Fall Culture Preview
Few have captured infatuation like Schubert, three of whose lovelorn song cycles—“Die Schöne Müllerin,” “Winterreise,” and “Schwanengesang”—are performed in a single day, by the Brooklyn Art Song Society (Roulette; Oct. 12). The baritone Matthias Goerne brings the first to Carnegie Hall, on Oct. 19, with Daniil Trifonov at the piano. If Schubert plumbs the depths of solipsism, the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt travels the voids between the stars. The Estonian Festival Orchestra (Oct. 23) and Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (Oct. 23-24) bring two all-Pärt programs to Carnegie, including “Tabula Rasa,” a work of sumptuous austerity.
The New York Philharmonic, led for each program by a different conductor, presents a century-spanning trio of modern violin concerti: Leila Josefowicz plays Karol Szymanowski’s second violin concerto (Sept. 27, 30), Joshua Bell plays Thomas de Hartmann’s (Nov. 6-8), and Nicola Benedetti plays Wynton Marsalis’s swooning, high-kicking concerto, her recording of which won a Grammy (Nov. 13-16).
At the 92nd St. Y, it’s Bach season: Chris Thile performs sonatas and partitas on the mandolin (Oct. 19), and Angela Hewitt, a legendary Bach interpreter, plays the Goldberg Variations (Oct. 24). The alchemical guitarist Sean Shibe performs Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 on classical guitar, before switching to electric for pieces by Steve Reich and Tyshawn Sorey (Nov. 7). Sorey’s work also features in three programs by the percussion group Yarn/Wire (Miller Theatre; Oct. 27-29). Wu Man, a Chinese-pipa virtuoso, performs, with the Knights, the concerto that was written for her by Lou Harrison (Metropolitan Museum; Sept. 9). And, at the Park Avenue Armory, fifty “microtonally attuned” pianos, plus a chamber orchestra, buzz and heave in Georg Friedrich Haas’s monumental “11,000 Strings” (Sept. 30-Oct. 7).—Fergus McIntosh
Contemporary Music
Kali Uchis, Big Thief, Laufey
The fall slate of concerts is highlighted by defining figures of indie rock’s past half decade. At Radio City Music Hall, Mac DeMarco channels a stunning new LP, “Guitar” (Sept. 8), and a month later Alex G is joined by Nilüfer Yanya, scaling up his operation after a major-label début (Oct. 8). At Kings Theatre, MJ Lenderman performs one of the best albums of 2024, “Manning Fireworks” (Oct. 16). In the midst of a shakeup to its lineup, the now three-person folk-rock group Big Thief reaffirms its standing as one of the most dynamic and in-synch units in all of music (Forest Hills Stadium; Oct. 25).
As the season sets in, many of the best shows make their way to Brooklyn. At Brooklyn Steel: the avant-pop icons Stereolab (Oct. 1-2), the Wilco front man Jeff Tweedy (Oct. 22), the electronic duo Autechre (Oct. 25), and the alt-rock band Wednesday (Nov. 11-12). At Brooklyn Paramount: the funk bassist Thundercat (Oct. 25) and one of U.K. hip-hop’s generational lyricists, Little Simz (Oct. 30-31). Other acts run to fill the open space of Under the K Bridge Park. On Sept. 13, TV on the Radio hosts “There Goes the Neighborhood,” a homecoming celebration, featuring sets from Flying Lotus, Sudan Archives, Moor Mother, and SPELLLING; and on Sept. 27 the rock luminaries Iggy Pop, Jack White, and the Sex Pistols headline CBGB Festival. A week later, the Swedish experimentalist Bladee sets forth his mood board for a genreless music of the internet, alongside the rappers Nettspend and Black Kray and the indie-rock band Bôa (Oct. 3). On the groovier end of the spectrum, at Barclays Center, the electro-R. & B. producer and d.j. Kaytranada co-headlines two shows with the French house duo Justice, on Nov. 8-9.
For those tracking the ever-expanding definition of pop, upstarts arrive from all over with diverse visions. From TikTok, there’s Addison Rae, who traffics in trip-hop and iPod nostalgia (Brooklyn Paramount; Oct. 1, and Terminal 5; Oct. 3). From France, there’s Oklou, a different kind of Y2K fusionist, whose sound evokes bedroom pop instead of Britney Spears (Knockdown Center; Oct. 17). As K-pop revs up its global expansion, one of the sleepers is the bubbly girl group STAYC, whose songs possess a fun-house exuberance (The Theatre at M.S.G.; Oct. 21). The London singer Lola Young, fresh off the breakaway triumph of her sparingly scuzzy single, “Messy,” cheekily embraces newfound notoriety in support of her upcoming album, “I’m Only F**king Myself” (Terminal 5; Nov. 5-6).
But M.S.G. is home to stars across genres. On Sept. 8, the Haim sisters unlock the vivid songs of their June release, “I Quit,” and the Latin-soul iconoclast Kali Uchis follows suit, for May’s “Sincerely” (Sept. 11-12). The alt-pop savant Lorde débuts her new album, “Virgin” (Oct. 1), while Lainey Wilson, an irreverent country songwriter who rode a win for entertainer of the year at the 2023 C.M.A.s to breakout success, continues her hot streak (Oct. 10). If any artist feels quintessentially autumnal, it’s Laufey, the Icelandic jazz-pop sensation, who went from viral novelty to Grammy winner by honoring the sounds of the Great American Songbook, now on a new path for her “A Matter of Time” tour (Oct. 15-16).—Sheldon Pearce
Dance
