Review: Jeremy Denk

March 23, Virginia Commonwealth University

Jeremy Denk has performed in Richmond and environs six times in the past nine years, exploring most every corner of the piano’s solo, chamber and concerto repertory. His first solo recital, in 2010 at the University of Richmond, memorably paired Charles Ives’ First Piano Sonata with Bach’s “Goldberg Variations.” His second solo date, in VCU’s Rennolds Chamber Concerts series, looked to be another such cultural collision, with Bartók’s Piano Sonata abutting a selection of pieces by Liszt, followed by Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in B minor and Beethoven’s last piano sonata, the C minor, Op. 111.

The performance turned out to be less about disparate musics than about Denk’s engagement with each selection. Each piece offered, in very different ways, an opportunity for the pianist to dive in to the music – rhythmically, expresssively, colorfully, as an intellectual or a tactile experience. Even understatement in these pieces requires an active interpreter to pull off.

Denk dove in from the start, driving the already intense rhythmic figures of the outer movements of the Bartók sonata, and rarely let up through the program. Even the relatively serene encore, the 13th variation from the “Goldbergs,” conveyed the energy and tension of music being made up on the spot.

Denk’s energy and spontaneity sold the Bartók to listeners, many of whom had probably dreaded hearing it. Phrasing and deft application of color were the prime attractions of the Liszt set, which used the composer’s piano arrangements of the Bach Prelude “Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen” and the “Liebestod” from Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” to bracket two pieces from the Italian book of Liszt’s “Années de pèlerinage,” Petrarch’s Sonata 123 and “Après une lecture du Dante.”

The second half of the program, Beethoven bracketed by Bach, was introduced verbally, then played, by Denk as a study in contrasts of the dissimilar – notably in the long set of variations that conclude the Beethoven. Temperament occasionally overcame technique in the Beethoven, especially in the more densely scored variations.

Risë Stevens (1913-2013)

Risë Stevens, a fixture at the Metropolitan Opera in Carmen and other mezzo-soprano roles in the 1940s and ’50s, and a popular singer in Hollywood films (notably, co-starring with Bing Crosby in “Going My Way”), has died at 99.

An obituary by Margalit Fox in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/arts/music/rise-stevens-opera-singer-dies-at-99.html?hpw&_r=0

Tallis Scholars reviewed

While I was attending the eighth blackbird-Nico Muhly show at the University of Richmond, The Tallis Scholars were performing at St. James’s Episcopal Church. Here’s Gene Harris’ review for the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

http://www.timesdispatch.com/entertainment-life/music-movies-tv/music/music-review-the-tallis-scholars/article_461e0e98-7d78-56d0-afcb-892c0bc46da8.html

Review: eighth blackbird

with Nico Muhly, composer & keyboards
March 20, University of Richmond

Has any American composer risen as far as fast as Nico Muhly? Nine years ago, Muhly was studying at the Juilliard School. Since then, he has written an opera, “Two Boys,” for the Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera; orchestral works for the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Seattle Symphony and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; a film score, for “The Reader,” nominated for an Oscar; and arrangements for albums by Björk, Usher and Rufus Wainwright.

The 31-year-old composer joined eighth blackbird for a sampler of his works, two of them written for the ’birds, and pieces by composers he counts as mentors and influences – Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Tristan Perich.

Glass specifically – Muhly worked for him as a copyist, arranger and conductor – and minimalism generally figure prominently in Muhly’s compositional style; but repeated figures and rhythms are only the foundation of his compositions. His instrumental and electronic writing is as elaborate and decorous as Renaissance polyphony, and his repetition builds into a genuine groove.

Among the four works of his played in this program, “Doublespeak,” introduced last year by eighth blackbird in a concert marking Glass’ 75th birthday, was the most elaborately and playfully voiced, contrapuntal and colorful, the colors especially vivid in sections highlighting woodwinds and mallet percussion. The most orchestral of the lot, curiously, was “A Long Line” (2003), a quasi-fanfare scored for an almost romantically expressive violin and electronica.

“How Soon” (2010) was a sample of Muhly’s long fascination with choral writing (he was a boy chorister) and English literature (his major at Columbia University). The piece is a setting of “Mortification,” by the 17th-century poet George Herbert, sung by a chorus of sopranos and altos – here, members of the University of Richmond Schola Cantorum, directed by Jeffrey Riehl – with moody yet rhythmically pointed instrumentation.

“It Goes Without Saying” (2005), described by the composer as “a slow transition from one thing to essentially the same thing,” is a colorfully sonorous soliloquy for clarinet with electronica combining a harmonium drone, clicking sounds (mimicking the mechanics of the clarinet) and recorded clarinet.

Clarinetist Michael J. Maccaferri and violinist Yvonne Lam played deftly and expressively in their duets with electronica; the full sextet (pianist Lisa Kaplan, cellist Nicholas Photionos, flutist Tim Munro and percussionist Matthew Duvall, Lam and Maccaferri) audibly and visibly relished Muhly’s energetic intricacies.

The composer joined Kaplan and Lam to play Perich’s “qsqsqsqsqqqqqqqqq” (2009), a perky canon for three toy pianos and electronca. Muhly played celesta in a rendition of Glass’ early (1968) “Two Pages.”

Another early minimalist opus, Reich’s “Four Organs” (1970), an extended deconstruction of a single chord, featured Kaplan, Lam, Maccaferri and Photinos on computerized keyboards (whose master unit malfunctioned, requiring a restart) and Duvall on maracas, whose unchanging rhythm tested the percussionist’s stamina, and probably his patience.

The tainted philharmonic

Justin Davidson of New York magazine outlines new disclosures from long-suppressed archives of the Vienna Philharmonic on its collaboration with the Nazis before and during World War II:

http://www.vulture.com/2013/03/davidson-on-the-vienna-philharmonics-nazi-era.html

Headline findings: During the period of Nazi rule in Austria (1938-45), nearly half the members of the orchestra were party members, including an SS officer who spied on colleagues and after the war became the chief administrator of the orchestra. . . . The popular New Year Strauss concerts were introduced under Nazi auspices; Joseph Goebbels, the party propaganda chief, ordered suppression of the fact that the Strausses had Jewish ancestors.

The report by a group of historians, in German only (English version to follow), is here:

http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/index.php?set_language=en&cccpage=history_ns

Richmond Symphony 2013-14

A concert starring mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey, the most prominent singer to have come out of Richmond in the past generation, and a recent work by Mason Bates, the Richmond-bred composer who has become a leading figure in contemporary classical music, highlight the 2013-14 season of the Richmond Symphony.

Lindsey, who has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and other leading opera companies and orchestras in the U.S. and Europe, will sing a French program with the symphony on Nov. 9.

Bates’ Violin Concerto, introduced in December 2012 by Anne Akiko Meyers with the Pittsburgh Symphony, will be played here by Meyers on March 1-2. Unlike many of Bates’ recent works, the concerto does not incorporate electronic sounds.

The coming symphony season also will feature another collaboration between the Richmond Symphony and Virginia Symphony choruses, Berlioz’s “The Damnation of Faust,” on May 17-18 in Richmond as well as dates to be announced in the Virginia Arts Festival in Norfolk. The chorus also will perform in Verdi’s Requiem on Oct. 19-20, Handel’s “Messiah” on Dec. 6 and “Let It Snow!” pops concerts on Dec. 7-8. The Richmond Symphony Chamber Chorus will sing Handel’s four “Coronation Anthems” in a Metro Collection program on Feb. 23.

The season will open on Sept. 21-22 with an all-Beethoven program, including the Fourth Piano Concerto played by William Wolfram and the “Eroica” Symphony (No. 3). Other major works on the 2013-14 Masterworks schedule are Richard Strauss’ “Don Quixote,” featuring two symphony principals, violist Molly Sharp and cellist Neal Cary (Jan. 11); Grieg’s Piano Concerto, played by George Li, and Schumann’s Second Symphony (Feb. 1); and Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony (March 1-2).

Steven Smith, the symphony’s music director, will conduct all those programs, except the Feb. 1 date, which will be led by Mei-Ann Chen, music director of the Memphis Symphony and winner of the 2012 Helen M. Thompson Award from the League of American Orchestras.

Erin R. Freeman, associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony and director of the Symphony Chorus, will lead the Feb. 23 Metro Collection concert with the Handel anthems and Mozart’s Symphony No. 34, as well as “Messiah,” three of the season’s four pops concerts including “Let It Snow!” and three programs in the LolliPops family series.

The Metro Collection series, in addition to the Mozart-Handel concert, include a program with a rare performance of the original chamber version of Samuel Barber’s music for “Medea,” a performance of Copland’s Clarinet Concerto by symphony principal Ralph Skiano, and a French program featuring the orchestra’s concertmaster, Daisuke Yamamoto, playing violin showpieces by Ravel and Saint-Saëns.

The Pops series will feature, in addition to “Let It Snow!” a concert with Rex Richardson, the Virginia Commonwealth University-based jazz trumpeter; a return engagement for the acrobatic dance troupe Cirque de la Symphonie; and “Classical Mystery Tour,” a 50th-anniversary celebration of The Beatles’ first U.S. tour.

LolliPops programs include “Carnivals and Clowns,” with Drew Allison & Grey Seal Puppets; performances of Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” and Michael Abels’ “Dance for Martin’s Dream,” a piece celebrating Martin Luther King Jr., with The School of Richmond Ballet Ensembles; and “The Remarkable Farkle McBride,” with actor Michael Boudewyns.

The symphony also will play host to the Windborne troupe in “The Music of Michael Jackson,” a special concert on April 12 at the Landmark Theater.

As in the current season, the symphony will stage seven Masterworks programs, three of them on Saturday nights only; four in the Metro Collection chamber-orchestra series; four in the Pops series, with “Let It Snow!” reprised in a Sunday matinee; and three in the LolliPops series. Masterworks, Pops and LolliPops programs will be staged in the Carpenter Theatre of Richmond CenterStage, Metro Collection concerts in Blackwell Auditorium of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland.

To obtain a season brochure or subscription information, call the symphony’s patron services desk at (804) 788-1212.

Concert dates, artists and programs for the symphony’s 2013-14 season:


MASTERWORKS
8 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage.
Saturday subscriptions: $35-$448.
Sunday subscriptions: $20-$256.

Sept. 21-22 – Steven Smith conducting. Beethoven: “Fidelio” Overture, Piano Concerto No. 4 (William Wolfram, piano), Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”).

Oct. 19-20 – Steven Smith conducting. Verdi: Requiem (Kelley Nassief, soprano; Jennifer Feinstein, mezzo-soprano; Michael Fabiano, tenor; Kevin Deas, bass; Richmond Symphony Chorus).

Nov. 9 – Steven Smith conducting. Bizet: “Carmen” Prelude; Canteloube: selections from “Songs of the Auvergne;” Massenet: “Enfin, ju sis ici (Cendrillon);” Berlioz: “La mort d'Ophelie;” Chabrier: “Je suis Lazuli;” Offenbach: Overture and arias from “The Grand Duchess of Gérolstein” (Kate Lindsey, mezzo-soprano); Debussy: “Ibéria;” Ravel: “Alborada del grazioso.”

Jan. 11 – Steven Smith conducting. Wagner: orchestral excerpts from “Lohengrin;” George Walker: “Foils for Orchestra (Homage à Saint-Georges);” Richard Strauss: “Don Quixote” (Molly Sharp, viola; Neal Cary, cello).

Feb. 1 – Mei-Ann Chen conducting. Osvaldo Golijov: “Last Round;” Grieg: Piano Concerto (George Li, piano); Schumann: Symphony No. 2.

March 1-2 – Steven Smith conducting. Liadov: “Enchanted Lake;” Mason Bates: Violin Concerto (Anne Akiko Meyers, violin); Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10.

May 17-18 – Steven Smith conducting. Berlioz: “The Damnation of Faust” (Elizabeth Bishop, mezzo-soprano; Vale Rideout, tenor; Kyle Ketelsen, bass-baritone; Jason Hardy, bass, Richmond Symphony Chorus; Virginia Symphony Chorus).


METRO COLLECTION
3 p.m. Sundays, Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland
Subscriptions: $20-$68.

Oct. 13 – Steven Smith conducting. Barber: “Medea” (original chamber version); Bernard Rands: Madrigal; Brahms: Serenade No. 2.

Nov. 24 – Steven Smith conducting. Joseph Martin Kraus: Symphony in E minor; Copland: Clarinet Concerto (Ralph Skiano, clarinet); Ives: Symphony No. 3 (“Camp Meeting”); Dvořák: “Czech Suite.”

Feb. 23 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. Mozart: Symphony No. 34; Handel: “Coronation Anthems” (Richmond Symphony Chamber Chorus).

May 4 – Steven Smith conducting. Fauré: “Masques et bergamasques;” Ravel: “Tzigane;” Saint-Saëns: “Introduction and Rondo capriccioso” (Daisuke Yamamoto, violin); Roussel: “The Spider’s Feast” Symphonic Fragments; Ravel: “Le Tombeau de Couperin.”


POPS
8 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Dec. 8, Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage
Subscriptions: $20-$256.

Sept. 28 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. “Classical Mystery Tour – Music of The Beatles 50th Anniversary Tour.”

Dec. 7-8 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. “Let It Snow!” holiday program (Lisa Edwards-Burrs, soprano, Richmond Symphony Chorus).

Feb. 8 – Steven Smith conducting. Rex Richardson, trumpet, and friends in jazz program.

March 8 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. Cirque de la Symphonie, dance and acrobatic troupe.


LOLLIPOPS
11 a.m. Saturdays, Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage
Subscriptions: $15-$24.

Oct. 26 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. “Carnivals and Clowns,” with Drew Allison & Grey Seal Puppets.

Jan. 25 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. Gershwin: “An American in Paris;” Michael Abels: “Dance for Martin’s Dream” (The School of Richmond Ballet Ensembles).

March 15 – Erin R. Freeman conducting. “The Remarkable Farkle McBride” (Michael Boudewyns, actor).


SPECIALS

Dec. 6 (7:30 p.m., Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage) – Erin R. Freeman conducting. Handel: “Messiah” (soloists TBA, Richmond Symphony Chorus).
Tickets: $12-$45.

April 12 (8 p.m., Landmark Theater) – conductor TBA. “The Music of Michael Jackson” (Windborne).
Tickets: $25-$60.

Review: 'A Streetcar Named Desire'

Virginia Opera
Ari Pelto conducting
March 8, Richmond CenterStage

After Act 1 of the first of two Richmond performances concluding Virginia Opera’s run of André Previn’s “A Streetcar Named Desire,” one patron remarked, “It ain’t Mozart.” Nor is it Bizet, Puccini, Gershwin, Lloyd Webber, or the Elia Kazan stage production or movie set to music.

It is a richly expressive, dramatically intense translation to music of Tennessee Williams’ story and characterizations, and both a showcase for and challenge to singing actors. Its demands on vocal technique are formidable, especially for the singer portraying Blanche DuBois.

All four of its principals – Blanche, the aging Southern belle with a sordid past to conceal; her younger sister, Stella, whose passion trumps genteel pretense; Stella’s husband, Stanley Kowalski, a virile brute with no time for either gentility or pretense; and Mitch Mitchell, an awkward romantic who falls for Blanche – introduce their characters in a first act that’s basically all recitative, and subsequently flesh out those characters in solos and duets that are more like soliloquies than traditional opera arias.

Kelly Cae Hogan (Blanche), Julia Ebner (Stella), David Adam Moore (Stanley) and Scott Ramsay (Mitch) very ably, at times brilliantly, negotiate Previn’s continuous musical dialogue. While vocalization often overrides diction in the text (by Philip Littell, closely following Williams’ script), and Southern dialect is a sometime thing, the foursome proves remarkably adept at acting in song – a tribute to the singers, and to stage director Sam Helfrich.

Hogan is in consistently strong voice as Blanche, a role that requires as much stamina as Tosca, and conveys her character’s emotional disintegration with great cumulative impact. Moore stakes a gritty and convincingly personal claim on the character of Stanley Kowalski; he’s never a shadow of Marlon Brando, even when crying “Stella!” Ramsay as Mitch, and Drew Duncan in his small role as a newspaper boy, both capture the naiveté of their characters as manipulated by Blanche. Ebner’s Stella strikingly shrinks emotionally as she swells with pregnancy.

Supporting characters, notably Duncan and Margaret Gawrysiak as the Kowalski’s neighbor, Eunice, make strong impressions.

The drama unfolds on a set (by Andromache Chalfant) that’s sparsely appointed but serviceable, with plenty of empty space for the singers to move around in.

Previn’s score, with its many theatrically charged effects, is rendered assertively and edgily by the orchestra, drawn from Hampton Roads’ Virginia Symphony and led by Ari Pelto, whose experience as an opera conductor is evident from start to finish.

For those willing to suspend expectations of romantic aria-singing, 19th-century melodrama and grand-opera spectacle, this “Streetcar” offers music-drama that packs a wallop and characterizations to savor and remember.

The final performance of Virginia Opera’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” will be staged at 2:30 p.m. March 10 at the Carpenter Theatre of Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets. Tickets: $31-$119. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); www.vaopera.org

MARCH 17 UPDATE: The New York Times’ Anthony Tommasini reviews Renée Fleming as Blanche DuBois in a Carnegie Hall preview of a Chicago Lyric Opera production opening next month:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/16/arts/music/renee-fleming-in-streetcar-named-desire-at-carnegie-hall.html?ref=music&_r=0

Summer strings

Orchestra Project, a collaboration between the Richmond Symphony and the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Music, will offer two courses for string musicians from June 23-28 on the VCU campus.

“String Intensive” is designed for advanced string players in grades 8-12; it will offer workshops in string-orchestra and chamber music. “String Odyssey” is for players with at least two years’ experience who seek to advance their skills. In both, students will work progessional musicians from the symphony and VCU music faculty.

For information on registration and fees and other details, visit www.orchestraprojectrva.com

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: Akemi Takayama, the former Audubon Quartet violinist, now concertmaster of the Williamsburg Symphonia, plays the Mendelssohn Concerto in Daniel Myssyk’s tryout concert for the music director’s post with the Richmond Philharmonic, March 3 at VCU’s Singleton Arts Center. In the same hall, Myssyk leads the VCU Symphony, on March 14. . . . Virginia Opera brings its production of André Previn’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” to Richmond CenterStage on March 8 and 10. . . . Steven Smith conducts the Richmond Symphony, with Sheryl Staples featured in Barber’s Violin Concerto, March 16 at Richmond CenterStage. . . . The Tallis Scholars, the famed English early music vocal ensemble, performs on March 20 at St. James’s Episcopal Church (after a March 19 date at The Falls Church in Northern Virginia), launching the new Episcopal Arts Series of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. . . . The new-music sextet eighth blackbird is joined by composer Nico Muhly in a program centered on his works, March 20 at the University of Richmond’s Modlin Arts Center. . . . Pianist Jeremy Denk returns to Richmond to perform in a Rennolds Chamber Concerts program, March 23 at VCU. . . . Pianist Paul Hanson highlights UR’s celebration of the John Cage centennial in a performance of “Sonatas and Interludes,” Cage’s seminal opus for prepared piano, March 27 at the Modlin Center.

* Noteworthy elsewhere: Pianist Paul Lewis plays an all-Schubert program, March 2 at the Library of Congress in Washington. . . . Patricia Racette sings the title role in the Washington National Opera’s production of Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut,” with eight performances from March 2-23 at the Kennedy Center in DC. . . . Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter sings Schubert songs in orchestral arrangements with Christoph Eschenbach and Washington’s National Symphony, March 7-9 at the Kennedy Center, following a vocal recital on March 4. Her performances are part of KenCen’s Nordic Cool Festival, which presents concerts, dance, theater and exhibitions throughout the month. . . Louis Lortie plays Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, March 9 at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax. . . . Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter plays Mozart, Schubert, Lutoslawski and Saint-Saëns in a March 12 recital at Strathmore in the Maryland suburbs of DC. . . . Flutist James Galway joins the University of Mary Washington Philharmonic for its 10th anniversary concert, March 16 in Dodd Auditorium on the UMW campus. . . . The Eric Whitaker Singers, led by the popular choral composer, visit Strathmore on March 18. . . . The Salzburg Chamber Soloists present an all-Mozart program, March 19 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. . . . The star baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings Rachmaninoff and more, March 20 at the Kennedy Center.

MARCH 18 UPDATE: The March 23 San Francisco Symphony concert at the Kennedy Center has been canceled because of the continuing strike by orchestra musicians.


March 1 (7 p.m.)
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 125 N. Augusta St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
Jason Stell, speaker
“Source & Style in Bach’s Suites”
$20
(540) 569-0267
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

March 1 (8 p.m.)
March 3 (2 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Virginia Opera
Ari Pelto conducting
André Previn: “A Streetcar Named Desire”
Kelly Cae Hogan (Blanche DuBois)
David Adam Moore (Stanley Kowalski)
Julia Ebner (Stella Kowalski)
Scott Ramsay (Harold Mitchell)
Margaret Gawrysiak (Eunice Hubbell)
Matthew DiBattista (Steve Hubbell)
Sam Helfrich, stage director
in English, English captions
$44-$98
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.vaopera.org

March 1 (8 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
Parker String Quartet
Mozart: Quartet in F major, K. 590
Britten: Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36
Dvořák: Quartet in C major, Op. 61
$35
(800) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org

March 1 (8 p.m.)
March 2 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Nordic Cool Festival:
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Sibelius: “Night-ride and Sunrise”
Lindberg: Violin Concerto
Pekka Kuusisto, violin
Saariaho: “Orion”
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

March 2 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony Pops
Steven Smith conducting
Tiempo Libre, guest stars
Latin jazz program TBA
$10-$76
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

March 2 (2 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue S.E., Washington
Paul Lewis, piano
Schubert: Sonata in C minor, D. 958
Schubert: Sonata in A major, D. 959
Free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1213-schedule.html

March 2 (7 p.m.)
March 5 (7:30 p.m.)
March 8 (7:30 p.m.)
March 11 (7 p.m.)
March 14 (7:30 p.m.)
March 17 (2 p.m.)
March 20 (7:30 p.m.)
March 23 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Philippe Auguin conducting
Puccini: “Manon Lescaut”
Patricia Racette (Manon)
Giorgio Caoduro (Lescaut)
Kamen Chanev (Chevalier des Grieux)
Jake Gardner (Chevalier de Ravoir)
John Pascoe, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$25-$310
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

March 2 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
National Philharmonic
Piotr Gajewski conducting
Russell Peck: “Signs of Life II”
Steven Gerber: “Two Lyric Pieces”
Andreas Makris: Violin Concerto
Bernstein: Serenade (“After Plato’s Symposium”)
Elena Urioste, violin
$28-$84
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org

March 3 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Richmond Philharmonic
Daniel Myssyk conducting
Harbison: “Music for 18 Winds”
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
Akemi Takayama, violin
Elgar: “Enigma Variations”
$8 in advance, $10 at door
(804) 673-7400
www.richmondphilharmonic.org

March 3 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Ensemble Shashmaqam
other artists TBA
Central Asian music TBA
free
(434) 924-3376
http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/music/concertsevents/index.html

March 3 (4 p.m.)
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 125 N. Augusta St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
Bach: fantasias in A minor, G minor
Bach: suites in A major, G minor, D minor
$20
(540) 569-0267
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

March 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Nordic Cool Festival:
Iceland Symphony Orchesra
Ilan Volkov conducting
Vilmarsson: “bd” (U.S. premiere)
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Thorvaldsdottir: “Aeriality” (U.S. premiere)
Sibelius: “Four Legends from the Kalevala”
$10-$64
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

March 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Nordic Cool Festival:
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Bengt Forsberg, piano
songs by Stennhammar, Sibelius, Grieg, Hahn, Chabrier, Debussy, Canteloube, others
$45
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

March 5 (8 p.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg:
Atos Piano Trio
program TBA
$15 (waiting list)
(757) 258-4814
www.chambermusicwilliamsburg.org

March 7 (8 p.m.)
Phi Beta Kappa Hall, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg
March 9 (8 p.m.)
Regent University Theater, Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
Benjamin Rous conducting
Wagner: “Siegfried Idyll”
Malcolm Forsyth: “Trickster Coyote - Lightning Elk” (U.S. premiere)
Tara-Louise Montour, violin
William Alwyn: “Autumn Legend”
George Corbett, English horn
Mendelssohn: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Overture and incidental music
$20-$60
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

March 7 (7 p.m.)
March 8 (8 p.m.)
March 9 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Mahler: “Blumine” movement
Schubert: “Rosemunde” romances
Schubert-Reger: “Gretchen am Spinnrade”
Schubert-Britten: “Die Forelle”
Schubert-Reger: “Im Abendrot”
Schubert-anon.: “An Sylvia”
Schubert-Reger: “Erlkönig”
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Mozart: Requiem (Franz Beyer edition)
Jegyung Yang, soprano
Daniela Lehner, mezzo-soprano
Sunnyboy Dladla, tenor
Tareq Nasmi, bass
University of Maryland Concert Choir
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

March 8 (8 p.m.)
March 10 (2:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Virginia Opera
Ari Pelto conducting
André Previn: “A Streetcar Named Desire”
Kelly Cae Hogan (Blanche DuBois)
David Adam Moore (Stanley Kowalski)
Julia Ebner (Stella Kowalski)
Scott Ramsay (Harold Mitchell)
Margaret Gawrysiak (Eunice Hubbell)
Matthew DiBattista (Steve Hubbell)
Sam Helfrich, stage director
in English, English captions
$31-$119
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.vaopera.org

March 8 (8 p.m.)
Salem Civic Center, 1001 Roanoke Boulevard, Salem
Roanoke Symphony Pops
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Bernadette Peters, guest star
program TBA
$25-$80
(540) 343-9127
www.rso.com

March 9 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Beethoven Orchestra Bonn
Stefan Blunier conducting
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
Louis Lortie, piano
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
$30-$60
(800) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
http://cfa.gmu.edu/calendar/month/2013/3/

March 9 (7 p.m.)
March 12 (7:30 p.m.)
March 15 (7:30 p.m.)
March 18 (7 p.m.)
March 21 (7:30 p.m.)
March 24 (2 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Daniele Rustioni conducting
Bellini: “Norma”
Angela Meade (Norma)
Dolora Zajick (Adalgisa)
Rafael Davila (Pollione)
Dmitry Belosselskiy (Oroveso)
Anne Bogart, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$25-$310
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

March 9 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Christoph König conducting
Debussy: “Petite Concerto”
Richard Strauss: Oboe Concerto in D major
Katherine Needleman, oboe
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
$31-$91
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

March 10 (4 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Second Sunday South of the James:
Piano Performance Team
program TBA
donation requested
(804) 272-7514

March 10 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Virginia Consort
Judith Gray directing
Brahms: “A German Requiem”
soloists TBA
$15-$50
(434) 924-3376
www.virginiaconsort.org

March 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Cehnter, Washington
Nordic Cool Festival:
Juho Pohjonen, piano
Mozart: Prelude and Fugue in C major, K. 394
Grieg: “Holberg Suite”
Nielsen: Chaconne
Grieg: Ballade in G minor, Op. 234
Mozart: Sonata in A minor, K. 310
$28
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

March 12 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Lambert Orkis, piano
Mozart: Sonata in G major, K. 379
Schubert: Phantasie in C minor
Lutoslawski: Partita
Saint-Saëns: Sonata No. 1 in D minor
$40-$105
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

March 13 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Nordic Cool Festival:
Trio con Brio Copenhagen
Sorensen: “Phantasmagora” for violin, cello and piano
Norgard: “After the Dream”
Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66
$28
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

March 13 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Bach Choir of Bethlehem
Greg Funfgeld directing
Mendelssohn: “Elijah”
soloists TBA
$35-$65
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org

March 14 (7 p.m.)
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Grove Avenue at Three Chopt Road, Richmond
March 15 (7 p.m.)
Price Auditorium, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, 2200 Parks Ave., Virginia Beach
March 17 (2:30 p.m.)
First Presbyterian Church, 514 S. Armistead Ave., Hampton
Lyric Opera Virginia:
Gounod: “Romeo and Juliet” (staged excerpts)
Cody Austin (Romeo)
Emily Duncan-Brown (Juliet)
Joseph Walsh, piano
Stephanie Vlahos, stage director
Peter Mark, host
$20
(757) 446-6666
www.lyricoperavirginia.org

March 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Symphony
Daniel Myssyk conducting
program TBA
$7 in advance, $10 day of event
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

March 14 (7 p.m.)
March 15 (8 p.m.)
March 16 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concerrt Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Emil de Cou conducting
The Chieftains, guest stars
Irish and Celtic music TBA
$20-$85
(800) 444-23254
www.kennedy-center.org

March 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Curtis Chamber Orchestra
Jennifer Koh & Jaime Laredo, violins
Bach: Concerto in D minor for two violins, strings and continuo, BWV 1043
Philip Glass: “Echorus”
David Ludwig: “Seasons Lost” for two violins and string orchestra
Anna Clyne: “Prince of Clouds” for two violins and orchestra
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for strings
$45
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

March 15 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Langley Air Force Base Wind Quintet
program TBA
free
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

March 15 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Trio 826:
Susanna Klein, violin
Kulia Bullard, viola
Hannah Holman, cello
Rene Lecuona, piano
works by Schubert, Borodin, Fauré, Kodály, Robert Washut
$7 in advance, $10 day of event
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

March 15 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
March 16 (8 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
March 17 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
JoAnn Falletta conducting
Brahms: “Academic Festival” Overture
Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1
Mark Kosower, cello
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C major (“Great”)
$20-$70
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

March 15 (8:15 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
“Off the Cuff” discussion and performance
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 (“Organ”)
$29-$62
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

March 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Jerry Lee, piano
program TBA
free
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

March 16 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
Mendelssohn: “Hebrides” Overture
Barber: Violin Concerto
Sheryl Staples, violin
Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C major (“Jupiter”)
$10-$73
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

March 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Dodd Auditorium, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg
University of Mary Washington Philharmonic
Kevin Bartram conducting
James Galway, flute
program TBA
$35-$70
(540) 654-1324

March 16 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Fairfax Symphony
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Elgar: Serenade for strings
Richard Strauss: “Metamorphosen”
Johann Strauss II: “Tritsch-Tratsch,” “Pizzicato’ polkas
Johann Strauss II: “Emperor Waltzes”
Stravinsky: “Pulcinella” Suite
$25-$55
(800) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.fairfaxsymphony.org

March 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Olin Theater, Roanoke College, Salem
Kandinsky Trio
Haydn: Piano Trio in F major
Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67
works by John D'earth, Russell Riepe, Graham Waterhouse
$20
(540) 375-2333
www.roanoke.edu

March 17 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Guitar Series:
Richmond Guitar Ensemble
program TBA
$15
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

March 17 (4 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
James Galway, flute
Jeanne Galway, flute
Michael McHale, piano
Mozart: Flute Quartet in D major, K. 285
Debussy: “Clair de Lune”
Doppler: “ ‘Rigoletto’ Fantasy” for two flutes
Bizet-Borne-Galway: “ ‘Carmen’ Fantasy”
Irish folk tunes and dances TBA
$29-$85
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

March 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Nordic Cool Festival:
Kennedy Center Chamber Players
Nielsen: “Serenata in vano” for clarinet, bassoon, French horn, cello and double-bass
Prokofiev: Quintet in G minor, Op. 39, for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and double-bass
Schubert: Octet for clarinet, French horn, bassoon and strings, D. 803
$35
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

March 18 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Eric Whitacre Singers
works by Whitacre, Bach, Lauridsen, others
$20-$110
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org

March 19 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Salzburg Chamber Soloists
Mozart: Divertimento in D major, K. 136
Mozart: “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”
Mozart-Lichtenthal: Requiem
soloists TBA
$12-$33
(434) 924-3376
www.tecs.org

March 19 (7:30 p.m.)
The Falls Church, 115 E. Fairfax St.
March 20 (7 p.m.)
St. James’s Episcopal Church, 1205 W. Franklin St., Richmond
Episcopal Arts Series:
The Tallis Scholars
Peter Phillips directing
Palestrina: Magnificat for double choir
Arvo Pärt: Magnificat
John Tavener: “The Lamb,” “As one who slept”
Taverner: “Quemadmodum,” “Mater Cristi”
Allegri: Miserere
Eric Whitacre: commissioned work TBA
Arvo Pärt: “Nunc dimittis”
Palestrina: “Nunc dimittis,” “Laudete pueri” 
$30
(800) 346-2373, ext. 1031 (Episcopal Diocese of Virginia)
www.thediocese.net

March 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
eighth blackbird
Nico Muhly, composer
works by Muhly, others TBA
$20
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

March 20 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Ivari Ilja, piano
songs by Rachmaninoff, others TBA
$35-$100
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

March 21 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
John Cage Centennial Concerts I:
faculty and students of UR music, art, art history, drama, dance departments
Stephen Addiss, speaker
Cage works TBA
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

March 22 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Todd Meehan & Doug Perkins, percussion
program TBA
$7 in advance, $10 day of event
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

March 23 (11 a.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony LolliPops
Erin R. Freeman conducting
VCU Department of Dance & Choreography members
“Come Dance with Us”
program TBA
$12-$17
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

March 23 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Treble Choir of Richmond Children’s Choir
“Lyrics, Laughter and Learning”
program TBA
free
(804) 646-7223
www.richmondpubliclibrary.org

March 23 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Rennolds Chamber Concerts:
Jeremy Denk, piano
Bartók: Piano Sonata
Liszt: Prelude after “Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen” by J.S. Bach
Liszt: “Sonetto 123 del Petrarca” from “Années de pèlerinage, Deuxième année”
Liszt: “Après une lecture du Dante”
Wagner-Liszt: “Isoldens Liebestod” from “Tristan und Isolde”
Bach: Prelude and Fugue in B minor from “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” Book I
Beethoven: Piano Sonata in C minor, Op. 111
$34
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

March 23 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
March 24 (3:30 p.m.)
Monticello High School, 1400 Independence Way, Charlottesville
Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra
Kate Tamarkin conducting
Respighi: “Ancient Airs and Dances” Suite No. 1
De Falla: “The Three-Cornered Hat” Suite No. 2
Johann Strauss II: “Emperor Waltzes”
Ravel: “La Valse”
$20-$38
(434) 924-3376
www.cvillesymphony.org

March 23 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Dima Slobodeniouk conducting
Rachmaninoff: “The Rock”
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 4
Simon Trpceski, piano
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 (“The Year 1905”)
$31-$91
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

March 24 (3 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Richard Becker & Doris Wylee-Becker, pianos
works by Schubert, Brahms, Becker
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

March 24 (8 p.m.)
Lyric Theater, 135 College Ave., Blacksburg
Jeremy Denk, piano
program TBA
$30
(540) 951-0604
www.thelyric.com

March 24 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Amit Peled, cello
Alon Goldstein, piano
Beethoven: Variations in E flat major, Op. 44
Brahms: Sonata in F major, Op. 99
Chopin: Sonata in G minor, Op. 65
$35
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

March 25 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Peter Martin, percussion
program TBA
$7 in advance, $10 day of event
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

March 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
John Cage Centennial Concerts II:
Paul Hanson, piano
Cage: “Sonatas and Interludes” for prepared piano
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

March 28 (7 p.m.)
March 29 (8 p.m.)
March 30 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Marek Janowski conducting
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major
Arabella Steinbacher, violin
Boris Blacher: “Orchestral Variations on a Theme of Paganini”
Richard Strauss: “Death and Transfiguration”
$10-$85
(800) 444-12324
www.kennedy-center.org