Symphony Preview: Berlioz goes to Hell

UPDATE A/O March 12th: The SLSO has cancelled this concert in response to a directive from the City of St. Louis to prohibit all gatherings of more than 1,000 people.

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The one and only work on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) program this weekend (March 13th and 14th) was described by Maestro Stéphane Denève in an interview last year as "almost psychedelic. It's extremely evocative and it's so powerful and it's very difficult." That remarkable work is the unusual (if not unique) 1846 opera/oratorio hybrid "The Damnation of Faust," by Hector Berlioz.

Berlioz in 1832
Painting by Émile Signol

If you're the sort of person who reads these previews and attends the symphony on even an occasional basis, you probably don't need me to tell you who Faust was. The legend of the elderly scholar who sells his soul to Mephistopheles in return for youth, vitality, and greater knowledge goes back at least as far as the late 16th century. It might have even been inspired by a real early 16th century alchemist named Johann Georg Faust. I say "might" because at this chronological distance, legend and history start to merge, like far-away objects on the highway.

What intrigued Berlioz, in any case, was neither history nor legend but rather Book One of Goethe's 1808 two-part "Faust: A Tragedy" in an 1827 French translation by Gerard de Nerval. In his "Memoirs," Berlioz wrote that "this marvellous book fascinated me from the first. I could not put it down. I read it incessantly, at meals, in the theatre, in the street."

Not while actually crossing the street, one hopes.

As described in Tim Munro's notes for this week's concerts, Berlioz spent years on what would eventually become the gripping mashup of symphony, oratorio, and opera that you'll hear this weekend. It calls for a huge orchestra--around 100 players will be on the Powell Hall stage--and makes sometimes extreme demands on the musicians. Add in the adult chorus, the children's chorus, and the soloists, and you have forces that are massive even by Berlioz standards.

Berlioz called it a "légende dramatique," and while it has occasionally been staged, it's mostly heard in a concert setting, as it will be this weekend.

Ultimately, "The Damnation of Faust" is a masterful piece of musical storytelling that requires little introduction. That said, if you want to familiarize yourself with the work in advance, there are plenty of resources on line. Mr. Munro's notes have a detailed summary of the story and there's a complete live, semi-staged performance on YouTube conducted by Jonas Kaufmann with José van Dam as Faust. If you're an Amazon Prime subscriber, you can listen to all of Sir Georg Solti's recording with the Chicago Symphony for free. Thanks to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, there's even a downloadable version of the original French text with a line-by-line English translation.

You won't need that at Powell Hall this weekend, of course, because the translation will be projected on a screen above the stage.

The SLSO Chorus
Photo courtesy of the SLSO

Mr. Denève has assembled an all-star cast for this performance. The role of Faust will be sung by American-born tenor Michael Spyres, who has just recorded the role with the Strasbourg Philharmonic under John Nelson. Marguerite, the object of his lust, will be mezzo Isabel Leonard, who sang Ravel's "Shéhérazade" with the New York Philharmonic last week. She has performed at the Metropolitan Opera and also on "Sesame Street" (although not at the same time).

Bass John Relya will be the cynically sinister Méphistophélès. A veteran of the opera stage and recital hall, the list of conductors he has worked with reads like a current "who's who" of international luminaries. The head shot on his web page even looks a bit wicked.

Completing the cast is baritone Anthony Clark Evans in the cameo role Brander, a student who sings a somewhat crass song in Scene 6 about a rat whose high life in the kitchen comes to an abrupt end:

Certain rat, dans une cuisine
Etabli, comme un vrai frater,
S'y traitait si bien que sa mine
Eût fait envie au gros Luther.
Mais un beau jour le pauvre diable,
Empoisonné sauta dehors
Aussi triste, aussi misérable
Que s'il eût eu l'amour au corps.

Which roughly translates as:

A rat once in a kitchen
Set itself up like a real monk,
And did itself so well that the sight of it
Would have moved the fat Luther to envy.
But one fine day the poor devil,
Ate poison, and leaped out
Just as wretched and frantic
As if it had been [in] heat.

This motivates Méphistophélès to reply with one of the more famous numbers from "Damnation," " Une puce gentille" ("A charming flea"), about a flea who rises above his station with rather more success than the poor rat.

But I digress.

The Essentials: Stéphane Denève conducts The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Children's Choirs, and vocal soloists on Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, March 13 and 14 in "The Damnation of Faust." It should run around two hours and fifteen minutes, plus intermission. Performances take place at Powell Symphony Hall in Grand Center.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Review: Going for Baroque, with with a Romantic sensibility

Matthew Halls
Photo by Christopher Meyers,
Oregon Bach Festival

Even though it was originally written for an Easter season performance, Handel's 1741 oratorio "Messiah" has become a Christmas tradition. That tradition was upheld in fine style last weekend (December 7-9) as guest conductor Matthew Halls and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus presented a performance of Handel's Greatest Hit that combined Baroque orchestration with a Romantic sensibility.

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview articles: Part 1 and Part 2.]

There was a time not so very long ago when the philosophy behind presentations of "Messiah" was "bigger is better." Throughout the 19th century and most of the 20th, massive orchestras and gigantic choirs were the rule. George Bernard Shaw, in his role of music critic, want to far as to lament the "multitudinous dullness" of the big band "Messiah" that had become the rule in Britain. That began to change in the late 1960s, especially after the success of recordings by Colin Davis and Charles Mackerras that used the smaller orchestras and choruses of Handel's own day.

Krisztina Szabó
Photo by Bo Huang

Conducting without a score or baton, Mr. Halls gave us a "Messiah" Sunday afternoon that was very much in that more historically informed tradition. The chorus was, perhaps, a bit on the large side, but with fewer than 30 musicians the orchestra was one that would have been familiar to late 18th-century audiences, right down to the use of harpsichord and positif organ (a small portable organ that went out of fashion after the 18th century) as continuo instruments. The balance between singers and orchestra could hardly have been better.

Working from the 1965 Bärenreiter edition of the score (there are around a dozen editions available), Mr. Halls assembled his own version of "Messiah," as many conductors do. I'm no "Messiah" expert, but the changes and cuts he made felt relatively minor to me. In any case, the performance worked very well, both as drama and music, and that's ultimately the real test.

Karina Gauvin
Photo by Julien Faugère

The four soloists were very well matched in terms of vocal power and style. Making her SLSO debut, mezzo Krisztina Szabó sang the alto role with authority and impressive precision. Her "But who may abide" conveyed the stern authority of the text very well, while there was real joy in "Oh thou that tellest good tidings to Zion." Her "He was despised" conveyed apparent grief at the sufferings of Christ.

With a light, clear voice, soprano Karina Gauvin convincingly conveyed the good cheer of "Rejoice greatly" and the simple grace of "How beautiful are the feet of them." Tenor Nicholas Phan, who did such a remarkable job with Britten's "Les Illuminations" back in 2014, brought great tenderness to "Comfort ye," followed by a bracing "Ev'ry valley."

Nicholas Phan

Baritone William Berger, also making his local debut, was an imposing "voice of God" in "Thus saith the Lord" and displayed both impressive virtuosity and dramatic commitment to "The trumpet shall sound." It's Handel's oddly celebratory invocation of judgment day, featuring a spectacular duet for the solo singer and trumpet. Associate Principal trumpet Tom Drake executed that solo line flawlessly. Indeed, the whole orchestra was in fine form.

Mr. Halls's interpretation, while not neglecting the festive aspects of Handel's score, included moments of compelling drama as well. You could see that in, to pick just one example, the progression from darkness to light that starts with "The people that walked in darkness" and ends with "For unto us a Child is born." His decision to have the chorus close their books and sing the famous "Hallelujah" chorus from memory was a neat theatrical touch, as was the placement of trumpeters Tom Drake and Mike Walk on the chorus platform for "Glory to God" in Part I. It allowed their bright, clear tones to project that much more effectively.

William Berger
Photo by Paul Foster Williams

Amy Kaiser's chorus never fails to elicit admiration on my part. They invariably sing with a gratifying power and precision. Every bit of the text came through clearly Sunday afternoon, as did the many polyphonic passages.

There have been some fine performances of Handel's "Messiah" at Powell Hall over the years, and while Bernard Labadie's 2015 version is still my favorite, this latest entry was a strong one and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see it.

The regular SLSO season pauses for the rest of December as Powell Hall fills with special holiday programming. This weekend (December 14-16) Joshua Gersen conducts the orchestra and Webster University Chorale in a showing of the film comedy Home Alone, with the score played live by the orchestra and chorus; only limited view tickets are available. Next week brings the sold-out "Gospel Christmas" with the IN UNISON chorus conducted by Kevin McBeth and special guests Take 6 on Thursday, December 20, followed by the annual Mercy Holiday Celebration Friday through Sunday with Gemma New on the podium.

The month concludes with "Walt Disney Animation Studios: A Decade in Concert" Friday and Saturday, December 28 and 29, followed by the popular "BMO Private Bank New Year's Eve Celebration" on Monday, December 31, with former Resident Conductor Ward Stare conducting. All concerts take place at Powell Hall in Grand Center.

Symphony Preview Redux: Stand-up routine

Conductor Matthew Halls
Photo by John Christoper Meyers,
Oregon Bach Festival

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Yesterday I looked at the way Handel's "Messiah" (which Matthew Halls and the St. Louis Symphony are performing December 7-9) started out as an Easter tradition and morphed over time to a Christmas staple. Now I'd like to take a look at an even more puzzling question: Why does everyone stand during the "Hallelujah" chorus that concludes Part 2?

If you've been a classical music lover long enough, you have no doubt heard the story of how King George the II stood when he first heard it at the London premiere in March of 1743, and how everybody else followed suit because, hey, he was the king. It's a great story with only one little flaw: there's no evidence that George II ever attended a performance of Messiah at all.

The story appears to come, not from a contemporary account, but (according to Matthew Guerrieri in a 2009 article for the Boston Globe) from a secondhand description in a letter written by James Beattie 37 years later. The story is almost certainly apocryphal, and a classic example of how urban legends originate.

The tradition appears to go back a long way, though. When George Harris attended a "Messiah" performance in 1750 he observed that "[a]t some of the chorus's the company stood up," suggesting that the custom extended beyond just the "Hallelujah." Six years later, another account mentions the audience standing for "grand choruses." In his video series on "Messiah" Andrew Megill, Music Director of Masterwork Chorus, describes a letter written by a woman who attended a Messiah in Handel's time complaining of audience members who weren't standing during the appropriate choruses--suggesting that the practice was already fairly well established.

The bottom line, though, is that nobody really seems to know where the custom originated or, for that matter, why so many of us are still doing it. Maybe early audiences were just so swept away by the power of some of the choruses they stood up spontaneously and the custom simply caught on. Like the Christmas performance tradition, it seems to be a meme that just won't die.

For anyone attending "Messiah" for the first time, it must seem just another example of the sometimes baffling and contradictory rules of etiquette that go with classical music concerts. But that's a whole different subject.

The Essentials: Matthew Halls conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Friday and Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 3 pm, December 7-9 in Handel's "Messiah". Soloists are soprano Karina Gauvin, mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó, tenor Nicholas Phan, and baritone William Berger. Performances take place at Powell Hall in Grand Center.

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of December 3, 2018

Handel's venerable Messiah appears on the list twice this week. The traditional one is at Powell Hall and the sing-along version is in Graham Chapel.

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The American Chamber Chorale and the Salem St.-Louis Chamber Orchestra perform on Saturday, December 8, at 7:30 p.m. Singer Brian Owens will be the guest artist. The concert takes place at Salem United Methodist Churh, 1200 S. Lindbergh. For more information: americanchamberchorale.com.

Jérôme Mouffe

The St. Louis Classical Guitar Society presents a Great Artist Guitar Series concert with Jérôme Mouffe on Saturday, December 8, at 8 pm. "Belgian guitarist Jérôme Mouffe has toured throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Western Europe as a soloist and chamber musician. He was invited to perform at the Agustin Barrios Mangoré Festival in Brussels (2009) sharing the stage with his teacher and mentor Eliot Fisk. He earned his Master of Music degree magna cum laude at age 20 at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles and a Postgraduate Diploma at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg." The performance takes at the Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Road. For more information: guitarstlouis.net.

Matthew Halls conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Friday and Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 3 pm, December 7 - 9 in Handel's Messiah. Performances take place at Powell Hall in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

The Arianna String Quartet

The University of Missouri - St. Louis presents The Science of Beauty on Monday, December 3, at 7:30 pm. "What is the science behind beautiful music making? Join the Arianna String Quartet and UMSL Professor of Biophysics, Sonya Bahar, at UMSL Grand Center on Monday, December 3rd, at 7:30 PM, for a fascinating evening that will illuminate and explore connections between physics and the artistry of musical expression. In this engaging and interactive evening, the ASQ and Professor Bahar will examine principles of friction, inertia, gravity, and kinetic energy, and will demonstrate how these fundamental aspects of physics factor into the interpretive process for a string quartet. Come enjoy an inspiring and informative evening discovering how playing a string instrument requires an individual commitment to the unification of the arts and sciences." The event takes place at UMSL's Grand Center Location. For more information: stlpublicradio.org.

Xiomara Mass

The Washington University Department of Music presents a faculty recital by Xiomara Mass, oboe, with Peter Henderson, piano, on Monday, December 3, at 7:30 p.m. The concert includes music by Loeffler and Saint-Saëns and takes place in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City. For more information, music.wustl.edu.

The Washington University Department of Music presents a Guitar Gala, featuring students from the music progralm on Thursday, December 6, at 8 pm. The concert includes music by Bach, Poulenc, and Fernando Sor, and takes place in the Graham Chapel on the Washington University campus. For more information, music.wustl.edu.

The Washington University Department of Music presents a Messiah Sing-Along on Sunday, December 9, at 3 pm. The audience is invited to sing along in this performance of Handel's oratorio, which takes place in the Graham Chapel on the Washington University campus. For more information, music.wustl.edu.

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of October 22, 2018

Get a double dose of Nicholas McGegan this week along with an appearance by celebrated soprano Christine Brewer.

Nicholas McGegan
Photo by Steve Sherman

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The Chamber Music Society of St. Louis presents Go for Baroque on Monday and Tuesday, October 22 and 23, at 7:30 pm. "Guest conductor Nicholas McGegan returns for his annual visit, featuring a harp concerto and harpsichord suite by Handel, and Bach's 4th Brandenburg Concerto." The concert takes place at the Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington in Grand Center. For more information: chambermusicstl.org.

The St. Louis Civic Orchestra, under the direction of Edward Dolbashian, performs Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds and Rachmoninoff's Symphony No. 2 on Saturday, October 27, at 7 pm. The concert takes place at the Purser Center at Logan University, 1851 Schoettler Rd in Chesterfield, MO. For more information: stlco.org.

Jim Hynes conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and jazz trumpeter Chris Botti on Friday, October 26, at 7:30 pm. The performance takes place at Powell Hall in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

Nicholas McGegan conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and vocal soloists in a performance of Haydn's oratorio The Creation on Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 3 pm, October 27 and 28. The performances take place at Powell Hall in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

Soprano Christine Brewer

The Touhill Performing Arts Center presents an evening of chamber music featuring Alla Voskoboynikova, Christine Brewer and Bjorn Ranheim on Tuesday, October 23, at 7:30 pm. The Touhill Center is on the campus of the University of Missouri at St. Louis. For more information: touhill.org.

The Town and Country Symphony Orchestra presents a special hallowe'en concert on Sunday, October 28, at 2:30 pm. "Come join in the fun at our Halloween themed concert. Orchestra members will be in costume and we encourage kids to dress up too. Featured guest soloists are Chiann-Yi Yawitz, piano and Stella Markou. The program includes Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini as well as music by Offenbach and Victor Herbert. The performance takes place in Ridgway Auditorium at The Principia, 13201 Clayton Road. For more information: tcsomo.org.

Review: John Adams provides the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus with a spectacular showcase

This review originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Composer John Adams
Photo: Vern Evans

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It was a relatively sparse crowd that witnessed the local premiere of John Adams' 2012 oratorio/theatre piece The Gospel According to the Other Mary Friday night, April 24, by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of David Robertson. I suppose that's not surprising, given how allergic local audiences can sometimes be to newer works, but it's a shame nevertheless. They missed a dramatic, inventive, and sometimes very powerful retelling of the Passion story that placed Jesus in a decidedly contemporary context.

Commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and first performed by them in 2012, The Gospel According to the Other Mary is a time-bending account of Christ's death and resurrection from the viewpoints of Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany (the same singer plays both roles), as well as Mary of Bethany's sister Martha, and Martha's brother Lazarus, who are sometimes their Biblical selves and sometimes contemporary people. Mr. Adams and his collaborator, the noted British director Peter Sellars, have mixed texts from the King James Bible in with poems by African-American writer June Jordan and Mexico's Rosairo Castellanos, along with the work of (among others) Italian author Primo Levi, Native American novelist Louise Erdrich, and American Catholic activist Dorothy Day.

There's even a strikingly graphic section inspired by a painting by Mexican artist Jose Clemente Orozco of Christ, Conan the Barbarian-style, brandishing the axe he as just used to chop down his own cross. Another potent sequence juxtaposes descriptions of Christ's arrest from the KJV with passages from Day's journals describing the arrest of protesters fighting for the rights of immigrant farm workers.

It's not, as the composer himself wryly observed in the pre-concert talk, the sort of thing likely to appeal to the strict traditionalist.

This could be a bit of a mess, and there are times when the archaic language of the Bible clashes oddly with the abstract imagery of the more contemporary poems. But for the most part the pairing of ancient and modern makes dramatic sense—in part because Adams' music acts as a strong unifying force.

I have not always been a major admirer of Mr. Adams' technique of building large structures from minimalist musical cells, but the approach works well here, creating a massive dramatic piece (over two and one-half hours, not counting intermission) derived largely from an ascending Aeolian mode chord sequence that first appears in the opening scene. It's an idea that informs the entire work, pulling sometimes wildly divergent ideas together into a (mostly) coherent whole.

Unification is provided as well by the almost constant presence of the cimbalom, a hammered dulcimer found throughout Eastern Europe and Greece—brilliantly played by Chester Englander. Cutting easily through Mr. Adams' massive post-Wagnerian orchestra, its metallic sound conjures up images of the ancient Mediterranean culture from which the story of Jesus sprang in the first place.

In fact, some of the most compelling moments in The Gospel According to the Other Mary are musical rather than textual. A wild African drum solo performed with impressive vigor by Will James, for example, depicts the earthquake that precedes the rolling aside of the stone from Jesus' tomb. The suffering and death of Jesus at Golgotha is portrayed by a massive outburst of instrumental cacophony along with shouts and howls from the chorus. The Passover scene, on the other hand, is distinguished by a lovely aria for the resurrected Lazarus that wouldn't sound out of place on the Broadway stage.

There were other very compelling moments, including the groaning low strings that accompany Lazarus's death and the recorded piping of frogs that presages the coming of spring and the resurrection of Christ, but the bottom line is that there is much to admire in this score. I have not always found Mr. Adams' writing for the stage to be persuasive, but this is often a very theatrically smart piece.

It helps that the work got such a peerless performance from the orchestra and Mr. Robertson, who has been an admirer of it since he made a special trip to Los Angeles to witness its premiere. Mr. Adams has written some very challenging music for both the instrumentalists and singers; the precision with which they pulled it off deserves a round of laurel wreaths for everyone.

Mezzo Kelley O'Connor, for whom the role of Mary was created, was as compelling as you would expect her to be, forcefully conveying the character's passion and sorrow. Both she and fellow mezzo Michaela Martens, in the role of Martha, are often driven down to the bottom of their vocal range, but they projected even the lowest notes with authority, dishing up bravura performances.

The last time I saw tenor Jay Hunter Morris on stage, he was the chillingly arrogant Danforth in The Crucible at Glimmerglass last summer. This time around he was touchingly vulnerable as Lazarus, pouring out his heart in the "Supper at Bethany" scene while Roger Kaza poured his into the fiercely demanding horn solo that accompanied him. Countertenors Daniel Brubeck, Brian Cummings, and Nathan Medley rounded out the ranks of soloists as a trio of unearthly narrators who also sing the words of Christ.

As for Amy Kaiser's chorus, I just can't praise them enough. Adams asks them to not just sing, but to whisper, chatter, and shriek. They did it all superbly.

For reasons that were not entirely clear to me, all the vocal soloists wore wireless microphones, even though they seemed perfectly capable of projecting over the orchestra. The sound mix was, in any case, handled with remarkable skill; the voices rarely had the unnatural, directionless quality that often accompanies amplification.

The SLSO will be taking this performance to Carnegie Hall on Friday, March 31st, and I really can't think of a better showcase for Mr. Robertson and our hometown band. The Gospel According to the Other Mary may not be without its issues as a work of music drama, but as a demonstration of the virtuosity of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, I think it is (in the words of Walt Kelly's Fremount) "Jes' fine."

Next at Powell Hall: Pianist Kirill Gerstein plays Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F in a program that also includes Milhaud's La Création du Monde ballet and three dances episodes from Bernstein's ballet Fancy Free. David Robertson will conduct. Performances are Friday at 10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m., April 7-9.

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of March 20, 2017

The Tallis Scholars

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The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis presents The Tallis Scholars on Sunday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m. "Leading performers of Renaissance sacred music, privileged to perform in the Sistine Chapel to mark the final stage of Michelangelo's frescoes restoration, The Tallis Scholars have earned world-wide renown as “a capella superstars.” They return to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis after a 12 year absence." The performance takes place at the cathedral at 4431 Lindell. For more information: www.cathedralconcerts.org.

The Foundry Art Centre presents a free concert by the St. Charles Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, March 26, at 2 PM. "Co-artistic directors Kenneth Beckham and David Peek will present a diverse orchestral concert including song selections everyone can enjoy. The performance will feature works by Vivaldi, Mozart and more! The Saint Charles Symphony is a multi-faceted ensemble consisting of professional musicians, teachers, talented adults, and gifted students. Enjoy the beautiful sounds of the symphony at this free performance and arrive early to visit the studio artists and exhibitions at the Foundry Art Centre." The Foundry Art Centre is at 520 North Main Center in St. Charles, MO. For more information: foundryartcentre.org.

Ricky Ian Gordon

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents composer Ricky Ian Gordon performing and discussing selections from his opera The Grapes of Wrath and his song cycle Green Sneakers on Thursday, March 23, at 6 p.m. The event takes place at the Jewish Community Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur. For more information: experienceopera.org.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents composer Ricky Ian Gordon in a panel discussion of his opera The Grapes of Wrath on Friday, March 24, at 7 p.m. Also on the panel are Missouri History Museum Curator Sharon Smith and Cinema St. Louis Executive Director Cliff Froehlich. The discussion is moderated by OTSL General Director Timothy O'Leary and takes place at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. For more information: experienceopera.org.

The St. Louis Classical Guitar Society presents a Great Artist Guitar Series concert with David Russell on Saturday, March 25, at 8 p.m. " World renowned for his superb musicianship and inspired artistry, Scottish guitarist David Russell was 2005 GRAMMY award winner for his CD “Aire Latino” in the category of best instrumental classical soloist!" The performance takes at the Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Road. For more information: guitarstlouis.net.

David Robertson conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in The Gospel According to the Other Mary by John Adams on Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., March 24 and 26. "American composer John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary combines the traditional passion story with contemporary voices of social activism and spirituality. The dramatic setting makes this biblical narrative a present and gripping reality as it weaves together stories of joy, woe and the miraculous for a powerful performance not-to-be-missed. Join David Robertson, the STL Symphony and Chorus for these electrifying concerts before they perform the work at Carnegie Hall in celebration of the composer's 70th birthday." The performances take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

The Touhill Performing Arts Center presents The Arianna String Quartet in a performance of the complete string quartets of Brahms on Wednesday, March 22, at 8 PM. "For performers and audiences alike, the works of Johannes Brahms stand as some of the most cherished music of all time. In an evening that can only be described as a one-of-a-kind concert experience (and a St. Louis first!), the Arianna String Quartet offers all three of Brahms' celebrated string quartets, back to back! Brahms: Quartet in C minor, Op. 51, No.1; Quartet in A minor, Op.51, No.2; Quartet in B-flat Major, Op.67." The Touhill Performing Arts Center in on the University of Missouri at St. Louis campus. For more information: touhill.org.

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of February 20, 2017

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis presents the Webster University Choir and University of Missouri - St. Louis Choir on Friday, February 24 at 8 p.m. The performance takes place at the cathedral at 4431 Lindell. For more information: www.cathedralconcerts.org.

The Chamber Music Society of St. Louis presents The Sonata Program on Monday and Tuesday, February 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. "The Chamber Music Society St. Louis bring a lovely collection of sonatas for harp, violin, piano and cello, by Rosetti, Bach and Beethoven." The concerts take place in the Sheldon Ballroom at 3648 Washington. For more information: chambermusicstl.org.

Sir Andrew Davis
Photo: Dario Acosta Photography

The St. Louis Children's Choirs present a Family and Friends Concert on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., February 25 and 26. "Experience the joy of young voices united in song! This concert will feature multi-cultural selections in a variety of styles, traditions and languages and is part of the American Arts Experience-St. Louis. With performances by the Children's Choir 1A, Chorale 2A/2UC, Choristers, and Chamber Singers.' The performances take place at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City. For more information: slccsing.org.

Sir Andrew Davis conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony Chorus, along with bass soloist John Relyea on Friday and Saturday, February 24 and 25, at 8 p.m. The program includes Walton's Belshazzar's Feast along with Elgar's Falstaff and the overture to Nicolai's Merry Wives of Windsor. More information: stlsymphony.org.