Review: Yefim Bronfman

March 21, University of Richmond

The virtuoso pianist was largely a creation of the 19th century; and for most of the 20th, pianists secured their reputations as virtuosos by mastering the romantic repertory. Yefim Bronfman, the Israeli-born American pianist, recalled that tradition – and its limitations – in a recital at the University of Richmond. Bronfman devoted most of his program to Schumann and Chopin, whose 200th anniversaries were celebrated last year, with a brief nod to this year's bicentennial birthday boy, Franz Liszt, in the second of two encores.

His treatments of Schumann's "Humoreske," Chopin's 12 études, Op. 10, and encore performances of Schumann's Arabesque and Liszt's arrangement of an étude by Paganini reflected a thorough immersion in the stylistic and spiritual world of romantic pianism.

Bronfman traced the long expressive arc of the Schumann, masterfully balancing its lyricism and dramatic rhetoric, and placed each of the Chopin études in harmonic, expressive and technical context with the others.

The pianist's formidable technique was evident throughout, but never an end in itself, even in the most florid and expressively uninhibited music. The moody lyricism of Chopin's Étude No. 9 in F minor, for example, was no less impressive than the grand portent of the "Revolutionary" Étude No. 12 in C minor.

Bronfman's undemonstrative, even stolid, onstage presence consistently directed the listener’s attention to what he was playing, not how he played it.

The program's opening selection, Haydn's "English" Sonata in C major (Hob. XVI/50), comes from a different sound world. Although written (circa 1794) for the most tonally advanced of the pre-modern pianos, it is by no stretch grand-piano music; and it offers rather little to pianists who thrive on romantic passions. Bronfman gave the piece a playful reading but one that played with a poker face, understating its humor and blunting its surprises.

Confessions

A nice feature from the classical corner of the NPR Music website: "Guilty Pleasures," in which noteworthy musicians come clean on their secret loves for music they're not supposed to like. The latest is from Tim Munro, flutist of eighth blackbird, who doesn't sound especially guilt-ridden or defensive about loving Tchaikovsky and the Swingle Singers:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2011/03/19/134653618/guilty-pleasures-wisdom-teeth-tchaikovsky-and-tim-munro#more

A happy orchestra

In a welcome departure from all the news and commentaries about the sad state of orchestras, The New York Times' James Oestreich examines the revival of the Toronto Symphony, which he credits to the imaginative leadership of its music director, Peter Oundjian, and chief executive, Andrew R. Shaw:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/arts/music/peter-oundjian-toronto-symphony-orchestras-music-director.html?ref=music

Having 25 to 30 percent of its budget covered by the government no doubt helps.

Falletta's 20th

JoAnn Falletta is marking her 20th anniversary as music director of the Hampton Roads-based Virginia Symphony – one of the longest tenures among conductors currently at work with major or mid-sized U.S. orchestras. (The 57-year-old Falletta also been music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic since 1999.)

Teresa Annas of The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk) profiles the maestra, on- and offstage:

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/03/vso-conductor-knows-sweet-sound-success

Mass popularity

A new recording of the long-lost "Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno" by the 16th-centrury Italian composer Alessandro Striggio has made an unlikely debut at No. 68 on the British pop charts, The Independent's Rob Sharp reports:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/news/lost-choral-masterpiece-finally-finds-a-home-in-the-pop-charts-2244098.html

As Dave Barry might say, Striggio would be a good name for a band.

Quake donations at KODO show

The American Red Cross will seek donations to its Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief Fund at this week's Richmond performance by the KODO Japanese Drummers.

The concert, March 17 at the Landmark Theater, is presented by the University of Richmond's Modlin Arts Center.

Donations may be made at tables in the theater's main lobby before and after the concert. For more information, visit www.redcross.org

Review: eighth blackbird

March 14, University of Richmond

In its current season at the University of Richmond, eighth blackbird has staged two programs testing this remark by Igor Stravinsky: "Music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all."

Last fall's "powerFUL" pushed against that notion with pieces of highly expressive and evocative, if not quite representational, character. This spring's "powerLESS" was supposed to be the counterweight, a program of works that are, in varying degrees, about "relationships of the notes themselves," as Tim Munro, eighth blackbird's flutist, puts it in a program note.

Munro was to have sung John Cage's Aria (1958) for solo voice, but after a two-week illness felt unable to handle the piece. Pianist Lisa Kaplan substituted two short works, David Lang's "Wed" and Cage's "In a Landscape," that were neither abstract nor powerless.

Another substitution: Esther Noh, a New York-based violinist auditioning to replace Matt Albert, who is leaving the group after 15 years. Albert joined the audience for the concert.

The program opened with Philip Glass' "Music in Similar Motion" (1969), one of his earliest exercises in what he calls "music with repetitive structures," which everyone else calls minimalism. Perky rhythm and the varied musical textures produced by the layering of instruments and tonal registers are the piece's principal attractions – or, if you prefer, the principal obstacles to zoning out from repetition.

The musicians played with palpable concentration (counting like mad will do that) and mechanistic energy. The sight of clarinetist Michael J. Maccaferri playing measure after measure, motionless except for breathing and moving one finger, is now my default vision of high-minimalist performance.

In Steve Reich's "Cello Counterpoint" (2003), cellist Nicholas Photinos played with a recording overdubbing the sounds of seven other cellos, played by Maya Beiser, for whom the piece was composed. Like Reich's Sextet, which the ’birds introduced in 2008 at UR and which subsequently was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music, "Cello Counterpoint" is structured very traditionally – fast-slow-fast – and leavens Reich's familiar rhythm-centered idiom with a lyrical central section, which gave Photinos a chance to play with expressivity as well as precision.

I don't know how many classic cartoons Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez has seen over the years, but his "Five Memos" (2010) suggests he's seen – and, more importantly, heard – his share. This suite of five mostly wildly animated miniatures, one titled "Gli Uccelini del Signor Tic-Tac" ("The Little Birds of Mr. Tic-Tac"), is peppered with the tightly organized collision noise, hairpin turns and off-the-cliff-and-stationary-in-mid-air silences of the great Looney Tunes scores of Carl Stalling. Sanchez-Gutierrez's suite progresses from the jagged and fragmentary to the more tonally cohesive, but keeps its antic energy level from start to finish.

"Five Memos" and Stephen Hartke's "Meanwhile: Incidental music to imaginary puppet plays," reprised here for the second time since the ’birds introduced it at UR in 2007, were the program's big ensemble pieces, both boasting the complexity and variety on which these musicians thrive.

The group used Erica Mott's choreography for Hartke's "Meanwhile," in which the string and wind players "migrate" between the poles of pianist Kaplan and percussionist Matthew Duvall, suggesting that (to Mott, at least) the strings of the puppet master are rhythmic.

Contemporary chamber music does not offer pianists many chances to play with the lyricism and phrase-shaping of romantic or early modern music. Kaplan took full advantage of two such chances in Lang's "Wed," a deeply felt but stoic Liebestod written after the composer witnessed a wedding in which one of the spouses was dying, and Cage's "In a Landscape," a mistily impressionistic tone painting that pretty comprehensively defies every stereotype of this composer.

'Groove over the orchestra'

Mason Bates, the Richmond-bred composer now in residence with the Chicago Symphony, will introduce his "Mothership" for orchestra, electronica and improvising soloists with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and the YouTube Symphony in their March 20 concert and worldwide webcast from the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

Bates discussed the evolution of his melding of electronic and symphonic sounds on NPR's "All Things Considered" over the weekend:

www.npr.org/2011/03/13/134457684/mason-bates-electronica-meet-orchestra

The webcast, beginning at 8 p.m. (EDT) March 20, can be heard here:

http://yt-symphony.appspot.com/finale

Virginia singer among Met finalists

Ryan Speedo Green, a Suffolk-bred bass-baritone, is one of eight finalists at this year's Met National Council Auditions today at New York's Metropolitan Opera House. A profile of the 24-year-old singer by Teresa Annas of The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk):

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/03/opera-hopeful-audition-met-chance-lifetime

RESULTS: Green was among five winners. Each will be awarded $15,000.

Walsh joining Lyric Opera Virginia

Joseph Walsh, currently Virginia Opera's associate artistic director and director of artistic administration, will join Lyric Opera Virginia, the new company led by Peter Mark, as its general director.

Mark ran Virginia Opera when the company first engaged Walsh as an associate conductor in 1995.

Walsh moves to Lyric on June 1, after he conducts the Virginia Opera production of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," which runs from March 19-27 in Norfolk and will be staged next month in Richmond and Fairfax.

MARCH 15 UPDATE: Margaret "Maggi" George, former marketing director of Virginia Opera and the Virginia Symphony, has been named Lyric Opera's executive director. George, a onetime banker, in recent years has owned and operated The Rhein River Inn in Lexington.

Hookers for highbrows

Visit Salzburg, an online "travel guide written by locals," extols the charms of Steingasse Lane, which boasts both the birthplace of Joseph Mohr, author of "Silent Night," and a string of state-licensed whorehouses, one of which "is said [to have been] a brothel since the time of Mozart" . . .

http://www.visit-salzburg.net/sights/steingasse.htm

(Note to the travel guide: "Silent Night" was first heard in 1819, not 1919. Proofread, proofread, proofread.)

(via Norman Lebrecht)

Audiophilia, R.I.P.?

NPR's Linton Weeks notes the sharp decline in spending on high-end audio equipment, and wonders where all the audiophiles went. To video, it seems:

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/05/134256592/whatever-happened-to-the-audiophile?ft=1&f=1008

One point the story addresses only inferentially: A high-end video (aka "home theater") system is also a high-end audio system. The DVD player doubles as a CD player.

Review: Richmond Symphony

March 6, Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage

In this weekend's Masterworks concerts, Thomas Hooten, principal trumpeter of the Atlanta Symphony, joined the Richmond Symphony and its music director, Steven Smith, in the Trumpet Concerto of Henri Tomasi, a French composer best-known for writing concertos for instruments other than piano, violin or cello.

The concerto is a late-ish (1948) example of the urbane neo-classical style, spiced with blues and jazz, espoused first by Stravinsky and Ravel, subsequently by the composers of "Les Six," especially Milhaud and Poulenc.

Tomasi calls for fast changes by the trumpeter, to and from a couple of mutes, and from terse, rat-a-tat trumpet calls to more lyrical or atmospheric playing. Hooten ran those changes with expert technique and an ear for colors and textures not ordinarily associated with this instrument. Even muted, a trumpet projects more strongly than most solo instruments in concertos; that gave Smith and the orchestra unusually free rein to accompany the soloist energetically and with vivid color.

The program opened with "Dancers, Dreamers and Presidents" by Daniel Bernard Roumain, a 40-year-old American composer of Haitian descent who styles himself DRB. The Richmond Symphony is one of several orchestras that commissioned the work through the Sphinx Organization, which seeks to give African-American and Latino composers a higher profile in symphonic music.

The fleeting (21-second) but resonant impression of future president Barack Obama dancing with Ellen DeGeneres in a 2007 appearance on her talk show inspired DRB to write this piece, whose three-movement, fast-slow-fast construction and grounding in dance rhythms recall the sinfonias of the mid-18th-century rococo or early classical style. The fast sections' funk/hip-hop drumbeats and Latin riffs obviously come from different times and places.

On first hearing, I sensed a latter-day film-noir vibe in the outer movements and an existential-tragic tone, à la Shostakovich, in the central section. From the perspective of a rear-orchestra seat, I heard too much of the drums and not enough of an eventful and colorful orchestration, which may be why I found the fast sections relentlessly repetitious. Smith and the symphony performed as if they were very much in DRB's groove.

The second half of the program was devoted to Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, the "Pathétique." My invariable response to this work is, "Shut up and die already," so my assessment of any performance of it is highly suspect. I found this one to be very well-played, felicitous in detail, with more forward motion and less bathos than usual – which probably means it was too fast and insufficiently heart-rending.

Review: Ysaÿe Quartet

March 5, Virginia Commonwealth University

The Ysaÿe Quartet, one of the preeminent French string ensembles, played up to its reputation in a performance of Debussy's Quartet in G minor that displayed all the most gratifying qualities of the French fiddle style – tonal clarity and focus, nuanced sonorities and colors – and with almost orchestral heft.

The Debussy highlighted the return of the Ysaÿe – violinists Guillaume Sutre and Luc-Marie Aguera, violist Miguel de Silva and cellist Yovan Markovitch – to VCU's Rennolds Chamber Concerts following a memorable 2004 program with the Paris Piano Trio. Then, the Ysaÿe's showcase was the Ravel String Quartet; with the Debussy this weekend, the group now has given Richmond the two greatest hits of the French quartet literature.

The musicians took Debussy's characterization of his quartet's first movement – animé et très décidé – as a lodestar for the whole piece. Their performance was propulsive and strongly accented yet finely detailed and richly colored, with especially striking timbres played by muted strings in the third movement.

The level of energy, dynamism and ear for musical tension that the Ysaÿe brought to the Debussy would have been welcome in a first half of Haydn's Quartet in G major, Op. 33, No. 5, and Beethoven's Quartet in E flat major, Op. 74 (known as the "Harp"). Both received rather mellow performances, with generally moderate tempos and a certain languor in quiet or slow passages.

The musicians sounded most engaged in the presto movement of the Beethoven, whose string voicings and balances might have been crafted with French string style especially in mind.

Violist de Silva and first violinist Sutre formed an animated and deftly bronze-colored duet in the third movement of Brahms' Quartet No. 3 in B flat major, Op. 67, played as an encore.

Richmond Symphony 2011-12

Shortly after being named the Richmond Symphony's fifth music director, Steven Smith outlined a programming philosophy of performing familiar symphonic works alongside new or unfamiliar music.

That thinking is reflected in the orchestra's 2011-12 season, the first in which Smith fully participated in program planning. (The current season was mostly in place before his appointment last March.)

Next season's Masterworks programs are liberally sprinkled with works by contemporary composers (John Adams, Steven Stucky, Arvo Pärt, William Bolcom, Astor Piazzolla) and 20th-century classics not heard routinely here (Bartók's "Miraculous Mandarin" Suite, Shostakovich's Ninth Symphony, Stravinsky's "Jeu de Cartes," Janáček's "Taras Bulba," Ives' "Three Places in New England").

Most of the programs for Masterworks and the Metro Collection chamber-orchestra series, however, are rooted in familiar symphonies (Beethoven's Seventh, Brahms' Fourth, Mendelssohn's "Italian," Mozart's 35th and 39th, Sibelius' Fifth) and warhorses of the concerto repertory (Brahms' Violin Concerto, with Elena Urioste; Dvořák's Cello Concerto, with Carter Brey; Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," with Katherine Chi; Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez," with Jason Vieaux).

The Richmond Symphony Chorus, directed by the orchestra's associate conductor, Erin R. Freeman, will venture into the unfamiliar in Mendelssohn's "Die erste Walpurgisnacht," as well as singing in the Poulenc Gloria, Handel's "Messiah" and the "Let It Snow!" holiday concerts. The Richmond Symphony Chamber Chorus will perform in Bach's Mass in F major in the first of four Metro Collection programs.

The symphony will collaborate with dancers from the Richmond Ballet in a pops program, "Wild Wild West," featuring music from Copland's "Rodeo;" and a narrator and actors, as yet unnamed, will join the orchestra for a performance of Stravinsky's "The Soldier’s Tale" in the Metro Collection’s season finale. And the orchestra will open its Pops series accompanying a screening of the classic film "Casablanca."

Metro Collection will eliminate Friday night concerts, offering only Sunday matinees at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland.

Four musicians from the orchestra's roster – French horn player Robert Johnson in Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 2; flutist Mary Boodell, oboist Shawn Welk and trumpeter Rolla Durham in Barber's "Carpicorn" Concerto – will be featured in Metro Collection programs. Brendan Elliott, winner of the symphony's 2011 Concerto Competition, will be the soloist in Saint-Saëns' Violin Concerto No. 3 in a Masterworks program.

The symphony is offering several ticket deals, the biggest of which is free admission to Masterworks concerts for youths 18 and younger. A "Compose Your Own" ticket package also will be offered, with patrons able to select concerts from several series.

For a brochure and details on the coming season, call the symphony box office at (804) 788-1212 or visit http://www.richmondsymphony.com/

Dates, artists, programs and subscription prices (for adults unless listed otherwise) for the Richmond Symphony's 2011-12 season:


MASTERWORKS
8 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage
Subscriptions: $172-$484

Sept. 17-18 – Steven Smith conducting. Beethoven: "Leonore" Overture No. 3; Brahms: Violin Concerto (Elena Urioste, violin); Steven Stucky: "Dreamwaltzes;" Bartók: "The Miraculous Mandarin" Suite.

Oct. 15-16 – Steven Smith conducting. Arvo Pärt: "Fratres;" Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9; Dvořák: Cello Concerto (Carter Brey, cello).

Nov. 12-13 – Steven Smith conducting. Rossini: "The Barber of Seville" Overture; Poulenc: Gloria (Richmond Symphony Chorus); Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major (Anton Nel, piano); Stravinsky: "Jeu de Cartes."

Jan. 14-15 – Steven Smith conducting. Astor Piazzolla: "Tangazo;" Rodrigo: "Concierto de Aranjuez" (Jason Vieaux, guitar); William Bolcom: "Commedia for (almost) 18th-century Orchestra;" Mozart: Symphony No. 39.

Feb. 4-5 – Danail Rachev conducting. Grieg: "Peer Gynt" Suite No. 1; Rachmaninoff: "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" (Katherine Chi, piano); Sibelius: Symphony No. 5.

Feb. 25-26 – Steven Smith conducting. John Adams: "The Chairman Dances;" Mendelssohn: "Die erste Walpurgisnacht" (Richmond Symphony Chorus); Beethoven: Symphony No. 7.

April 14-15 – Steven Smith conducting. Ives: "Three Places in New England;" Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 3 (Brendon Elliott, violin); Brahms: Symphony No. 4.

May 12-13 – Steven Smith conducting. Dvořák: Slavonic dances TBA; Janáček: "Taras Bulba;" Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances.


METRO COLLECTION
3 p.m. Sundays, Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland
Subscriptions: $68

Sept. 25 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. Aaron Jay Kernis: "Musica celestis;" Bach: Mass in F major (Richmond Symphony Chamber Chorus); Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 ("Italian").

Oct. 23 – Steven Smith conducting. Silvestre Revueltas: "Homenaje a Federico Garcia Lorca;" Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 2 (Robert Johnson, French horn); Sibelius: "Pelleas and Melisande;" Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 ("Classical").

Jan. 29 – Steven Smith conducting. John Adams: Chamber Symphony; Barber: "Capricorn" Concerto (Mary Boodell, flute; Shawn Welk, oboe; Rolla Durham, trumpet); Rameau: Ballet suite TBA; Mozart: Symphony No. 35 ("Haffner").

May 6 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. Boccherini: Symphony No. 6; Stravinsky: "The Soldier's Tale" (narrator & actors TBA).


POPS
8 p.m. Saturdays (unless listed otherwise), Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage
Subscriptions: $92-$252

Oct. 1 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. "A Symphonic Night at the Movies: 'Casablanca' " (orchestra accompanying screening of film).

Dec. 3, 4 (3 p.m.) – Erin R. Freeman conducting. "Let It Snow!" holiday program (Richmond Symphony Chorus).

Jan. 21 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. "For Ella – the Music of Ella Fitzgerald" (Patti Austin, guest star).

April 27 – Steven Smith conducting. “Wild Wild West,” with Richmond Ballet.


LOLLIPOPS
11 a.m. Saturdays, Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage
Subscriptions: $45 (adult); $36 (child)

Oct. 29 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. "Mozart's Magnificent Voyage" (Classical Kids Live, actors).

March 3 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" (Sara Valentine & Michael Boudewyns, actors).

April 21 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. "Emperor's New Clothes" (Grey Seal Puppets).


SPECIAL
8 p.m., Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage

Dec. 2 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. Handel: "Messiah" (soloists TBA, Richmond Symphony Chorus).

Levine quits Boston

James Levine, whose ongoing health problems have led to repeated cancellations of concerts with the Boston Symphony – most recently, withdrawal from the rest of his dates this season – will resign from his post as music director of the orchestra, The New York Times' Daniel J. Wakin reports:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/arts/music/03levine.html?hpw

The Boston Globe's Geoff Edgers reports on the resignation:

http://www.boston.com/ae/specials/culturedesk/2011/03/levine_stepping_down_as_boston.html

March calendar

Classical performances in and around Richmond, with selected events elsewhere in Virginia and the Washington area. Program information, provided by presenters, is updated as details become available. Adult single-ticket prices are listed; senior, student/youth, group and other discounts may be offered.

SCOUTING REPORT

* In and around Richmond: Before heading into the pit for the Virginia Opera's "Madama Butterfly" – one of three (!) productions of the Puccini opera on the region's stages this month, the others from the Washington National Opera and Opera Roanoke – the Richmond Symphony plays Tchaikovsky, Tomasi and Daniel Roumain's new "Dancers, Dreamers and Presidents" with its music director, Steven Smith, and guest trumpeter Tom Hooten, March 5-6, and a pops program, "The Music of James Bond," with guest conductor Carl Davis, March 12, all at the Carpenter Theatre of Richmond CenterStage.
. . . The Ysaÿe String Quartet plays Debussy, Beethoven and Haydn, March 5 at Virginia Commonwealth University's Singleton Arts Center. . . . French horn player Thomas Jöstlein, a Richmond Symphony alumnus who's now associate principal horn of the St. Louis Symphony, joins Robert Mirakian and the Richmond Philharmonic in the Gliere Horn Concerto, March 13 at VCU's Singleton Center. . . . eighth blackbird plays works by John Cage, Steve Reich, Philip Glass and others in "Powerless," March 14 at the University of Richmond's Modlin Arts Center. . . . Jeremy Filsell performs in an American Guild of Organists recital, March 25 at Centenary United Methodist Church. . . . Berta Rojas performs in the VCU Guitar Series, March 27 at the Singleton Center.

* Star turns: Pianist Evgeny Kissin plays Liszt, March 5 at Washington's Kennedy Center. . . . Pianist Olga Kern joins JoAnn Falletta and the Virginia Symphony in Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, March 11-13 at three Hampton Roads venues. . . . The Akademie für alte Musik Berlin, one of Europe's premier period-instruments ensembles, performs on March 15 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. . . . André Previn conducts Japan's NHK Symphony Orchestra in Takemitsu, Prokofiev and, with Daniel Müller-Schott, Elgar's Cello Concerto, March 16 at Strathmore in the Maryland suburbs of DC. . . . The Boston Symphony plays Haydn, Beethoven and Bartók, March 19 at the Kennedy Center. . . . Pianist Yefim Bronfman plays Haydn, Schumann, Chopin and more, March 21 at UR's Modlin Center. . . . Harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock performs in "A Tribute to Wanda Landowska," March 29 at the Library of Congress in DC.


March 1 (7:30 p.m.)
March 2 (7:30 p.m.)
March 4 (7:30 p.m.)
March 5 (7 p.m.)
March 6 (2 p.m.)
March 7 (7 p.m.)
March 8 (7:30 p.m.)
March 10 (7:30 p.m.)
March 13 (2 p.m.)
March 14 (7 p.m.)
March 15 (7:30 p.m.)
March 17 (2 p.m.)
March 19 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Plácido Domingo & Philippe Auguin conducting
Puccini: "Madama Butterfly"
Ana María Martinez & Catherine Naglestad (Cio-Cio San)
Alexey Dolgov & Thiago Arancam (Pinkerton)
Michael Chioldi & Hyung Yun (Sharpless)
Margaret Thompson & Ning Liang (Suzuki)
Ron Daniels, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$55-$300
(800) 876-7372
http://www.dc-opera.org/

March 3 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Symphony Orchestra
Daniel Myssyk conducting
program TBA
$5
(804) 828-6776
http://www.vcumusic.org/

March 3 (7 p.m.)
March 4 (8 p.m.)
March 5 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Roussel: "Padmavati" (excerpts)
Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano
Zakir Hussain: "Concerto for Four Soloists" (premiere)
Zakir Hussain, tabla
Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano
Shankar Mahadevan, vocalist
Hariharan, vocalist
$20-$85
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

March 3 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First and Independence streets SE, Washington
Schumann Trio
Mozart: Trio in E flat major, K. 498 ("Kegelstatt")
Bruch: "Eight Pieces," Op. 8 (excerpts)
Bright Sheng: "Three Fantasies" for violin and piano
Brahms: Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114
Free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1011-schedule.html

March 4 (8 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
Imani Winds
Franzetti: "Serenata"
Moran: "Cane"
Tomasi: "Cinq Danses"
Debussy-Kowalewski: "Bruyères"
Stravinsky-Russell: "The Rite of Spring"
Klezmer dances (Kavadlo arr.)
$35
(703) 938-2404
http://www.wolftrap.org/

March 5 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Nathan Mills, guitar
program TBA
Free
(804) 646-7223
http://www.richmondpubliclibrary.org/

March 5 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Rennolds Chamber Concerts:
Ysaÿe String Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in G major, Op. 33, No. 5
Beethoven: Quartet in E flat major, Op. 74 ("Harp")
Debussy: Quartet in G minor
$32
(804) 828-6776
http://www.vcumusic.org/

March 5 (8 p.m.)
March 6 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
Daniel Roumain: "Dancers, Dreamers and Presidents"
Tomasi: Trumpet Concerto
Tom Hooten, trumpet
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 ("Pathétique")
$17-$72
(800) 982-2787 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.richmondsymphony.com/

March 5 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 201 Brambleton Ave., Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Pops
Benjamin Rous conducting
"Classical Mystery Tour: a Tribute to The Beatles"
$40-$85
(757) 892-6366
http://www.virginiasymphony.org/

March 5 (2 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Evgeny Kissin, piano
Liszt: "Ricordanza"
Liszt: Sonata in B minor
Liszt: "Mosonyi’s Funeral Procession"
Liszt: "Valse d’Obermann"
Liszt: "Venezia e Napoli"
$48-$125
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
http://www.wpas.org/

March 5 (8 p.m.)
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, Washington
Kayhan Kalhor, kamancheh (Iranian spike-fiddle)
Brooklyn Rider
program TBA
$35
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
http://www.wpas.org/

March 5 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 ("Classical")
Rachmaninoff: "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini"
Lukas Vondracek, piano
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6
$33-$93
(877) 276-1333 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
http://www.strathmore.org/

March 6 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Virginia Consort
program TBA
$35
(434) 924-3376
http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/music/concertsevents/index.html

March 8 (8 p.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg:
Audubon String Quartet
program TBA
$15 (waiting list)
(757) 258-4814
http://www.chambermusicwilliamsburg.org/

March 10 (7 p.m.)
March 11 (8 p.m.)
March 12 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Messiaen: "Turangalila" Symphony (discussion and performance)
Cédric Tiberghien, piano
Tristan Murail, ondes martenot
Joseph Horowitz, moderator
$20-$85
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

March 10 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First and Independence streets SE, Washington
Wordless Music with Tyondai Braxton
Caleb Burhans conducting
John Adams: "Road Movies" for violin and piano
Burhans: "In a Distant Place"
Louis Andriessen: "Workers’ Union"
Braxton: "Central Market" (excerpts), other works TBA
Free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1011-schedule.html

March 11 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
March 12 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 201 Brambleton Ave., Norfolk
March 13 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
JoAnn Falletta conducting
Rautavaara: "Lintukoto" ("Isle of Bliss")
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
Olga Kern, piano
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
$20-$85
(757) 892-6366
http://www.virginiasymphony.org/

March 11 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First and Independence streets SE, Washington
Antares
Marianna Mihai-Zoeter, soprano
John Harbison: "Fantasy Duo" for violin and piano
Schubert: "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen"
Mallonee: "Shadow Rings"
Messiaen: "Quartet for the End of Time"
Free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1011-schedule.html

March 12 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony Pops
Carl Davis conducting
"The Music of James Bond"
$17-$75
(800) 982-2787 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.richmondsymphony.com/

March 12 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
National Philharmonic
Piotr Gajewski conducting
Grieg: "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen"
Grieg: Piano Concerto
Brian Ganz, piano
Sibelius: Symphony No. 2
$32-$79
(301) 581-5100
http://www.strathmore.org/

March 13 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Richmond Philharmonic
Robert Mirakian conducting
Grieg: "Peer Gynt" Suite No. 1
Gliere: Horn Concerto
Thomas Jöstlein, French horn
Sibelius: Symphony No. 3
$8 in advance, $10 at door
(804) 673-7400
http://www.richmondphilharmonic.org/

March 13 (4 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Second Sunday South of the James:
Williamsburg Chamber Players
Schubert: Piano Trio in B flat major, D. 28
Beethoven: Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 97 (“Archduke”)
Brahms: Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25
Donation requested
(804) 272-7514
http://www.bonairpc.org/

March 13 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Oratorio Society of Virginia
L. Thomas Vining conducting
Handel: "Dixit Dominus"
Schubert: Mass in G major
Danielle Talamantes & Margaret Neil, sopranos
Keely Rhodes, alto
Dennys Moura, tenor
Kelly Wilkerson, baritone
$15-$25
(434) 924-3376
http://www.oratoriosociety.org/

March 13 (7 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Jeffrey Siegel, piano
"Keyboard Conversations: Northern Stars"
works by Brahms, Grieg, Nielsen, Sibelius
$19-$38
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
http://cfa.gmu.edu/calendar/

March 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
eighth blackbird
"Powerless"
Philip Glass: "Music in Similar Motion"
Steve Reich: "Cello Counterpoint"
Carlos Sanchez-Guttierez: "Five Memos"
John Cage: Aria
Stephen Hartke: "Meanwhile"
$20
(804) 289-8980
http://www.modlin.richmond.edu/

March 15 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Akademie für alte Musik Berlin
Telemann: Suite in F minor
Bach: "Brandenburg" Concerto No. 5
Bach: Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042
violinist TBA
Handel: Concerto grosso in F major, Op. 6, No. 2
Telemann: Concerto in E minor for recorder, flute, strings and continuo
recorder player & flutist TBA
$28-$30
(434) 924-3376
http://www.tecs.org/

March 16 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
NHK Symphony Orchestra
André Previn conducting
Takemitsu: "Green"
Elgar: Cello Concerto
Daniel Müller-Schott, cello
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5
$20-$65
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
http://www.wpas.org/

March 17 (8 p.m.)
St. Bede Catholic Church, 3686 Ironbound Road, Williamsburg
March 18 (8 p.m.)
Regent University Theater, Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
JoAnn Falletta conducting
György Ligeti: "Concert Romanesc"
Barber: Violin Concerto
Vahn Armstrong, violin
Mozart: Symphony No. 41 ("Jupiter")
$20-$50
(757) 892-6366
http://www.virginiasymphony.org/

March 17 (7 p.m.)
March 19 (8 p.m.)
March 20 (1:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major. K. 488
Christoph Eschenbach, piano
Zemlinsky: "Lyric" Symphony
Twyla Robinson, soprano
Matthias Goerne, baritone
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

March 18 (8 p.m.)
March 20 (2:30 p.m.)
Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Ave., Roanoke
Opera Roanoke
Scott Williamson conducting
Puccini: "Madama Butterfly"
Yunah Lee (Cio-Cio San)
other cast TBA
in Italian
$20-$90
(540) 982-2742
http://www.operaroanoke.org/

March 18 (8 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
Cuarteto Latinoamericano
Villa-Lobos: String Quartet No. 1
Piazzolla: "Four for Tango"
Revueltas: "Música de Feria"
Ponce: "Estrellita," "Govota"
Ginastera: String Quartet No. 2
$35
(703) 938-2404
http://www.wolftrap.org/

March 19 (8 p.m.)
March 23 (7:30 p.m.)
March 25 (8 p.m.)
March 27 (2:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Opera
Joseph Walsh conducting
Puccini: "Madama Butterfly"
Sandra Lopez (Cio-Cio San)
Brian Jagde (Pinkerton)
Magdalena Wór (Suzuki)
Levi Hernandez (Sharpless)
Dorothy Danner, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$25-$114
(866) 673-7282
http://www.vaopera.org/

March 19 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Webern: "Six Pieces for Orchestra"
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor")
Matti Raikallio, piano
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5
$25-$55
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
http://www.fairfaxsymphony.org/

March 19 (4 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Roberto Abbado conducting
Haydn: Symphony No. 93
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3
Peter Serkin, piano
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
$48-$125
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
http://www.wpas.org/

March 21 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Haydn: Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI/50
Esa-Pekka Salonen: work TBA
Schumann: Humoreske in B flat major, Op. 20
Chopin: 12 etudes, Op. 10
$36
(804) 289-8980
http://www.modlin.richmond.edu/

March 21 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
ESH Trio
works by Haydn, Schubert, Christos Hatzis
$5
(804) 828-6776
http://www.vcumusic.org/

March 21 (8 p.m.)
March 22 (8 p.m.)
Kimball Theatre, Merchants Square, Williamsburg
Williamsburg Symphonia
Janna Hymes conducting
Bizet: "Petit Suite" from "Jeux d'enfants"
Mozart: Symphony No. 35 ("Haffner")
Ravel: "Pavane pour une infante défunte"
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 ("Little Russian")
$TBA
(757) 229-9857
http://www.williamsburgsymphonia.org/

March 22 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Jonathan Biss, piano
Miriam Fried, violin
Beethoven: Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23
Beethoven: Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 96
Beethoven: Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 12, No. 2
Beethoven: Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24 ("Spring")
$32
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

March 23 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Vocal Arts DC:
Christine Brewer, soprano
Craig Rutenberg, piano
works by Richard Strauss, American composers
$45
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

March 24 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Perlman Music Program
Itzhak Perlman, violin & director
Mozart: Divertimento in E flat major, K. 563
Osvaldo Golijov: "Last Round"
Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111
$50 (waiting list)
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

March 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Centenary United Methodist Church, 411 E. Grace St., Richmond
American Guild of Organists Repertoire Recital Series:
Jeremy Filsell, organ
works by Dupré, Vierne, Hollins, Pott, Rachmaninoff (arr. Filsell)
Donation requested
(804) 648-8319
http://www.richmondago.org/

March 25 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
March 26 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 201 Brambleton Ave., Norfolk
Virginia Symphony
JoAnn Falletta conducting
Mozart: Symphony No. 36 ("Linz")
Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 1
Susan Starr, piano
Schumann: Symphony No. 3 ("Rhenish")
$20-$85
(757) 892-6366
http://www.virginiasymphony.org/

March 25 (8 p.m.)
American Theatre, 125 E. Mellen St., Hampton
Soheil Nasseri, piano
works by Schubert, Beethoven, Schumann
$25-$30
(757) 722-2787
http://www.hamptonarts.net/american-theatre/

March 26 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Belle Isle Strings
works by Schubert, Schumann
Free
(804) 646-7223
http://www.richmondpubliclibrary.org/

March 26 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Kenneth Wood, tenor
accompanist TBA
program TBA
$5
(804) 828-6776
http://www.vcumusic.org/

March 26 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
March 27 (3:30 p.m.)
Monticello High School, 1400 Independence Way, Charlottesville
Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra
Kate Tamarkin conducting
Gerald Finzi: Romance
Mahler: "Rückert-Lieder"
Laura Zuiderveen, mezzo-soprano
Holst: "The Planets"
women of UVa University Singers
Michael Slon directing
$10-$35
(434) 924-3376
http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/music/concertsevents/index.html

March 26 (8 p.m.)
Merchant Hall, Hylton Arts Center, George Mason University, Manassas
American Festival Pops Orchestra
Anthony Maiello conducting
works by Gershwin, Ellington, John Williams, others
$28-$44
(703) 993-7759
http://www.hyltoncenter.org/

March 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Family Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Kevin McMillan, baritone
Gabriel Dobner, piano
works by Haydn, Britten, Greer, Bowles
$25
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

March 26 (11 a.m., 5:30 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First and Independence streets SE, Washington
Tanya Tomkins, baroque cello
Bach: six suites for solo cello
Free; tickets required for each concert
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1011-schedule.html

March 26 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, Washington
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Yan Pascal Tortelier conducting
Ravel: "Valses nobles et entimentales"
Grieg: Piano Concerto
Orion Weiss, piano
Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra
$33-$93
(877) 276-1333 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
http://www.strathmore.org/

March 27 (3 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Richard Becker & Doris Wylee-Becker, pianos
works by Debussy, Stravinsky, Becker, others
Free
(804) 289-8980
http://www.modlin.richmond.edu/

March 27 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Guitar Series:
Berta Rojas, guitar
program TBA
$15
(804) 828-6776
http://www.vcumusic.org/

March 27 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Thomas Piercy, clarinet
accompanist TBA
Ned Rorem: three waltzes
Debussy: "Premier Rhapsodie"
Richard Rodney Bennett: "Ballad in Memory of Shirley Horn"
Shulamit Ran: "For an Actor"
Carlos Guastavino: "Tonada y Cuesta"
Astor Piazzolla: Le Grand Tango," "Soledad," Concert d'aujourd'hui"
Free
(804) 828-6776
http://www.vcumusic.org/

March 28 (8 p.m.)
Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre, Orange Avenue at Williamson Road
Roanoke Symphony
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Beethoven: "Fidelio" Overture
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 ("Choral")
Adelaide Trombetta, soprano
Jesie Raven, mezzo-soprano
Jeffrey Springer, tenor
Stephen Morscheck, bass
Roanoke Symphony Chorus
Bridgewater College Concert Choir
Liberty University Concert Choir
Radford University Choral Union
Roanoke College Choir
$21-$49
(540) 343-9127
http://www.rso.com/

March 29 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Hugo Wolf Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in B major, Op. 76, No. 4 ("Sunrise")
Wolf: Intermezzo
Beethoven: Quartet in C sharp minor, Op. 131
$28-$30
(434) 924-3376
http://www.tecs.org/

March 29 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First and Independence streets SE, Washington
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord
"A Tribute to Wanda Landowska"
works by Handel, Bach, Froberger, Couperin, Rameau, Scarlatti
Free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1011-schedule.html

March 30 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Beethoven Found Philharmonic
Ulysses James conducting
Bach: "Brandenburg" Concerto No. 2
Copland: "Fanfare for the Common Man"
Handel: Oboe Concerto No. 3 in G minor
oboist TBA
Mozart: Symphony No. 40
$65-$100
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

March 31 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Iván Fischer conducting
Rossini: "La gazza ladra" ("The Thieving Magpie") Overture
Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 1
Jozsef Lendvay Jr., violin
Schumann: Symphony No. 3 ("Rhenish")
$20-$85
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/