portugal, the National Symphony Orchestra’s latest series concerts this past weekend celebrated the music of Spain. As re-imagined by a quartet of French composers. It was an inspired choice. For some reason—perhaps ...
WASHINGTON, February 18, 2015 – In a surprise press release today, the National Symphony Orchestra and, by extension, the Kennedy Center announced that Christoph Eschenbach “will not extend his position as Music Director after the conclusion of the 2016-2017 season.” After that season, Maestro Eschenbach will then serve an additional three years as the NSO’s ...
WASHINGTON, November 18, 2014 – The National Symphony Orchestra wrapped up its centennial-plus-one celebration of Igor Stravinsky’s trailblazing modernist ballet, “Le sacre du printemps” (“The Rite of Spring”) this Saturday past at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall. With NSO music director Christoph Eschenbach at the helm, the orchestra also performed works by contemporary Russian-born composer ...
WASHINGTON, November 17, 2014 – As part of its “Rite of Spring” festivities this weekend past, the National Symphony orchestra presented a special educational concert highlighting the origins and the composition of Stravinsky’s pioneering modernist ballet music. Making use of an innovative multimedia package developed by the Chicago Symphony, the NSO’s “Beyond the Score®” concert ...
WASHINGTON, November 9, 2014 – The National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center are all-in for Igor Stravinsky this week. In three (count ‘em!) different programs, the NSO and assorted artists will focus on Stravinsky’s precedent-shattering 20th century classical music wakeup call, otherwise known as “Le sacre du printemps,” or “The Rite of Spring” on ...
WASHINGTON, June 13, 2014 – Under the baton of music director Christoph Eschenbach, the National Symphony Orchestra opened its final regular season concert program Thursday evening in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall with an unusual and compelling performance contrasting four of composer Anton Bruckner’s infrequently performed choral motets with his final completed symphony, the massive ...