Best Classical Music Concerts at Carnegie Hall This Winter/Spring in New York
Carnegie Hall /
Isaac Stern Auditorium / Ronald O. Perelman Stage. Credit: Jeff Goldberg / Esto
Carnegie Hall opened in New York City on May 5, 1891 with a gala concert conducted by none other than Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. For more than 100 years it has lived up to that auspicious beginning, hosting the world’s finest classical artists. Its rich legacy continues in 2022 with a series of concerts featuring great American and international orchestras, as well as stellar chamber groups, vocalists and instrumentalists.
Carnegie Hall’s International Festival of Orchestras
The Stern Auditorium/Ronald O. Perelman Stage will be the setting for several outstanding orchestral concerts. Carnegie Hall’s International Festival of Orchestras series gives subscribers a chance to sample some of the world’s most impressive orchestras.
Britain’s illustrious Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko gives a cosmic start to the new year on January 31 with Gustav Holst’s The Planets. On the same program, cellist Kian Soltani will be the soloist for another English masterpiece, Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
On February 25, Valery Gergiev will lead the legendary Vienna Philharmonic in a heart-on-the-sleeve program of music by Rachmaninoff. In addition to the ultra-romantic Symphony No. 2, pianist Denis Matsuev will join the orchestra for the equally lush Piano Concerto No. 2.
Gergiev will return to Carnegie Hall May 3 and 4, but this time with the Mariinsky Orchestra. The hall will reverberate with the sounds of Bruckner, Prokofiev and Shostakovich performed by a Russian orchestra that Gergiev has fine-tuned into a fierce, fire-breathing machine.
Besides international orchestras, America’s own heavy-hitters will also take the Perelman stage. The Boston Symphony conducted by Andris Nelsons, the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and hometown heroes, the New York Philharmonic conducted by Jaap van Zweden, will all present powerful programs.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the conductor of the moment, will bring both of his acclaimed bands, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the MET Orchestra, to Carnegie Hall.
You’ll have multiple opportunities to experience the Philadelphia Orchestra with concerts on January 11, February 8 and April 8. The April concert should be extra special when Metropolitan Opera star Angel Blue sings Samuel Barber’s heart-melting “Knoxville: Summer of 1915.”
Wagnerites will be thrilled on June 15 when the MET Orchestra is joined by soprano Christine Goerke, tenor Brandon Jovanovich and bass-baritone Eric Owens for the complete Act I of Die Walkure. The next night, June 16, superstar diva Joyce DiDonato will sing arias from Les Troyens by Hector Berlioz.
Even More Vocalists to Grace Carnegie Hall
Besides appearing with the MET Orchestra, Joyce DiDonato will present Eden, a vocal program inspired by the majesty of nature, on April 23 in Stern Auditorium. With specially designed theatrical effects, this will not be your typical vocal recital.
On March 13 in Zankel Hall, tenor Mark Padmore will be accompanied by the acclaimed pianist Mitsuko Uchida in a program of Beethoven and Schubert. The Trinidadian soprano Jeanine De Bique will give a recital of songs by Maurice Ravel, Richard Strauss and Caribbean folk songs April 2 in Weill Recital Hall. De Bique has been garnering critical accolades from, among others, The Washington Post, which praised her for her “dramatic presence and versatility.”
The South African soprano Elza van den Heever sings a meaty program on April 7 in Zankel Hall. In addition to works by Alban Berg, van den Heever will perform Wagner’s luscious Wesendonck Lieder. Going back even farther in time, Jordi Savall will lead his Concert of Nations and soloists of La Capella Reial de Catalunya in a program of Madrigals of Love and War composed by Claudio Monteverdi in 1638.
Carnegie Hall to Present Powerhouse Pianists and Other Superstar Soloists
Lovers of piano music are in for a bounty of world-class concerts. Yefim Bronfman, noted for his muscular performances, will give a recital of Beethoven, Ustvolskaya and Chopin February 18 in the Stern Auditorium. Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, who is drawing comparisons to Glenn Gould for his colorful and quirky programming, will make his Carnegie Hall debut on February 22.
The young Italian pianist Beatrice Rana has been declared to have “more than a touch of genius” by Gramophone magazine. She’ll give a recital of Chopin, Debussy and Stravinsky March 9. It’s always a delight when András Schiff shares his profound musicality. He’ll give an all-Mozart program on March 31.
Any performance by Chinese-born pianist Yuja Wang is electric. Her recital on April 12 promises to be another high-voltage affair. As Michael Levin of HuffPost wrote, Wang is “one of the most talented, enthralling, and even mesmerizing performers on the world scene.”
On April 28, a legendary American keyboard artist will take the Perelman stage of Stern Auditorium. Emanuel Ax, whose warmth and brilliant interpretations have made him an audience favorite for decades, will give a program of late Chopin.
Evgeny Kissin, who has given many memorable Carnegie Hall concerts over the years, including a 12-encore recital in 2007, will give yet another memorable performance on May 20. Kissin will perform music by Mozart, Chopin and Beethoven and a piano transcription of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor
Besides pianists, a variety of other instrumentalists are giving solo recitals in 2022, including violin virtuoso Maxim Vengerov with pianist Simon Trpčeski on January 20, clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer and pianist Alessio Bax on February 8 and guitarists Johan Smith and Raphaël Feuillâtre on April 28.
Carnegie Hall Chamber Classics
Chamber music is a Carnegie Hall specialty. The world-renowned acoustics of its various halls allow chamber music to display all its subtleties. In 2022, several chamber ensembles, both traditional and cutting edge, will give recitals that are musically enlightening and deeply rewarding.
This seems to be an especially vital time for string quartets, and three of the world’s finest are scheduled to perform. Quatuor Ébène, a refined and versatile ensemble from France, will perform music by Mozart, Shostakovich and Schumann on March 30.
The Danish String Quartet, another creative and enterprising group of musicians, will perform a new work by Finnish composer Lotta Wennäkoski, as well as Schubert’s Death and the Maiden Quartet on April 21. Both Quatuor Ébène and the Danish String Quartet will perform in Zankel Hall.
Lovers of early music can look forward to Apollo’s Fire performing a concert of baroque delights on March 24 in Zankel Hall. The group, led by harpsichordist Jeannette Sorrell, is not some dry and dusty ensemble hung up on dubious scholarly practice. Their performances live up to their name and are full of fire and brimstone.
Another early music ensemble, Jupiter, led by Thomas Dunford, whom BBC Music Magazine called “the Eric Clapton of the lute” will present an all-Vivaldi program on March 10.
Moving from the 18th century to the outer edges of the 21st, Decoda, with soprano Ah Young Hong, will perform music of our own time on March 23. Both Jupiter and Decoda will perform in Weill Recital Hall.
Speaking of contemporary music, the Kronos Quartet, which has championed new works since it was founded almost 50 years ago, will perform George Crumb’s Black Angels on April 23 in Zankel Hall. Violinist David Harrington founded the Kronos Quartet after hearing Black Angels on the radio in 1973. The ensemble recorded the work in 1990, and it is considered one of the Kronos Quartet’s landmark albums.
And it doesn’t get any better than this: On March 8, pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Leonidas Kavakos and cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform three Beethoven trios in the Stern Auditorium.
