Review: 'The Marriage of Figaro'

Virginia Opera
Steven Smith conducting
April 26, Richmond CenterStage

Musical and theatrical challenges abound in “The Marriage of Figaro.” This first of three collaborations by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte is a comic romp that turns on a dime into moments of aching romantic tenderness. It contrasts and combines youthful and mature voices. It integrates singing and acting as no opera had done before, and few have since, requiring its principals to plumb depths of character and do justice to great melodies at the same time.

If you ever experience a perfect “Figaro,” remember it well, because you probably won’t encounter another.

Virginia Opera’s current production is not a perfect “Figaro,” but its satisfactions outweigh its shortcomings.

With 10 singers with solo numbers or prominent parts in ensembles, mismatches of voices and/or acting styles are perhaps inevitable. In the first of two Richmond performances concluding the production’s run, operatic tone overcame tune in several key arias. Lapses of intonation and timing also cropped up repeatedly.

On the plus side, characterizations were spot-on, at least in the broadly comic context set by stage director Lillian Groag. And when more depth was called for, as in the moment of recognition between Count and Countess Almaviva in the final scene, the production delivered.

Aaron St. Clair Nicholson, as the Count; Anne-Carolyn Bird, as the maid Susanna; and Karin Mushegain, as the page Cherubino, were the vocal standouts in this performance. Bird also excelled in the slapstick high jinks to which her character was frequently subjected. Two of the company’s emerging artists, Drew Duncan (Don Basilio) and Ashley Logan (Barbarina), also made strong impressions in their supporting roles.

As Figaro, the manservant to whom Susanna is betrothed, Matthew Burns (Bird’s spouse in real life) had most of the right moves – he was a bit static in ensembles – but showed a troubling variability in voice. Of his two big numbers in Act 1, “Non piu andrai” was energized and pointed, while “Se vuol ballare” was curiously soft-focused;” and he swung between those poles throughout the evening.

Katherine Whyte, as the Countess, poured tone and emotiveness into “Porgi amor,” but to a degree that obscured the melody of the great aria. Her other showcase, “Dove sono,” came across in a better balance of characterization and tunefulness.

Jeffrey Tucker (Doctor Bartolo), Margaret Gawrysiak (Marcellina) and Aaron Ingersoll (Antonio) sang and played their comic roles to a satisfying hilt, although the rest of the cast over-reacted to Antonio as if the gardener had an epic case of halitosis rather than giving off the fumes of drunkenness.

Choristers and supernumeraries were actively and constructively engaged in the show, adding some of its best comic touches. Their costumes (from Sarasota Opera) and Peter Dean Beck’s scenic design provided plenty of eye candy.

The orchestra, drawn from the Richmond Symphony, led by the symphony’s music director, Steven Smith, in his local operatic debut, was a strikingly animated and lyrical asset. I’ve rarely heard Mozart’s score played with more sparkle and refinement.

Virginia Opera's final performance of “The Marriage of Figaro” begins at 2:30 p.m. April 28 at the Carpenter Theatre of Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets. Tickets: $31-$119. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); www.vaopera.org

Review: Richmond Symphony

Steven Smith conducting
April 20, Richmond CenterStage

Mezzo-soprano Kathryn Leemhuis, who performed with the Richmond Symphony last season in Mendelssohn’s “Die erste Walpurgisnacht,” returned to highlight the weekend’s Masterworks program in a tonally exquisite, richly expressive performance of Berlioz’s “Les nuits d’été.”

In this cycle of night sings, Leemhuis, brightly animated in the opening Villanelle, plumbed greater emotional and atmospheric depths in the likes of “Le spectre de la rose” and “l’Absence,” singing with a concentration and introspective passion that proved extraordinarily affecting.

Her dark lower register tones, while not especially loud, seemed to fill the considerable space of the Carpenter Theatre and impose a profound quiet on both the accompanying musicians and the audience. It was a remarkable display of artistry exercising spell-binding authority.

Conductor Steven Smith, meanwhile, displayed a mastery of Berlioz’s phrasing and tone-colorization in shaping the subtle orchestrations of both “Les nuits” and the “Béatrice et Bénédict” Overture. Smith brought an especially welcome touch of nostalgia to the waltz theme of the overture, and deftly balanced its lyrical and energetic sections to make the piece sound less episodic than it often does.

The program’s featured orchestral work, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor, started promisingly with the somberly soulful clarinet solo of Ralph Skiano leading into a reading of the symphony’s first movement full of moody portent. The andante cantabile second movement, with the French horn solo of James Ferree pacing fine work by the woodwinds, sustained both moodiness and lyricism.

The performance began to deflate in a strangely matter-of-fact treatment of the third-movement waltz, and lumbered to a close in the symphony’s big finale. It was one of those cases of music mostly being played right – more than right in sweeping high-string phrases and sonorous wind choruses – but ultimately failing to take off. Reticent brass, thick bass and a plodding tempo, with little of the flexibility that kept the first movement going, sounded to be the prime culprits.

It was also one of those concerts in which my ears and those of the audience heard things quite differently. One of the rules of reviewing is not to criticize the audience unless it’s being overtly rude or inattentive; so I’ll simply note that the Berlioz selections were received politely, while the Tchaikovsky prompted a roaring ovation.

I’m not aware of any rule against criticizing an ineptly run house, so: What the heck was going on with the thumps, bumps and squeaking hinges that intruded on the music through the evening – not to mention the itchy fingers that cut the house lights several times while patrons filed out of the auditorium after the concert?

Review: Ebène Quartet

April 18, University of Richmond

France’s Ebène Quartet lived up to the buzz that preceded its first Richmond appearance, in a blazing yet lyrical reading of Tchaikovsky’s Quartet No. 1 in D major and an unusually intense and moody reading of Schubert’s Quartet in A minor, known as the “Rosamunde.”

The ensemble plays in the French fiddle style, with a twist. Violinists Pierre Colombet and Gabriel le Magadure produce brilliant, relatively lean tone with tightly focused pitch; the playing of violist Mathieu Herzog and cellist Raphaël Merlin is more softly textured, with wider vibrato, giving the group’s collective sound a richer and more tonally subtle “bottom.”

This contrast is especially effective in softer passages. In the minuet of the Schubert, for example, Merlin’s cello evoked the sonic equivalent of fog drifting over water. Similar visual analogues suggested themselves in the more lyrical or atmospheric sections of the Tchaikovsky, especially in the muted string tones of its familiar andante cantabile movement.

In Mozart’s “Dissonant” Quartet (the C major, K. 465), the distance between high-string brilliance and the soft focus of low strings was more pronounced and, to my ears, more problematic. Ensemble playing remained tight and detailed, but the details of bass lines seemed rather blurred.

This program, a sampler of greatest hits of the classical and romantic string-quartet literature, left the impression that the Ebène is at its best in poetically expressive and/or high-energy romanticism.

The encore briefly showcased the “other Ebène,” as the French call the group when it turns to jazz and other non-classical repertory. The foursome positively sizzled in its arrangement of the Greek dance tune made popular in the the Quentin Tarrantino film “Pulp Fiction.”

Review: Emancipation tribute

Richmond Symphony
chorus, soloists & dancers
April 13, Richmond CenterStage

Willis L. Barnett, the Virginia Union University music professor and choral director, has composed a number of works on African-American themes for the Richmond Symphony and other ensembles. None of those, I’ll bet, was as challenging as Barnett’s “Emancipation Overture,” written for this past weekend’s commemorative program marking the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

The proclamation, issued on Jan. 1, 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln, is the work of Lincoln the lawyer, not Lincoln the orator. The proclamation’s wording is dry and legalistic; even its most ringing declaration, that the formerly enslaved “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free,” is surrounded by cumbersome language. Much of the document is devoted to the legal rationale for its issuance, and to listing the states and localities “this day in rebellion against the United States” in which the proclamation applies. (Emancipation of all the slaves had to wait until ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted on Dec. 6, 1865.)

Barnett sets the proclamation’s lengthy text for narrator, sometimes joined by speaking choristers, within a moodily expressive tone poem whose tone is set early on by two soloists singing in the style of a wistfully mournful spiritual.

The solo voices, soprano Lisa Edwards-Burrs and alto Charmaine Sims McGilvary, sang with solemn lyricism. The narrator, Moses Braxton Jr., made the proclamation sound like a judgment from on high, about the best a speaker could do with such a non-oratorical text.

Braxton also narrated Aaron Copland’s “A Lincoln Portrait,” a much more triumphal musical setting of some of the great oratory of the Civil War president. The standards for “Lincoln Portrait” narration, to my ears, were set by Henry Fonda, who spoke conversationally, and James  Earl Jones, who made the text sound like Scripture. Braxton, a Richmond-bred singer and actor, spoke with Jones-like bassy sonority but with a bit more edge to enhance projection.

These musical narrations were the climax of a program that ranged across African-American musical tradition, showcasing several generations of leading black composers – William Grant Still, in two movements of his “Afro-American” Symphony (No. 1); Duke Ellington, in the Martin Luther King Jr. portrait from his “Three Black Kings” Suite; Adolphus Hailstork, the contemporary Virginia composer, in an instrumental setting of three spirituals; Nkeiru Okoye, a New York-based composer, in two excerpts from her folk opera “Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom” (sung with great character by Edwards-Burrs) – alongside renditions of freedom songs and anthems.

Those songs – “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “Battle Cry of Freedom,” “Amazing Grace,” “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” (long known as the “Negro national anthem”) – featured a combined chorus of students from 22 Virginia colleges and members of the Richmond Symphony Chorus and Richmond’s One Voice chorus, sounding considerably more polished than most such one-off event gatherings.

The symphony’s music director, Steven Smith, also obtained more refined performances from the orchestra than might have been expected from an ensemble in the midst of a statewide round of performances with Virginia Opera in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.”

The Elegba Folklore Society, a Richmond-based African dance ensemble, gave a brief sampler of West African ceremonial dances bracketing a wrenching narrative of the breakup of a family at a slave auction.

The program, a co-production of the symphony and the Virginia General Assembly’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission, launched a series of events on the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, which will continue through the year.

A taped production of the event will be aired by WCVE-TV and its radio affiliates at 9 p.m. April 25.

Chorus seeks director

The Central VA Masterworks Chorale, a 40-member ensemble based in Ashland, is seeking a new conductor and artistic director.

The chorus gives two performances a year, in December and May, and rehearses on Monday nights at Duncan Memorial United Methodist Church in Ashland. It is seeking a director with knowledge of SATB masterworks, and preferably with orchestral conducting experience.

To apply for the job or obtain more information, call (804) 677-4755 or e-mail atjmw@aol.com

April 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: The Takács Quartet plays the six quartets of Bartók on two successive nights, April 7-8, at the University of Richmond’s Modlin Arts Center. . . . Pianist Charles Staples joins Alexander Kordzaia and the UR Orchestra in Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” April 10 at the Modlin Center. . . . The Ebène Quartet visits the Modlin Center for a program on April 18. (The ensemble also performs on April 23 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.) . . . The Richmond Symphony’s April 20 Masterworks program with mezzo-soprano Kathryn Leemhuis is tucked into a month’s worth of other gigs: Music Director Steven Smith and the orchestra join Virginia Opera in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” eight performances from April 6 to 28 in Norfolk, Fairfax and Richmond; plus two anniversary programs, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation on April 13 at Richmond CenterStage and the 65th birthday of Israel on April 16 at the Weinstein JCC. . . . Ninety-nine percussionists from all over gather on the University of Richmond campus on April 21 for an outdoor Earth Day performance of John Luther Adams’ “Inuksuit.” . . . Erin R. Freeman directs the Richmond Symphony Chorus in a program with brass and organ, April 25 and 27 at two area churches. . . .  Opera VCU stages Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” April 27-28 at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Singleton Arts Center.

* Noteworthy elsewhere: Soprano Jessye Norman sings favorites from American musical theater, April 4 at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville. . . . Emanuel Ax plays Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Hugh Wolff and the National Symphony, April 4-6 at the Kennedy Center in Washington. . . . Pianist András Schiff plays the complete “French” suites of Bach, April 7 at Strathmore in the Maryland suburbs of DC. . . . The Roanoke Symphony marks its 60th anniversary with an all-Beethoven program featuring David Stewart Wiley doubling as conductor and piano soloist, April 8 at the Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre. . . . Organ sensation Cameron Carpenter performs on April 12 at Strathmore. . . . Harpsichordist Christophe Rousset plays Couperin and Rameau, April 13 at the Library of Congress in Washington. . . . Pianist Maurizio Pollini plays Chopin and Debussy, April 14 at Strathmore. . . . Violinist Lisa Batiashvili joins Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden in an all-Brahms program, April 16 at Strathmore. . . . Pianist Evgeny Kissin performs on April 24 at the Kennedy Center. . . . Opera Roanoke stages the Gilbert & Sullivan favorite “The Pirates of Penzance,” April 26 and 28 at the Jefferson Center. . . . The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio plays Brahms, Beethoven and more, April 29 at the Kennedy Center.


April 4 (8 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Jessye Norman, soprano
Mark Markham, piano
“A Celebration of American Musical Theater”
works by Gershwin, Ellington, Rodgers & Hammerstein, others
$44.50-$64.50
(434) 979-1333
www.theparamount.net

April 4 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa New Music Ensemble
I-Jen Fang directing
Louis Andriessen: “Worker’s Union”
Cornelius Cardew: “Octet ’61”
works by Boulez, Satie, Kristina Warren, Chris Perk, Kevin Davis
free
(434) 924-3376
http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/music/concertsevents/index.html

April 4 (7 p.m.)
April 5 (8 p.m.)
April 6 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Hugh Wolff conducting
Stephen Albert: “Rivering Waters” from Symphony No. 1 (“Riverrun”)
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2
Emanuel Ax, piano
Dvořák: Symphony No. 5
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 5 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
The Fourth Wall
contemporary music program TBA
free
(434) 924-3376
http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/music/concertsevents/index.html

April 5 (8 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
Peter Kolkay, bassoon
Alexandra Nguyen, piano
Deidre Chadwick, oboe
Saint-Saëns: Bassoon Sonata, Op. 168
Barber-Kolkay: Cello Sonata, Op. 6 (bassoon adaptation)
Poulenc: Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano
Dutilleux: “Sarabande et cortège”
Paul Moravec: “Andy Warhol Sez” for bassoon and piano
Lalliet: Terzetto, Op. 22, for oboe, bassoon and piano
$35
(800) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org

April 5 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue S.E., Washington
Jeffrey Kahane, singer-songwriter
Timothy Andres, piano
songs by Kahane, Andres, Ives, Britten, Hans Eisler, Thomas Adès 
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1213-schedule.html

April 6 (8 p.m.)
April 10 (7:30 p.m.)
April 12 (8 p.m.)
April 14 (2:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Opera
Steven Smith conducting
Mozart: “The Marriage of Figaro”
Ann-Carolyn Bird (Susanna)
Matthew Burns (Figaro)
Karin Mushegain (Cherubino)
Kathryn White (Countess Almaviva)
Aaron St. Clair Nicholson (Count Almaviva)
Jeffrey Tucker (Bartolo)
Margaret Gawrysiak (Marcellina)
Drew Duncan (Don Basilio)
Patrick O’Halloran (Don Curzio)
Lillian Groag, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$25-$114
(866) 673-7282
www.vaopera.org

April 6 (8 p.m.)
First Presbyterian Church, 500 Park St., Charlottesville
Oratorio Society of Virginia
Michael Slon directing
Christopher Jacobson, organ
Duruflé: Requiem
Britten: “Festival Te Deum”
$22
(434) 295-4385
www.oratoriosociety.org

April 6 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
National Philharmonic
Piotr Gajewski conducting
Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 1
Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 5
Bach: Cantata 140, “Wachet auf” (“Sleepers Awake”)
Rosa Lamoureaux, soprano
Matthew Smith, tenor
Kevin Deas, bass
National Philharmonic Chorus
$28-$84
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org

April 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Takács Quartet
Bartók: Quartet No. 1
Bartók: Quartet No. 3
Bartók: Quartet No. 5
$38
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 7 (7 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
András Schiff, piano
Bach: “French” suites
$23-$95
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

April 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Takács Quartet
Bartók: Quartet No. 2
Bartók: Quartet No. 4
Bartók: Quartet No. 6
$38
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 8 (8 p.m.)
Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre, Orange Avenue at Williamson Road
Roanoke Symphony
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
Beethoven: “Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage”
Beethoven: “Choral Fantasy”
David Stewart Wiley, piano
Roanoke Symphony Chorus
$22-$52
(540) 343-9127
www.rso.com

April 8 (8 p.m.)
Eisenhower Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Washington National Opera Celebrity Concert Series:
Diana Damrau, soprano
Xavier de Maistre, harp
program TBA
$40-$180
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 9 (8 p.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg:
Stradivari Quartett
Schubert: Quartet in D minor, D. 173
Turina: “La Oración del Torero”
Bartók: Quartet No. 4
Brahms: Quartet in A minor, Op. 51, No. 2
$15 (waiting list)
(757) 258-4814
www.chambermusicwilliamsburg.org

April 9 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Keller Quartet
Bartók: Quartet No. 3
Shostakovich: Quartet No. 8
Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 1
$12-$33
(434) 924-3376
www.tecs.org

April 10 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Symphonic Wind Ensemble & University Band
Terry Austin directing
David Bobrowitz: Elegy
Mike Mower: “Sonata Latino”
Madison Bunch, flute
works by Wagner, Philip Sparke
$7 in advance, $10 day of event
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

April 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Orchestra
Alexander Kordzaia conducting
Bernstein: “Candide” Overture
Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue”
Charles Staples, piano
other works TBA
free 
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 12 (5 p.m.)
Black Music Center (old church), Virginia Commonwealth University, Grove Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU String Orchestra
Daniel Myssyk conducting
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for strings
free
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

April 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Commonwealth Singers & Women’s Choir
Rebecca Tyree directing
Choral Arts Society
Jay BeVille directing
works by Eric Whitacre, Dan Forrest, Irving Fine, Duke Ellington, Moses Hogan, others
$7 in advance, $10 day of event
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

April 12 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
April 13 (8 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
April 14 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
JoAnn Falletta conducting
Mozart: “Don Giovanni” Overture
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto
Robert Plane, clarinet
Mozart: Requiem
Janice Chandler Eteme, soprano
Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano
Charles Reid, tenor
Darren K. Stokes, bass
Virginia Symphony Chorus
$20-$113.50
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

April 12 (8 p.m.)
American Theater, 125 E. Mellen St., Hampton
Philippe Bianconi, piano
works by Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy
$25-$30
(757) 722-2787
http://www.hamptonarts.net/american-theatre/purchase-tickets

April 12 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Cameron Carpenter, organ
program TBA
$20-$40
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org

April 13 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
mass choir from Virginia colleges and universities
Elegba Folklore Society performers
“A Musical Tribute to Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation”
Copland: “A Lincoln Portrait”
narrator TBA
other works TBA
co-sponsored by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission of the Virginia General Assembly and Richmond Symphony 
ALL TICKETS DISTRIBUTED
(804) 788-1212
www.richmondsymphony.com

April 13 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Yin Zheng, piano
other pianists TBA
works TBA for 2, 4, 8, 10 hands
$7 in advance, $10 day of event
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

April 13 (7 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
University Singers & Chamber Singers
Michael Slon directing
“American Voices”
works by Eric Whitacre, Judith Shatin, Matthew Burtner, Libby Larsen, Stephen Paulus, Steven Stucky, Frank Ticheli
$15
(434) 924-3376
http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/music/concertsevents/index.html

April 13 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
American Festival Pops Orchestra
Anthony Maiello conducting
Joe Robinson, oboe
“Cinema Magic”
works by John Williams, Hans Zimmer, James Horner, Danny Elfman
$24-$48
(800) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
http://cfa.gmu.edu/calendar/

April 13 (2 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue S.E., Washington
Christophe Rousset, harpsichord
works by Couperin, Rameau
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1213-schedule.html

April 14 (3 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Schola Cantorum & Women’s Chorale
Jeffrey Riehl & David Pedersen directing
program TBA
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 14 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra’s Camerata Strings & String Sinfonietta
conductors TBA
program TBA
free
(804) 788-4717
www.richmondsymphony.com

April 14 (4 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Second Sunday South of the James:
Lisa Edwards-Burrs, soprano
Russell Wilson, piano
Naima Burrs, violin
works by Bach, Handel, Fauré, Richard Strauss, Liszt, Hale Smith, others
donation requested
(804) 272-7514

April 14 (7 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra
conductor TBA
program TBA
free
(804) 788-4717
www.richmondsymphony.com

April 14 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Baroque Orchestra
David Sarti directing
works by Bertali, Handel, Geminiani, others
free
(434) 924-3376
http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/music/concertsevents/index.html

April 14 (7 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Jeffrey Siegel, piano
“Keyboard Conversations: Listen to the Dance”
works by Weber, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, others
$19-$38
(800) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
http://cfa.gmu.edu/calendar/

April 14 (4 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Maurizio Pollini, piano
Chopin: Prelude in C sharp minor
Chopin: Ballade No. 2 in F major
Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in A flat major
Chopin: 4 mazurkas
Chopin: Scherzo No. 3 in C sharp minor
Debussy: Preludes, Book 1
$38-$78
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org

April 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Weinstein JCC, 5403 Monument Ave., Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
“A Tribute to Israel’s 65th Birthday”
Robert Wendel: “Fantasia on ‘Yeroushalaim shel zahav’ ”
Ravel: “Three Hebrew Songs”
Gilad Harel, clarinet
Prokofiev: “Overture on Hebrew Themes”
trad.: “Hava Nagila” (David Bobrowitz arr.)
Lucas Richman: “Overture to Israel”
trad.: “Hatikvah”
Sergei Abir: “Klezmer’s Smile”
Gilad Harel, clarinet
$18
(804) 285-6500
www.weinsteinjcc.org

April 16 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Staatskapelle Dresden
Christian Thielemann conducting
Brahms: “Academic Festival” Overture
Brahms: Violin Concerto
Lisa Batiashvili, violin
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
$35-$100
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

April 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Wind Ensemble
David Niethamer directing
program TBA
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 17 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue S.E., Washington
Stile Antico
works by Victoria, Lassus, Byrd, Palestrina, others
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1213-schedule.html

April 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Ebène Quartet
Mozart: Quartet in C major, K. 465
Schubert: Quartet in A minor, D. 804
Tchaikovsky: Quartet in D major, Op. 11
$34
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 18 (7 p.m.)
April 19 (8 p.m.)
April 20 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Steven Reinecke conducting
Chris Botti, trumpet
program TBA
$20-$85
(800) 444-21324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 18 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue S.E., Washington
Keller Quartet
Schnittke: Quartet No. 3
Shostakovich: Quartet No. 8
Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 1
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1213-schedule.html

April 19 (8 p.m.)
Williamsburg Presbyterian Church, 215 Richmond Road
April 20 (8 p.m.)
First Presbyterian Church, 300 36th St., Virginia Beach
April 21 (4 p.m.)
Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 520 Graydon Ave., Norfolk
Virginia Chorale
Charles Woodward directing
Britten: “Hymn to Saint Cecilia”
Bob Chilcott: “Weather Report”
Robert Parson: “Ave Maria”
works by Tallis, John Rutter, Percy Grainger
$25
(757) 627-8375
www.vachorale.org

April 19 (8 p.m.)
April 21 (2 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Virginia Opera
Steven Smith conducting
Mozart: “The Marriage of Figaro”
Ann-Carolyn Bird (Susanna)
Matthew Burns (Figaro)
Karin Mushegain (Cherubino)
Kathryn White (Countess Almaviva)
Aaron St. Clair Nicholson (Count Almaviva)
Jeffrey Tucker (Bartolo)
Margaret Gawrysiak (Marcellina)
Drew Duncan (Don Basilio)
Patrick O’Halloran (Don Curzio)
Lillian Groag, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$44-$98
(800) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.vaopera.org

April 19 (8:15 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
Didi Balle, narrator
“Off the Cuff: Wagner, a Composer Fit for a King”
Wagner: “Der Ring des Nibelungen” (orchestral excerpts)
$29-$62
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

April 20 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
Berlioz: “Béatrice et Bénédict” Overture
Berlioz: “Les nuits d’été”
Kathryn Leemhuis, mezzo-soprano
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5
$10-$73
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

April 20 (8 p.m.)
Room 402, Chemistry Building, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Rajeev Taranath, sarod
Adhiman Kauyshal, tabla
Indian classical works TBA
free
(434) 924-3376
http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/music/concertsevents/index.html

April 20 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
April 21 (3:30 p.m.)
Monticello High School, 1400 Independence Way, Charlottesville
Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra
Kate Tamarkin conducting
John Adams: “The Chairman Dances”
Copland: Clarinet Concerto
Rob Patterson, clarinet
Bernstein: “West Side Story” Symphonic Dances
Ginastera: “Malambo” from “Estancia: Four Dances”
$20-$38
(434) 924-3376
http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/music/concertsevents/index.html

April 20 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue S.E., Washington
Left Bank Concert Society
Dina Koston: “In Two Parts” for violin and piano
George Walker: String Quartet No. 1
Walker: “The Hollow Men,” poem for soprano and chamber ensemble
Patricia Green, soprano
Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111 
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1213-schedule.html

April 21 (4 p.m.)
University of Richmond campus
performers from UR music, theater & dance, art & art history departments
performers from Virginia Commonwealth University, other area schools
John Luther Adams: “Inuksuit” for 99 percussionists
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 22 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR chamber ensembles
program TBA
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 23 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Ebène Quartet
Mozart: Quartet in C major, K. 465 (“Dissonant”)
Schubert: Quartet in A minor, D. 804 (“Rosamunde”)
Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
$12-$33
(434) 924-3376
www.tecs.org

April 24 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Evgeny Kissin, piano
Haydn: Sonata in E flat major
Beethoven: Sonata in C minor, Op. 111
Schubert: impromptus in F minor, D. 935, No. 1; G flat major, D. 899, No. 3; B flat major, D. 935, No. 3; A flat major, D. 899, No. 4
Liszt-Wolf: “Hungarian Rhapsody” No. 12 in C sharp minor
$45-$125
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

April 25 (7 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River and Ridge roads, Richmond
April 27 (7 p.m.)
Chester Presbyterian Church, 3424 W. Hundred Road, Chesterfield
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Erin R. Freeman directing
with brass & organ
program TBA
$10
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

April 25 (7 p.m.)
April 27 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden conducting
Wagenaar: “Cyrano de Bergerac” Overture
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1
Andreas Haefliger, piano
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Vocal Arrts DC:
Christine Brewer, soprano
Craig Rutenberg, piano
works by Copland, Barber, William Bolcom, others
$45
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 26 (8 p.m.)
April 28 (2:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Virginia Opera
Steven Smith conducting
Mozart: “The Marriage of Figaro”
Ann-Carolyn Bird (Susanna)
Matthew Burns (Figaro)
Karin Mushegain (Cherubino)
Kathryn White (Countess Almaviva)
Aaron St. Clair Nicholson (Count Almaviva)
Jeffrey Tucker (Bartolo)
Margaret Gawrysiak (Marcellina)
Drew Duncan (Don Basilio)
Patrick O’Halloran (Don Curzio)
Lillian Groag, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$31-$119
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.vaopera.org

April 26 (8 p.m.)
April 28 (2:30 p.m.)
Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Ave., Roanoke
Opera Roanoke
Scott Williamson conducting
Gilbert & Sullivan: “The Pirates of Penzance”
John Dooley (Major General)
Bradley Smoak (Pirate King)
Adam McAllister (Samuel)
John Tiranno (Frederick)
Andrew Potter (Sergeant)
Ariana Wyatt (Mabel)
Chelsea Bonagura (Edith)
Tara Sperry (Kate)
Michael Shell, stage director
in English
$20-$110
(540) 345-2550
www.operaroanoke.org

April 26 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden conducting & speaking
“Beyond the Score: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 – Pure Melodrama?”
$10-$50
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 27 (7:30 p.m.)
April 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Opera
VCU Symphony
Daniel Myssyk conducting
Mozart: “The Magic Flute”
Gianna Barone (Pamina)
other cast TBA
Melanie Kohn Day & Kenneth Wood, co-directors
in German, English captions
$10 in advance, $15 day of event 
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

April 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Rafal Blechacz, piano
Bach: Partita No. 3 in A minor, BWV 827
Beethoven: Sonata in D major, Op. 10, No. 3
Chopin: Polonaises, Op. 40
Chopin: Scherzo No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 39
Szymanowski: Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 8
$55
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

April 27 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Gilbert Varga conducting
Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2
Midori, violin
Brahms: Symphony No. 1
$45-$105
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

April 29 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio
Beethoven: Allegretto for Piano Trio in B flat major, WoO. 39
Stanley Silverman: Piano Trio No. 2 (“Reveille”)
Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8
$45
(800) 444-12324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 30 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Young Concert Artists:
Andrew Tyson, piano
Bach: Partita No. 1 in B flat major, BWV 8
Scriabin: Sonata No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 23
Chopin: 24 preludes, Op. 28
$35
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org