CLASSICAL MUSIC

By Jim Cunningham, Senior Executive Producer, WQED fm89.3

PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONCERTS
Thursday, November 5, 2009 through Sunday, November 29, 2009
The Pittsburgh Symphony presents three special November weekends, the first of which features guest conductor Marek Janowski conducting Mozart’s 30th symphony, the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor with Chee-Yun on violin and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7. The following week conductor Andris Nelsons, a protégé of Latvian composer Mariss Jansons’, returns with Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, heard in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. During the final weekend of the month, PSO music director Manfred Honeck presents some Thanksgiving-weekend fun in the program “Powerful Elegance,” featuring music by the Strauss family of 19th century Germany and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. (Janowski: Nov. 5-7: Thurs., 1:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m. Nelsons: Nov. 13 and 15: Fri., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m. Honeck: Nov. 27-29: Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m.)  
Tickets: $12.50-$83
(Heinz Hall, Sixth Street, downtown
Ticket phone #: 412/392-4900
Tickets online: pittsburghsymphony.org)

BARBARA NISSMAN
Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 03:00PM
The Steinway Society has a regular home this season in the auditorium of downtown’s Creative and Performing Arts High School (CAPA). Its monthly Sunday-afternoon series presents Philadelphia-born pianist Barbara Nissman, who frequently works at Duquesne University, where her recording producer, Bill Purse, heads the guitar faculty. Nissman was the first to present the complete Prokofiev Sonatas in New York and London, and she’s traveled the world presenting works by Bartók and Ginastera.  
Tickets: $15; students, $5
(Creative and Performing Arts High School, 111 Ninth St., downtown
Ticket phone #: 412/559-8210)

BRENTANO STRING QUARTET
Monday, November 23, 2009 at 07:30PM
Was Antonie Brentano Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved”? Brentano, a married woman with four children and the alleged object of Beethoven’s affection, was, scholars think, the intended recipient of an unsent tear-stained love letter found among Beethoven’s papers after his death. We can’t know for certain who the “Immortal Beloved” was, but the Brentano String Quartet likes the romantic idea so much the group is named after Brentano. The group, Princeton University’s quartet in residence, plays Schubert’s Quartet in G major, String Quartet No. 12 in C minor and Benjamin Britten’s Quartet No. 3 for the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society.  
Tickets: $35; students, $15
(Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland
Ticket phone #: 412/624-4129
Event Website: pittsburghchambermusic.org)

PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONCERTS
Friday, December 4, 2009 through Sunday, December 20, 2009
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra plays more than a dozen concerts this month, starting with music director Manfred Honeck’s creating an authentic memorial concert that Mozart should’ve had. The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh sings Mozart’s Requiem, the dramatic music that was part of the soundtrack to the 1984 movie Amadeus, mixed with live readings by actor John Lithgow; Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture and Walter Braunfels’ Te Deum Part III. Hallelujah! The following weekend the Mendelssohn Choir music director emeritus Robert Page returns to conduct Handel’s Messiah with the PSO. Come Saturday afternoon to sing along. Things wrap up for the month when Marvin Hamlisch conducts the Highmark Holiday Pops. Expect sing-along carol favorites, dreidel-spinning holiday cheer and an appearance by Santa Claus. There’s even eggnog and wassail in the grand lobby in the shadow of the 20-foot live fir tree and crystal chandelier.  Mozart: Dec. 4-6: Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m. Handel: Dec. 11-12: Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 3 and 8 p.m. Highmark Holiday Pops: Dec. 17-20: Thurs., 7:30 p.m.; Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2:30 and 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m.
Tickets: $17.50-$85
(Heinz Hall, Sixth Street, downtown
Ticket phone #: 412/392-4900
Tickets online: pittsburghsymphony.org)

PITTSBURGH CONCERT CHORALE
Friday, December 4, 2009 at 08:00PM
Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 08:00PM
Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 04:00PM
The Pittsburgh Concert Chorale kicks off its 2009-2010 season, titled “Music Fit for a King,” with a Christmas performance celebrating the King of kings. Organist David Billings and Julie Scott on the harp play the contemporary classical Christmas composition “Gloria” by Randol Alan Bass, followed by traditional holiday favorites like “White Christmas.” The regally themed concerts continue in 2010 with a March performance of Arthur Honegger’s “King David.” The series wraps up in May with a salute to the kings of jazz—Berlin, Gershwin, Ellington and many more. (Fri., Dec. 4, 8 p.m.: Ingomar United Methodist Church, 1501 W. Ingomar Road, Franklin Park. Sat., Dec. 5, 8 p.m.: Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church, 384 Fox Chapel Road, Fox Chapel. Sun., Dec. 6, 4 p.m.: Ingomar United Methodist Church.)  
Tickets: Reserved seats, $20; unreserved, $16; students, $8
(Locations vary
Ticket phone #: 412/635-7654
Tickets online: pghconcertchorale.org)

"LESSONS AND CAROLS FOR ADVENT” AND “GLORIA!"
Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 05:00PM
Friday, December 18, 2009 at 07:00PM
Saturday, December 19, 2009 at 08:00PM
Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 02:30PM
Chatham Baroque is gearing up for the holidays with two programs this month. Things start out on Sun., Dec. 6, when the group teams up with the Calvary Episcopal Church choir for a program called “Lessons and Carols for Advent,” directed by Alan Lewis. Two weeks later, on Dec. 18,19 and 20, Chatham Baroque joins with some special guests—soprano Sherezade Panthaki, violinist Erika Cutler and harpsichordist Andrew Appel—for “Gloria!,” which includes Handel’s Gloria and sonatas by Handel and Tartini. (Sun., Dec. 6, 5 p.m.: Calvary Episcopal Church, 315 Shady Ave., Shadyside. Free. Info: 412/661-0120, calvarypgh.org. Fri., Dec. 18, 7 p.m. St. James’ Parish, 200 Walnut St., Sewickley. Sat., Dec. 19, 8 p.m.: Synod Hall, Fifth Avenue and Craig Street, Oakland. Sun., Dec. 20, 2:30 p.m.: Laughlin Music Center, Woodland Road, Chatham University, Shadyside.
Tickets: $25 in advance, $27 at the door; seniors, $22; students, $10; Dec. 18: concert and reception, $50.
(Locations vary
Ticket phone #: 412/394-3353
Tickets online: proartstickets.org)

JOYEUX NOËL
Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 07:30PM
Joyeux Noël! That’s how the French say “Merry Christmas.” It’s an appropriate greeting when the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra and conductor Walter Morales present the Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio sung by the Renaissance City Choirs. Also on the program are Malcolm Arnold’s Fantasia on the Holly and the Ivy, and the CAPA High School Choir, which sings holiday classics.  
Tickets: $12; students and seniors, $8
(First Presbyterian Church of Edgewood, 120 E. Swissvale Ave., Edgewood
Event phone #: 412/473-8880
Event Website: edgewoodsymphony.org)

"AULD LANG SYNE” NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION
Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 07:00PM
Ring in 2010 by singing “Auld Lang Syne” with Metropolitan Opera star and Butler County native Marianne Cornetti in Pittsburgh Opera’s first-ever New Year’s Eve concert and party at Carnegie Music Hall. Dinner, 7 p.m.; concert, 9 p.m.; dancing to follow.  
Tickets: Full evening, $300; concert only, $75; concert and dancing, $125
(4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland
Ticket phone #: 412/281-0912, ext. 216
Event Website: pittsburghopera.org)