Culture Picks: May 5

So many happening and holidays! I had to pick one, so I chose a somewhat belated celebration of May the Fourth, a.k.a. Star Wars Day, with John Williams. But I also loved Lizzo Plays The Flute On the Met Gala Steps! Have you seen it? Check it out on YouTube.

WQXR presents
Carnegie Hall Live: John Williams Conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra
Available on-demand
Superstar violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and renowned composer-conductor John Williams bring a special program of Williams’s beloved film music (Harry Potter, Star Wars, and more) and the New York premiere of his new violin concerto written for Ms. Mutter to Carnegie Hall for a one-night-only concert that features the legendary Philadelphia Orchestra. Hosted by John Schaefer and Jeff Spurgeon.
Watch and listen to John Williams and the Philadelphia Orchestra on Carnegie Hall Live

WQXR presents
Carnegie Hall Live: Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason
Available on-demand
When the brother-sister duo of cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason made their Carnegie Hall recital debut in 2019, The New York Times praised Sheku as a “gifted, sensitive artist” and Isata as a “superb collaborator.” Listen to this talented pair in an eclectic program that spans a late sonata by Beethoven to the powerfully expressive music of 20th-century composers Shostakovich, Bridge, and Britten. Hosted by John Schaefer and Jeff Spurgeon.
BEETHOVEN Cello Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1
SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40
BRIDGE Cello Sonata in D Minor
BRITTEN Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 65
Watch and listen to Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Isata Kanneh-Mason on Carnegie Hall Live

Midtown Concerts/Gotham Early Music Scene, Inc., presents
House of Time: Private Versailles: Intimate Music for a Very Public Place
In-person plus live stream, Thursday, May 5, 1:15 pm
Then on-demand on the website or YouTube Channel
Church of the Transfiguration (The Little Church Around the Corner)
1 East 29th Street (between Madison and 5th Avenues), Manhattan
Tatiana Daubek, violin
Gonzalo X. Ruiz, oboe
Adam Young, viola da gamba
Elliot Figg, harpsichord
House of Time’s Private Versailles is intended to represent an afternoon of music by Louis XIV’s favorite musicians. All the elegance, grandeur and subtlety of the French High Baroque come together in this program featuring François Couperin’s masterpiece La Françoise, Louis Couperin’s Chaconne in C and virtuosic music for viola da gamba by Antoine Forqueray.
Watch the Livestream here

CSO & Pops Digital Concert Series presents
Connesson Premiere & Rachmaninoff
Live from Music Hall on Saturday, May 7, at 7:30 pm
Watch on the website, on YouTube, or Facebook
Louis Langrée, conductor
Dwight Parry, oboe
GUILLAUME CONNESSON: Les belles heures (“The Beautiful Hours”) [World Premiere, CSO Commission]
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF: Symphony No. 2
Watch the Livestream on cincinnatisymphony.org

The Metropolitan Opera in association with PBS and The WNET Group presents
Great Performances at the Met: Cinderella
Premieres on Sunday, May 8, on PBS (check local listings)
Laurent Pelly’s storybook staging of Massenet’s Cendrillon features an all-new English translation with mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as its rags-to-riches princess. Maestro Emmanuel Villaume leads the cast which includes mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo as Cinderella’s Prince Charming, soprano Jessica Pratt as her Fairy Godmother, and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and bass-baritone Laurent Naouri as her feuding guardians. Hosted by Anthony Roth Costanzo.
Watch Great Performances on PBS

Wigmore Hall presents
Gabriela Montero, piano: Chopin, Gabriela Montero, and Stravinsky
Live stream on Monday, May 9, at 1pm
Then available on-demand for 30 days
Admired not only for her outstanding gifts as an improviser (which we experienced here at Purchase), but also as a champion of human rights, the Venezuelan pianist is, according to ConcertoNet, one of those artists “about whom it can truly be said that their talent borders on genius.” For The New York Times, meanwhile, her playing has everything: “crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power in climactic moments, soulful lyricism in the ruminative passages and, best of all, unsentimental expressivity.”
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): Nocturne in D flat Op. 27 No. 2 and Polonaise-fantaisie in A flat Op. 61
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971): Piano Sonata
Gabriela Montero (b.1970): Improvisations
Watch Wigmore Hall presents Gabriela Montero

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Culture Picks is a weekly feature celebrating the performing arts. The arts are back and there is so much to take in, both live and virtual. Cultural connoisseur and PAC staff member Coni Guhl is here to help you sort through it all. Each week we will post her curated selection of events featuring the artists you know and love from The PAC Center Series, work being done by Purchase alums, plus a sampling of arts experiences you just can’t miss. Enjoy!

All times are EDT unless otherwise noted.