Washington Performing Arts Society 2009-10

The Washington Performing Arts Society, the region’s leading booker of first-tier touring classical talent, has unveiled a 2009-10 season with an emphasis on longtime favorites – pianists Murray Perahia, Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida and Radu Lupu; violinists Joshua Bell and Christian Tetzlaff; soprano Kiri Te Kanawa; the Royal Concertgebouw and Philadelphia orchestras, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic – and focused on crowd-pleasing repertory, especially from Russian composers.

Most of the novel entries in WPAS’ classical season will be found in chamber programs, notably a collaboration between pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and visual artist Robin Rhode and all-Bach programs by violinist Julia Fischer and pianists Angela Hewitt and Yuja Wang.

The LA Philharmonic date will mark the return of Gustavo Dudamel, perhaps the hottest commodity among today’s conductors, who will be in his first season as the orchestra’s new music director.

Concerts will be staged in the Terrace Theater and Concert Hall of Washington’s Kennedy Center and the Music Center at Strathmore, in the D.C. suburb of North Bethesda, MD. Wang will perform at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington.

Full and partial subscription packages are now on sale. For information, call WPAS at 202) 785-9727.
Dates, artists and programs, announced to date, for the WPAS 2009-10 season:

Oct. 17 (4 p.m., Kennedy Center Concert Hall) – Murray Perahia, piano. Program TBA.

Nov. 14 (7 p.m., Kennedy Center Concert Hall) – Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano; Brian Zeger, piano. Program TBA.

Nov. 20 (7:30 p.m., Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center) – Leif Ove Andsnes, piano; Robin Rhode, visual artist. "Pictures Reframed." Mussorgsky: "Pictures at an Exhibition," other works TBA, with images projected onscreen during performances.

Nov. 21 (4 p.m., Kennedy Center Concert Hall) – New York Philharmonic, Riccardo Muti conducting. Liszt: "Les Préludes;" Elgar: "In the South;" Prokofiev: "Romeo and Juliet" Suite.

Nov. 22 (7 p.m., Music Center at Strathmore) – Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Philippe Entremont conducting. Mozart: Symphony No. 35 ("Haffner"), Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466 (Entremont, piano); Haydn Symphony No. 104 ("London").

Nov. 24 (7:30 p.m., Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center) – Vivian Hagner, violin; Shai Wosner, piano. Program TBA.

Dec. 3 (8 p.m., Music Center at Strathmore) – Angela Hewitt, piano. Bach: "Goldberg" Variations.

Dec. 5 (2 p.m., Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center) – Plamena Mangova, piano. Scriabin: Sonata No. 9 ("Black Mass"), six études; Chopin: Nocturne No. 1 in B Major, Op.62; Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op.23; Ravel: "Pavane pour une infante défunte," "Alborada del grazioso," "La Valse."

Jan. 23 (2 p.m., Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center) – Jeremy Denk, piano. Program TBA.

Jan. 27 (8 p.m., Kennedy Center Concert Hall) – Radu Lupu, piano. Janáček: “In the Mist;” Schubert: Sonata in B flat major, D. 960; Beethoven: sonata TBA.

Feb. 6 (8 p.m., Kennedy Center Concert Hall) – Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Inon Barnatan, piano. Works by Beethoven, Britten, Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff.

Feb. 9 (8 p.m., Music Center at Strathmore) – Joshua Bell, violin; Jeremy Denk, piano. Program TBA.

Feb. 15 (8 p.m., Kennedy Center Concert Hall) – Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Mariss Jansons conducting. Sibelius: Violin Concerto (Janine Jansen, violin); Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2.

Feb. 23 (7:30 p.m., Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center) – Ebène Quartet. Beethoven: Quartet in F major, Op. 18, No. 1; Fauré: Quartet in E minor, Op. 121; Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 80.

Feb. 27 (2 p.m., Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center) – Rafal Blechacz, piano. Program TBA.

March 7 (4 p.m., Music Center at Strathmore) – Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano. Program TBA.

March 24 (8 p.m., Kennedy Center Concert Hall) – San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas conducting. Liszt: "Tasso;" Ravel: "Valses nobles et sentimentales;" Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto (Christian Tetzlaff, violin).

March 26 (8 p.m., Music Center at Strathmore) – Vladimir Feltsman, piano. Haydn: Sonata in E flat major; Beethoven: Sonata in C minor ("Pathétique"); Mussorgsky: "Pictures at an Exhibition."

March 29 (8 p.m., Kennedy Center Concert Hall) – Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone; Ramón Vargas, tenor; National Philharmonic, Ion Marin conducting. Program TBA.

April 3 (8 p.m., Kennedy Center Concert Hall) – Julia Fischer, violin. Bach: Partitas Nos. 1-3 for unaccompanied violin.

April 15 (8 p.m., Kennedy Center Concert Hall) – Maurizio Pollini, piano. All-Chopin program.

April 16 (8 p.m., Music Center at Strathmore) – Takács String Quartet; Joyce Wang, piano. Haydn: Quartet in D major, Op. 71, No. 2; Beethoven: Quartet in C major, Op. 59, No. 3 ("Razumovsky"); Schumann: Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44.

April 21 (8 p.m., Music Center at Strathmore) – Mitsuko Uchida, piano. Schumann: Fantasy in C major, "Davidsbündlertänze."

May 1 (2 p.m., Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center) – Gold medalist of 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Program TBA.

May 4 (7:30 p.m., Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center) – Zuill Bailey, cello; Robert Koenig, piano. Program TBA.

May 17 (8 p.m., Kennedy Center Concert Hall) – Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel conducting. Bernstein: Symphony No. 2 ("The Age of Anxiety") (pianist TBA); Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 ("Pathétique").

May 22 (8 p.m., Sixth & I Historic Synagogue) – Yuja Wang, piano. Bach: Partitas Nos. 1-3.

May 26 (8 p.m., Music Center at Strathmore) – Philadelphia Orchestra, Charles Dutoit conducting. Glinka: "Russlan and Ludmilla" Overture; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 (Nikolai Lugansky, piano); Stravinsky: "Pétrouchka."