Sir Mark Elder. Photo: Ingpen & Williams

Sir Mark Elder takes the podium of the National Symphony Orchestra this week, his first appearance since 2014. The principal conductor of Manchester’s Hallé Orchestra will lead two works drawn from Russian folklore, the suite from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the complete score of Stravinsky’s ballet, The Firebird. American pianist Jeremy Denk will be the soloist in Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand.

Performances are 7 p.m. Thursday, 11:30 a.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday. kennedy-center.org/calendar/event/NRCSF; 202-467-4600.