(the composer’s 258th birthday) in the Carytown shopping district of Richmond.Nine events are scheduled, beginning at 11 a.m., at various stores and restaurants along Cary Street. All are open free of charge except a screening of “Amadeus” at the Byrd Theatre. Tickets for the film are $4 in advance at AlterNatives, 3320 W. Cary St., or $5 at the door.
Here’s the festival schedule:
11 a.m.-noon (AlterNatives, 3320 W. Cary St.) – Quartet performance. Program TBA. Coffee and pastries served.
Noon-1 p.m. (Carytown Bistro, 3200 W. Cary St.) – Clarinet Quintet, Viola Quintet in G minor, flute quartet TBA.
Noon-2 p.m. (Can Can Brasserie, 3120 W. Cary St.) – “Eine kleine Brunch Musik,” chamber music, art-songs, piano sonatas TBA.
2-3 p.m. (Plan 9 Records, 3017 W. Cary St.) – “Operatic Incarnations,” vocal duos, trios, ensembles TBA.
2-3:30 p.m. (Cartwheels & Coffee, 2820 W. Cary St.) – “Story Time: ‘The Magic Flute’,” story narrated by Mark Mobley, with arias sung by members of Capitol Opera Richmond.
3-4 p.m. (Chop Suey Books, 2913 W. Cary St.) – “Wolfgang 101,” conductor Daniel Myssyk discusses Mozart.
4-5:30 p.m. (Babes of Carytown, 3166 W. Cary St.) – Symphonies Nos. 31 (“Paris”), 38 (“Prague”) and 41 (“Jupiter”), conducted by Daniel Myssyk and Erin R. Freeman.
6-7 p.m. (Can Can Brasserie, 3120 W. Cary St.) – “Mozart’s Greatest Hits,” Capitol Opera Richmond members perform arias from “The Marriage of Figaro,” “Cosà fan tutte,” “Don Giovanni,” other works, with orchestral accompaniment.
7:30 p.m. (Byrd Theatre, 2908 W. Cary St.) – “Amadeus.” Party after film at Portrait House, 2907 W. Cary St.
Details: http://classicalrevolutionrva.com/events/mozart-festival/
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ADDENDUM (Jan. 26): How’d it go? Great fun, to judge from the symphonies set at Babe’s. The program turned out to be movements from the “Paris” (No. 31), “Haffner” (No. 35), “Prague” (No. 38), “Jupiter” (No. 41) and the nicknameless Nos. 34 and 40, plus the overtures to “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Don Giovanni,” played by an orchestra of professionals and students.
The Richmond Symphony’s Erin R. Freeman conducted the first half in a rather mellow vein, emphasizing the lyrical and moody. In the second half, Virginia Commonwealth University-based Daniel Myssyk obtained more rhythmically pointed and dynamic playing. He also tried to reprise some of a lecture he had just given up the street, which proved to be a mistake in a crowded bar.
Balances were dicey – several hundred of us now know the trumpet parts of the “Paris” and “Jupiter” symphonies in detail – and the performances rough-and-ready. The musicians were sight-reading the scores, Freeman revealed.
Considering that they were, and that Mozart is music without much margin for inaudible error, the results were never less than listenable, and at times were remarkably polished.