Wagner’s
Die Walküre. Conductor: Adam Fischer, director: Sven-Eric Bechtolf. With Christopher Ventris, Ain Anger, Waltraud Meier, Linda Watson, and Tomasz Konieczny. Production from January 2016. Register for free and view here.
1 pm ET: Copland House presents
Underscored: Jalbert’s
Crossings. Vermont-born composer Pierre Jalbert was inspired by the migration of people voyaging into new and unfamiliar places and traces Jalbert’s own French-Canadian-American ancestry.
Crossings is built around a folk song from Quebec,
Quand j’ai parti du Canada (When I Left Canada), which is deconstructed, reinterpreted, reassembled, and reordered in inventive and unexpected ways. The program features a complete performance of the work, preceded by an introductory conversation with the composer, and followed by a live Q&A with viewers. Register and view here.
1 pm ET: Wiener Staatsoper presents
Giselle. Conductor: Valery Ovsyanikov, choreography: Elena Tschernischova after Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa. With Nina Poláková, Masayu Kimoto, Rebecca Horner, Andrey Kaydanovskiy, Alice Firenze, Leonardo Basílio, and Soloists and Corps de ballet des Wiener Staatsballetts. Production from September 2017. Register for free and view here.
2:30 pm ET: Philharmonie de Paris presents Casadesus conducts Debussy, Ravel, Schumann & Beethoven. Jean-Claude Casadesus conducts the Orchestre du Conservatoire de Paris in a Franco-German program of Debussy’s
Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, Ravel’s
Pavane pour une infante défunte Schumann’s Piano Concerto with soloist David Kadouch, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1. View here. LIVE
Verdi’s
Un Ballo in Maschera. Starring Aprile Millo, Harolyn Blackwell, Florence Quivar, Luciano Pavarotti, and Leo Nucci, conducted by James Levine. From January 26, 1991. View here and for 24 hours.
Wagner’s
Das Rheingold. Conductor: Adam Fischer, director: Sven-Eric Bechtolf. With Tomasz Konieczny, Norbert Ernst, Jochen Schmeckenbecher, Herwig Pecoraro, and Michaela Schuster. Production from January 2016. Register for free and view here.
Sunday, January 3 Handel’s
Semele. First streamed on OperaVision at its premiere in Berlin on May 12, 2018. Barrie Kosky’s production returns as part of the Komische Oper winter streaming festival. Konrad Junghänel conducts a cast including Philipp Meierhöfer, Nicole Chevalier, Katarina Bradic, Eric Jurenas, Allan Clayton, Ezgi Kutlu, and Nora Friedrichs. View here for one month.
4 Things to Do This Week in DC (and Beyond)
Ford s maintains a Christmas tradition, the Kennedy Center gets digital, and GALA keeps dancing.
STAGE
A Christmas Carol: A Radio Play
It wouldn’t be Christmas in Washington without the music-infused adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Yuletide classic that Ford’s Theatre has presented annually for over 30 years. Although a run of live performances of the full stage production isn’t possible in 2020 due to the pandemic, the historic venue has found a way to ensure the hopeful and inspiring tale still gets as wide an airing as possible through a new partnership with WAMU 88.5.
Christmas Oratorio. Ensemble Resonanz presents Bach s
Christmas Oratorio as Hausmusik among friends. With a small cast and no large choir, the ensemble has arranged 30 arias, recitatives, choruses, and chorales from Bach s masterpiece in its own version. The score remains untouched, but electric guitar and Hammond organ sound in the continuo, there’s only one trumpet, and the whole ensemble joins in the chorales. View here.
Delibes’s
Sylvia. Conductor: Kevin Rhodes, choreography: Manuel Legris after Louis Mérante. With Kiyoka Hashimoto, Masayu Kimoto, and Davide Dato. Production from November 2018. Register for free and view here.
2 pm ET: VOCES8 Live from London presents