Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
On and off campus this is a good weekend to expand your classical music tastes with ballet, orchestra, and vocal performances. On campus events include the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra’s performance tonight at 8pm in Lang Concert Hall, including Haydn, Piazzolla, Stravinsky, and the world premiere of Melinda Wagner’s “Little Moonhead: Three Tributaries.” Sunday night at 7:30 in Lang Concert Hall, class of ’04 alum Mac Carlson’s piano recital will include work by Bach, Prokofiev, Debussy, and Franck.
Off campus, you can see the Pennsylvania Ballet’s “Cinderella,” at the Academy of Music. Performances run at 8pm tonight and tomorrow, as well as a Saturday performance at 2pm. Music by Prokofiev, choreography by Ben Stevenson, and evil stepsisters in pantomime drag are presented amidst sets and costumes that make the fanciful rags-to-riches experience complete.
You can also enjoy another ballet Stravinsky’s “Firebird” and other work by Ravel and Prokofiev at Verizon Hall this weekend. For a slightly different set of composers, Church of the Holy Trinity in Rittenhouse Square will be presenting “Jubilate!” on Sunday at 7pm, including work by Handel, Poulenc, and Vaughn-Williams.
For something completely different, there’s “William Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead” at the Plays and Players Theater in which Shakespeare and Zombies collide or a production of Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer winning “Long Day’s Journey into Night” at the Adrienne Theater.