My Top 10 classical music events of 2010 in Baltimore and Washington

Feb. 15: The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with conductor Mariss Jansons and violinist Janine Jansen, presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society at the Kennedy Center. There was an electrifying performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto, filled with fascinating details and earthy emotion. I also loved Jansons' sumptuous, no holds-barred account of Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony. A magical night.

May 12: The Contemporary Museum's Mobtown Modern concert at Metro Gallery. Darryl Brenzel's jazz band version of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" got beyond the expected snap to create a whole new way of appreciating the grit and power of the original score. And the Mobtown musicians were really smokin.'

Oct. 2, 15 (a tie): Two National Symphony Orchestra concerts with Christoph Eschenbach in his first weeks as music director of the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. On the 2nd, a gripping local premiere of Matthias Pintscher's thorny "Herodiade-Fragmente" with the sensational soprano Marisol Montalvo; then, a freshly considered, deliciously romantic interpretation of Beethoven's Ninth. On the 15th, an intensely personal, affecting performance of

Mahler's Fifth. The chemistry of conductor and orchestra was palpable.

Nov. 11: The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra led by Marin Alsop at the Meyerhoff and, two nights later, at Carnegie Hall. This vivid program offered a striking affirmation of the steadily strengthening musical bond between music director and orchestra. There was a remarkably poetic version of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with soloist Simon Trpceski. To mark the Mahler anniversary season, Alsop dusted off the composer's arrangement of Beethoven's "Eroica." She seemed truly inspired by it and drew from the BSO considerable sonic richness. A cool performance.

Nov. 18: Peabody Opera Theatre's production of Massenet's "Manon." A lot of things clicked so tightly here that it was quite easy to forget that it was a student performance. The singers, especially soprano Jennifer Edwards and tenor William Davenport as the doomed lovers, got into their roles and sang with considerable style. I thought it was one of the best Peabody productions in my 10 years here, so it certainly deserved a spot on this Top 10.

Dec. 6: The Evolution Contemporary Music Series at An die Musik. Judah Adashi led a finely responsive vocal quartet in a mesmerizing account of David Lang's "The Little Match Girl Passion," winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for music. Lang added many layers to a Hans Christian Anderson tale of a poor girl left to die in the cold; both the words and the music touch a nerve. The performers brought out that subtle emotional power with remarkable skill. A most rewarding experience.

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