10 classical concerts to stream in November
With many opera houses and concert halls still closed by the coronavirus pandemic for months to come, the musical action has moved online. That has been the case since March, of course, but as the weather cools and outdoor presentations grow more difficult, artists and institutions are creating digital presentations with more care and intention.
There is a flood of offerings. Here are 10 highlights for November. (Times listed are Eastern.)
Metropolitan Opera; Sunday, 7:30 p.m.; metopera.org; available until 6:30 p.m. Monday.
Mere hours before Election Day comes a reflection on the slow, halting pace of political progress: Philip Glass’ “Satyagraha,” captured on video in 2011 and one of the Met’s finest shows this century. Glass’ arpeggiating, unhurried score, with a sung Sanskrit text drawn from the Bhagavad Gita, evokes Gandhi’s early activism in South Africa and his development of a philosophy of nonviolent resistance. Phelim McDermott’s staging combines homespun visual wit and wonder, playing especially on imagery of the newspaper Indian Opinion, with sequences of soaring poignancy and one of the great final scenes in all of opera. – Zachary Woolfe
Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m.; dso.org; available through Nov.22.
During a concert of his works last year at the Miller Theatre in New York, composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey, who has little patience with distinctions between genres and styles, described his artistic goal as working toward a model of “music that perpetuates itself.” A new Sorey piece for violin and orchestra, “For Marcos Balter,” receives its premiere during a 45-minute livestream from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, featuring brilliant violinist Jennifer Koh and conductor Xian Zhang. Florence Price’s “Five Folksongs in Counterpoint,” arrangements of spirituals for string quartet, opens the program. – Anthony Tommasini
Vicky Chow; Nov. 12, 8 p.m.; vimeo.com/roulettetv; available indefinitely.
Chow, the resident pianist of the Bang on a Can All-Stars ensemble, has performed works by some of the most venerable living composers, including Steve Reich and Meredith Monk. But her 2016 solo album, “A O R T A,” demonstrated that she also has good taste in up-and-coming artists. That track record is a reason to tune in to Chow’s premiere of Cassie Wieland’s “HYMN.” A commission from the Brooklyn, New York, venue Roulette, this piano-plus-electronics piece is part of a livestreamed program of compositions by Wieland. – Seth
Colter Walls
Thomas Kotcheff; Nov. 13, 8 p.m.; youtube.com; available indefinitely.
Composer Frederic Rzewski has long been inspired by protest music. That tradition continues with Thomas Kotcheff’s recording of his new series of piano pieces, “Songs of Insurrection,” on the Coviello Contemporary imprint. To celebrate the release, Kotcheff will play select movements from the work on this livestreamed concert, alongside a piece by Jordan Nelson. A keyboardist of no small renown himself, Rzewski has hailed Kotcheff’s recording as “magnificent” – singling out his handling of the improvisatory options embedded in the composition.
– Seth Colter Walls
Los Angeles Opera; Nov. 14, 8 p.m.; laopera.org; available through Nov. 29.
A young widow, cynical about love, keeps receiving letters and gifts from an unknown man expressing his passion for her. That’s the setup for “The Anonymous Lover,” a 1740 chamber opera by polymathic composer Joseph Boulogne, also known as Chevalier de Saint-Georges, whose rich musical accomplishments are finally gaining more attention. Los Angeles Opera streams a production performed by socially distanced singers and instrumentalists. James Conlon, the company’s music director, conducts. – Anthony
Tommasini
San Francisco Symphony; Nov. 14, 10 p.m.; sfsymphony.org; available indefinitely.
Orchestral music wasn’t written to be presented the way it has been in online streams (of varying quality) during the pandemic. But the industry is beginning to adapt, with new works written for the internet. That’s how Esa-Pekka Salonen is starting his tenure as the San Francisco Symphony’s new music director: with the premiere of Nico Muhly’s “Throughline,” which was composed so specifically for a virtual medium that it wouldn’t work in live performance. The program also includes pieces, more traditionally recorded, by Ellen Reid, Kev Choice, John Adams and – lest you forget his 250th birthday – Beethoven. – Joshua Barone
The Cliburn; Nov. 15, 3 p.m.; cliburn.org; available indefinitely.
The pandemic has caused the quadrennial Cliburn International Piano Competition to be moved from next June to 2022. But its organizers are providing some intriguing online content, including previously broadcast competition programs and Cliburn Masterpiece, a series exploring one work at a time. While these hew toward the standards, Nov. 15 brings a discussion and performance of Carl Vine’s 1990 Sonata No. 1, a thorny, finger-busting, thoroughly satisfying piece. Vine and pianist Steven Lin, a Cliburn award winner in 2013, are in the house. – Zachary
Woolfe
Seattle Symphony; Nov. 19, 10:30 p.m.; seattlesymphony.org; available through Nov. 26.
Declare November the month of Tyshawn Sorey. Not even two weeks after hearing the premiere, from Detroit, of his violin concerto “For Marcos Balter,” travel – virtually, of course – to Seattle for another new work of his: “For Roscoe Mitchell,” for cello and orchestra. The soloist is Seth Parker Woods, and David Robertson conducts this enterprising ensemble in a livestreamed program that includes Brett Dean’s “Testament” and Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony. – Zachary Woolfe
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Nov. 21, 8 p.m.; cincinnatisymphony.org; available through Dec. 12.
Conductor Louis Langrée has a strong track record in the music of Schubert, whose “Unfinished” Symphony anchors this program. But the conductor and his orchestra will also branch out, performing a piece by Julia Perry (“Homunculus C.F.”) as well as Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Davis’ “You Have the Right to Remain Silent.” This work, with its sardonic invocation of the Miranda warning, has been memorably recorded by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Cincinnati’s performance boasts Anthony McGill, acclaimed clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic, as one of the featured soloists. – Seth
Colter Walls
Igor Levit and Julia Hagen; Nov. 30, 2:30 p.m.; wigmore-hall.org.uk; available through Dec. 30.
Few artists, if any, have played more livestreams this year than pianist Igor Levit. In the early days of the pandemic he started broadcasting short programs from his apartment in Berlin. In the end there were more than 50 – recorded, unfortunately, with the blurry video and tinny sound of a smartphone. He occasionally dipped into studios for more official events, and their equipment better reflected his gifts for color and long phrasing. Thankfully he’ll be in a similar environment for this recital at Wigmore Hall with cellist Julia Hagen, featuring sonatas by Debussy and Beethoven, as well as Busoni’s sprawling, Bach-inspired solo “Fantasia Contrappuntistica.” –