Tallis Scholars Mass, Star Pianists

England, the insult goes, is “a land without music.” Of course, where there are people, there is music—but it’s true that, for a century or two, English composers played mostly in the minor leagues. New York Philharmonic, conducted by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, at David Geffen Hall, showcases two works, both from 1910, that helped to change that.

- -Fergus McIntosh

First, Vaughn Williams's lambent “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis,” programmed alongside the local première of John Williams's Piano Concerto, played by Emanuel Ax, puts the sparse tonalities of the Reformation through a lush folk-inflected filter (Feb. 27-28, March 1 and 3). Then, Elgar's fiendishly difficult Violin Concerto is played by Vilde Frang in concerts that also feature Schumann's First Symphony and Weinberg’s Fifth (March 5-7).