Glimmers Of Light As The Days Grow Dark And Snowy

I plan to attend two classical music concerts in the Washington area this week, time permitting. Tomorrow, the Washington Bach Consort will perform, at noon at Church of the Epiphany (13th and G Streets NW), Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist, BWV 45, preceded by Diane Heath performing Bach's Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch", BWV 769. The Washington Bach Consort has performed in Washington throughout the 28 or so years I have lived here. (Michael Harrison's Palestrina Choir also gave a fine noon time program at the Church of the Epiphany that we attended the week before All Souls Day).

This Friday, I plan to attend the Contemporary Music series at the French Embassy on the fringe of Georgetown, where Nicolas Baldeyrou (clarinet) and Alexis Descharmes (cello) will perform works by Henri Dutilleux, Luciano Berio, Kaija Saariaho, Pierre Boulez, Daniel A. d’Adamo, Michael Jarrell and Magnus Lindberg.

Here are the exciting program details:

Henri Dutilleux : Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher for solo cello
Luciano Berio : Sequenza for solo clarinet
Kaija Saariaho : Spins & Spells for solo cello
Pierre Boulez : Domaines for solo clarinet
Daniel A. d’Adamo : Breath for clarinet and cello
Kaija Saariaho : Oi Kuu for clarinet and cello
Michael Jarrell : Aus Bebung for clarinet and cello
Magnus Lindberg : Steamboat Bill Jr. for clarinet and cello

The two works by Ms Saariaho remind me that her and Ms Amin Maloof's opera L'Amour De Loin are still very much on my mind and spirit as I also attempt to locate some of the initial reviews to Tobias Picker's and Gene Scheer's An American Tragedy, premiered at the MET Opera, in New York City, last Friday. The premiere was the fourth world premiere by the MET Opera since James Levine became Artistic Director in 1971.











The New Finnish National Opera House in Helsinki, Finland, was opened in 1993. Much Finnish and international opera is performed here. Home of the September 2004 production of L'Amour De Loin now available on DGG DVD.

Photo credit: Image © Corel via www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia