Wednesday 11 – Reviews of the Met’s Norma have been mixed regarding the opera’s production values, but who goes to bel canto operas for those, anyway? We go to hear glorious singing, and the critics have agreed that Sondra Radvanovsky and Joyce DiDonato have been the dream pairing they were hyped to be in Bellini’s vocal showcase. The first entry in the Met’s season screens at 6:30pm at various movie theaters; check Calendar for locations. Tickets are $19-27. Call 818-761-6100.
Thursday 12 – With the demise of the Live Oak this past spring, the Cliburn Sessions series has had to find a new home, and so it opens this season in the venerable Scat Jazz Lounge downtown. Sean Chen, the Van Cliburn Competition’s third-place winner four years ago, will play his own piano transcriptions and improvise on music suggested by the audience. The concert is at 8pm at 111 W 4th St, FW. Tickets are $20-25. Call 817-870-9100.
Friday 13 – The Champions of Magic debuted five years ago in the U.K. and dazzled theatrical audiences across the Atlantic. Now, they’re on their first-ever tour of America, and their only stop in Texas will be here in Tarrant County, so head over to Arlington Music Hall to see these illusionists and prestidigitators perform 7:30pm at 224 N Center St, Arlington. Tickets are $10-115. Call 817-226-4400.
Saturday 14 – Isabella Breedlove and Daniel Rocha headline the musical acts at Rio Festival, the River District’s go at an outdoor arts and crafts festival. If the fall weather, music, and food aren’t enough of an attraction for you, a portion of ticket sales will go toward Hurricane Harvey relief. The festival is 5pm at 4800 Scott Rd, FW. Tickets are $10-20.
Sunday 15 – In 1502, Leonardo da Vinci temporarily gave up art and worked as a military engineer for the papal armies, sketching designs for guns, cannons, a crossbow, and a siege tower. David Davalos’ A Lost Leonardo depicts the Renaissance man during this period of his life. The play receives its world premiere Fri thru Nov 5 at Amphibian Stage Productions, 120 S Main St, FW. Tickets are $33. Call 817-923-3012.
Monday 16 – The Spectrum Chamber Music Society inaugurates its 2017-18 season with a concert downtown. Dmitry Kustanovich will play Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 transcribed for viola, but if the gravity of that seems intimidating to you, there’s also Mendelssohn’s Fourth String Quartet and Poulenc’s Sonata for Two Clarinets, a testament to the French composer’s love of wind instruments. The concert is at 7pm at First United Methodist Church, 800 W 5th St, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-938-5492.
Tuesday 17 – Vernon Castle was half of a famous ballroom dance team along with his wife until the outbreak of World War I, when he became a decorated fighter pilot and a trainer of other pilots before dying in a training accident in Benbrook. No less than Fred Astaire and Fort Worth product Ginger Rogers starred in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, the 1939 musical biopic that concludes Fort Worth Library’s film series at 5:30pm at 500 W 3rd St, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-392-7323.
