Monday night was a wash in more ways than one, given nasty weather outside and more than a few loose ends to tie up during my final week at Time Out New York. Still, there's lots to look forward to during the next six days, most of all the world premiere of Robert Ashley's final completed opera. Which brings me to my assignments for The New York Times, actually…
Official business
Saturday, April 12: Crash
Whitney Museum of American Art; 4pm; $20, seniors and students $16
Opens Thursday, April 10, at 4pm; also on Friday, April 11, at 6:30pm and Sunday, April 13, at 4pm
Said to be strikingly autobiographical in at least some respects, Crash is the last opera Robert Ashley completed before his death on March 3. He helped to supervise its preparation, I understand, but Alex Waterman is in charge of this Whitney Biennial presentation, and Tom Hamilton, the mage behind the mixer in so many of Ashley's pieces, is the music director. The cast, all younger performers who are helping to turn Ashley's idiosyncratic oeuvre into a durable, performable canon, includes Amirtha Kidambi and the five members of Varispeed Collective (Gelsey Bell, Brian McCorkle, Paul Pinto, Dave Ruder and Aliza Simons), all of whom have proved their mettle in previous Ashley affairs. Crash is the first of three Ashley presentations during the Whitney Biennial, which will also mount Vidas Perfectas (1983/2011) April 17-20, and The Trial of Anne Opie Wehrer and Unknown Accomplices for Crimes Against Humanity (1968) April 23-25.
Sunday, April 13: Stephen Hough
Alice Tully Hall (at Lincoln Center); 5pm; $45–$77
Did you know that Stephen Hough was the first classical-music performer ever awarded a MacArthur Foundation "Genius grant"? I didn't, but I'm not surprised: Hough's an intelligent pianist, concert programmer and writer. This particular concert spans a post-Romantic gamut from Schoenberg backward to Liszt, with stops for late Brahms and three composers not closely linked to the piano: Bruckner, Wagner and Richard Strauss.
Elsewhere and -when
Tuesday, April 8:
David Grubbs Records Ruin the Landscape book launch at Issue Project Room; 8pm (more)
Gabrielle Herbst Bodiless at Roulette; 8pm (more)
Matthias Pintscher conducts the Juilliard Orchestra in Pintscher, Michael Jarrell and Béla Bartók at Alice Tully Hall; 8pm (more)
Wednesday, April 9:
Lucy Crowe sings Alban Berg, Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton and more at Weill Recital Hall; 7:30pm (more)
Thursday, April 10:
Miranda Cuckson and Steven Beck play Milton Babbitt, Béla Bartók, Brian Ferneyhough, Andrew Rudin and Roger Sessions at Bargemusic; 7pm (more)
Iestyn Davies sings Nico Muhly, Dowland and more at Weill Recital Hall; 7:30pm (more)
Ensemble ACJW plays Georg Friedrich Haas and Beethoven at Trinity Church; 1pm (more) FREE
Liza Lim Composer Portrait by the International Contemporary Ensemble at Miller Theatre; 8pm (more)
Trillium Chamber Players and James Fei Ensemble at Roulette; 8pm (more)
Friday, April 11:
Steven Beck, Stephen Gosling and Eric Heubner play Chopin, Debussy, Roger Reynolds, György Ligeti, David Rakowski and Ezequiel Viñao at Bargemusic; 7pm (more)
Anthony Braxton Composition No. 146 and Nate Wooley Ensemble at Roulette; 8pm (more)
Ensemble ACJW plays George Crumb and Schubert at Weill Recital Hall; 7pm (more)
Propheta x Kid Millions performance and all-night gong at Wythe Hotel; 11pm–5am (more)
Jane Sheldon sings Morton Feldman at Spectrum; 7:30pm (more)
Saturday, April 12:
American Festival of Microtonal Music MicroFest at Spectrum; 9pm (more; also Sunday, April 13, 8:30pm; Monday, April 14, 7pm; Tuesday, April 15, 7pm)
Tim Berne & Michael Formanek at Greenwich House Music School; 8pm (more)
Anthony Braxton Falling River Music Nonet and Fay Victor Ensemble at Roulette; 8pm (more)
Sunday, April 13:
Miranda Cuckson, Julia Bruskin and Steven Beck play Jeffrey Mumford at Spectrum; 7pm (more)
Duo RoMi plays Viet Cuong, Michel Blavet and Haydn at Spectrum; 3pm (more)
Vimbayi Kaziboni, New Morse Code and International Ensemble Modern Academy musicians play Gérard Grisey and George Benjamin at Spectrum; 12pm (more)
Seth Cluett The Persistence of Traces at Audio Visual Arts (AVA); 12–6pm (more)
String Noise plays John King, John Cage and Eric Lyons at Rockwood Music Hall; 8pm (more)
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