Alice Herz-Sommer (1903-2014)

Alice Herz-Sommer, an esteemed pianist specializing in Chopin, a friend of Franz Kafka and Gustav Mahler, and a survivor of the Terezin (Theresienstadt) concentration camp, has died in London at the age of 110. Believed to have been the oldest survivor of the Holocaust, she continued making music until shortly before her death.

An obituary by The New York Times’ Margalit Fox:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/world/europe/alice-herz-sommer-pianist-who-survived-holocaust-dies-at-110.html?hp&_r=0

The New Yorker’s Alex Ross recounts his visit with Herz-Sommer last summer:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/11/alex-ross-meeting-alice-herz-sommer-oldest-holocaust-survivor.html

* * *

Herz-Sommer performing Chopin, at age 108, is the last of a set of videos of elder pianists assembled by Igor Toronyi-Lalic for The Spectator (UK):

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/culturehousedaily/2014/02/worlds-oldest-pianists-greatest-recordings/

(via Arts Journal)

* * *

Slate movie critic Dana Stevens reviews “The Lady in Number 6,” Malcom Clarke’s film on Herz-Sommer, “pretty much a lock,” in Stevens’ view, to win an Academy Award for best documentary short subject:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2014/02/the_lady_in_number_6_nominated_for_the_best_documentary_short_oscar_reviewed.html

ADDENDUM (March 3): “The Lady in Number 6” won an Oscar.

Letter V Classical Radio this week

Feb. 27
1-3 p.m. ET
1800-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Past Masters:
Louis Hardin (Moondog): “Minisym #1”
studio orchestra/Louis Hardin (BGO)
(recorded 1969)

Haydn: Symphony No. 35 in B flat major
Academy of Ancient Music/Christopher Hogwood (L’Oiseau Lyre)

Schumann: “Carnival Scenes from Vienna,” Op. 26
Piotr Anderszewski, piano (Virgin Classics)

James P. Johnson: “Drums,” “Charleston”
Leslie Stifelman, piano; Frederick Boothe, tap dancer; Concordia Orchestra/Marin Alsop (Nimbus)

William Grant Still: Symphony No. 2 in G minor (“Song of a New Race”)
Detroit Symphony/Neeme Järvi (Chandos)

Adolphus Hailstork: “O Praise the Lord,” “Crucifixion”
McCullough Chorale/Donald McCullough (Albany)

Tin Pan Alley's term-coiner

Dale Brumfield, writing for Richmond’s Style Weekly, recalls Monroe Rosenfeld, the son of a 19th-century Richmond tobacconist who grew up to be a songwriter and music journalist who popularized the term “Tin Pan Alley” for the New York haunts and musical style of popular tunesmiths:

http://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/the-song-thief/Content?oid=2036879

Richmond Symphony 2014-15

The first Richmond appearance in 25 years by the stellar violinist Joshua Bell, an all-Duke Ellington orchestral-choral program and performances of Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony (No. 2) highlight the 2014-15 season of the Richmond Symphony.

The coming season also will feature a pops program with New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Richmond’s No B.S. Brass Band, and a special presentation of “Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II.”

Other special concerts include a Jan. 27, 2015, commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and other Holocaust death camps (staged in partnership with the Virginia Holocaust Museum and Weinstein JCC), and a May 25, 2015, program marking the end of the American Civil War (supported by the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission).

In addition to Bell, who will play Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, guest artists for 2014-15 include Richard King, principal French horn player of the Cleveland Orchestra (in Richard Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 1); Adam Golka, the prize-winning Texas-born pianist (Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto); conductor Tito Muñoz, recently named music director of the Phoenix Symphony; Ukrainian-born pianist Stanislav Khristenko (Mozart’s Concerto in D minor); soprano Michelle Areyzaga and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Feinstein (Mahler’s Second Symphony); and narrator Charlotte Blake Alston (Michael Gandolfi’s “Pinocchio’s Adventures in Funland”).

Three principals of the Richmond Symphony will perform as soloists: concertmaster Daisuke Yamamoto (Sibelius’ Violin Concerto), bassoonist Tom Schneider (Peter Schickele’s Bassoon Concerto); and harpist Lynette Wardle (Ginastera’s Harp Concerto).

Music by living composers, in addition to the Schickele concerto, include a commissioned work by University of Richmond-based Benjamin Broening and pieces by Jennifer Higdon and Marta Ptaszynska.

Major orchestral repertory includes the fourth symphonies of Tchaikovsky and Schumann, Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, Brahms’ Third Symphony, Mozart’s “Linz” Symphony (No. 36), Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” Suite and “Dumbarton Oaks” Concerto, Beethoven’s Second Symphony, J.S. Bach’s “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 3 and three works by Respighi, “The Pines of Rome,” “The Fountains of Rome” and “Trittico Botticelliano.”

The Richmond Symphony Chorus will perform in the Mahler “Resurrection” Symphony, Handel’s “Messiah” and the “Let It Snow!” holiday pops program, Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” and the “Polovtsian Dances” from Borodin’s “Prince Igor,” and selections from Ellington’s “Sacred Concerts,” the latter also featuring the One Voice Chorus and The St. Paul’s Baptist Church Chorus.

Other dates, including the popular casual “Rush Hour Concerts” at Richmond CenterStage, will be announced later.

Announcing the new season earlier today at Richmond CenterStage, Steven Smith, the symphony’s music director, said that in programming “we look for many, many ways to interact with many, many different audiences,” singling out the all-Ellington program as a showcase of “one of the great American composers . . . in the context of the Masterworks series.”

Another spur to audience diversity is “Soundwave,” a new offering of subscriptions to the full Masterworks series for college-age listeners at a cost of $25. Discounted subscriptions (including a “Compose Your Own” package from all mainstage series) and single tickets are available for seniors, youths and groups.

For more information, call the symphony’s patron services desk at (804) 788-1212, or visit www.richmondsymphony.com

Dates, programs and artists for the 2014-15 symphony season:


ALTRIA MASTERWORKS
Steven Smith conducting unless listed otherwise
8 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Subscriptions: $86-$457
Single tickets: $10-$78

Oct. 18-19 – Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”) (Michelle Areyzaga, soprano; Jennifer Feinstein, mezzo-soprano; Richmond Symphony Chorus).

Nov. 8 – Marta Ptaszynska: “Lumen;” Richard Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 in E flat major (Richard King, French horn); Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4.

Jan. 17-18 – Jennifer Higdon: “Blue Cathedral;” Brahms: Symphony No. 3; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Adam Golka, piano).

Feb. 14 – Duke Ellington: “The Three Black Kings,” “Night Creature,” “Harlem,” selections from “The Best of the Sacred Concerts” (One Voice Chorus, The St. Paul’s Baptist Church Chorus, Richmond Symphony Chorus).

March 7 – Tito Muñoz conducting. Beethoven: “Egmont” Overture; Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466 (Stanislav Khristenko, piano); Schumann: Symphony No. 4.

April 18-19 – Benjamin Broening: commissioned work TBA; Sibelius: Violin Concerto (Daisuke Yamamoto, violin); Elgar: “Enigma” Variations.

May 9-10 – Borodin: “Polovtsian Dances” from “Prince Igor;” Bernstein: “Chichester Psalms” (Richmond Symphony Chorus); Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5.


GENWORTH SYMPHONY POPS
conductors TBA
8 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 7), Carpenter Theatre
Subscriptions: $86-$261
Single tickets: $10-$78

Sept. 27 – “ABBA – The Music.”

Dec. 6-7 – “Let It Snow!” (Richmond Symphony Chorus).

Jan. 31 – Preservation Hall Jazz Band with No B.S. Brass Band.

Feb. 28 – “Wicked Divas” (vocalists TBA).


METRO COLLECTION
Steven Smith conducting
3 p.m. Sundays, Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 204 Henry St., Ashland
Subscriptions: $68
Single tickets: $20

Oct. 5 – Cimarosa: “The Secret Marriage” Overture; Stravinsky: Concerto in E flat major (“Dumbarton Oaks”); Respighi: “Trittico Botticelliano;” Mozart: Symphony No. 36 (“Linz”).

Nov. 16 – David Diamond: “Rounds” for string orchestra; Peter Schickele: Bassoon Concerto (Tom Schneider, bassoon); Beethoven: Symphony No. 2.

Jan. 11 – J.S. Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 3; Stravinsky: “Pulcinella” Suite (1949 version); Mozart: Serenade in E flat major, K. 375; J.C. Bach: Sinfonia in D major.

May 3 – Rossini: “The Italian Girl in Algiers” Overture; Ginastera: Harp Concerto (Lynette Wardle, harp); De Falla: “The Three-Cornered Hat” Suite No. 1;  Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga: Symphony in D major.


UNION FIRST MARKET BANK LOLLIPOPS
conductors TBA
11 a.m. Saturdays, Carpenter Theatre
Subscriptions: $28 ($24 for children)
Single tickets: $12 ($10 for children, students)

Oct. 25 – “Beethoven Lives Upstairs.”

Jan. 24 – Michael Gandolfi’s “Pinocchio’s Adventures in Funland” (Charlotte Blake Alston, narrator).

March 21 – Gregory Smith’s “Orchestra Games.”


SPECIAL CONCERTS

Sept. 20 (8 p.m., Carpenter Theatre) – Steven Smith conducting. Smetana: “The Moldau;” Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor (Joshua Bell, violin); Respighi: “The Pines of Rome,” “The Fountains of Rome.” (Tickets: $25-$125)

Nov. 23 (time TBA, Siegel Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Broad and Harrison streets) – conductor TBA. “Come and Play,” Richmond Symphony and community musicians. (free)

Dec. 13 (7:30 p.m. Carpenter Theatre) – Steven Smith conducting. Handel: Messiah” (soloists TBA, Richmond Symphony Chorus). (Tickets: $20-$50)

Jan. 27 (time TBA, Carpenter Theatre) – Steven Smith conducting. Program TBA commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and other Holocaust death camps. (Ticket prices TBA)

Feb. 13 (7 p.m., The St. Paul’s Baptist Church, 4247 Creighton Road) – Steven Smith conducting. Duke Ellington: “The Three Black Kings,” “Night Creature,” “Harlem,” selections from “The Best of the Sacred Concerts” (One Voice Chorus, The St. Paul’s Baptist Church Chorus, Richmond Symphony Chorus). (Ticket prices TBA)

May 16 (6 p.m., Altria [formerly Landmark] Theater, Main and Laurel streets) – conductor TBA. “Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II.” (Tickets: $25-$60)

May 25 (time TBA, Carpenter Theatre) – Steven Smith conducting. Program TBA commemorating the end of the American Civil War. (free)

Review: Richmond Symphony

with Richmond Symphony Chamber Chorus
Erin R. Freeman conducting
Feb. 23, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland

The marketers of live classical music in this country make a number of assumptions about what does and doesn’t sell tickets. Near the top of the “doesn’t” list is English music other than Handel’s “Messiah.” Also scoring high (that is, low) is baroque music other than “Messiah” and Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.”

So, for the weekend’s chamber-orchestra concerts, highlighted by Handel’s “Coronation Anthems,” sung by members of the Richmond Symphony Chorus and led by Erin R. Freeman, the orchestra’s associate conductor and choral director, the symphony promoted . . . Mozart’s Symphony No. 34.

Those in the near-full house attending the Ashland performance may have gone home humming a tune from the Mozart symphony; but more likely they were recalling the chorus concluding the third Handel anthem, “The King Shall Rejoice,” which Freeman smartly positioned as the finale of the set. To top off a Handel choral show on a balmy afternoon, you could hardly improve on a jaunty number whose refrain is “Ha! Ha! Hallelujah.”

Mozart’s sublime choral miniature, “Ave verum corpus,” a late addition to the program, which the choristers sang lined up in the aisles of Blackwell Auditorium, proved to be an inspired start, too.

Three of the four anthems, which Handel produced in a hurry for the coronation of English King George II in 1727, are relatively obscure. The first and shortest of the set, “Zadok the Priest,” with its all-but-shouted refrain of “God save the King!” (or Queen, as the case may be), has been performed at every coronation since it was written. Its text has been used since the coronation of King Edgar, a century before the Norman Conquest.

In this performance, “Zadok the Priest” made its customary strong impression; but the longer, multi-part choruses that followed – “Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened,” “My Heart Is Inditing” and “The King Shall Rejoice” – generated more interest with their higher contrasts of mood and more elaborate interplay of choral and instrumental voices. The minuet “Upon Thy Right Hand,” from “My Heart is Inditing,” was probably the musical highlight of the set.

The chamber chorus of about 30 voices sometimes lacked the heft to project over the orchestra – standing on the stage floor, rather than on risers, behind the band didn’t help – but compensated in expressiveness and attention to musical detail. Vocal-instrumental balance was better in “Ave verum corpus,” not suprisingly since the singers were just a few feet from most listeners and since Mozart’s orchestration of the piece is much less extroverted than Handel’s in the anthems.

And the top-billed Mozart symphony? Freeman introduced this three-movement work, Mozart’s last symphony before leaving his hometown of Salzburg to try to make it in the musical big time of Vienna, as an instrumental pre-echo of his later operas, particularly “The Marriage of Figaro.” Whatever the musicological merits of this argument, this short symphony is richly tuneful and nicely contrasts high-spirited outer movements with a proto-romantic central andante.

In her last classical subscription program before vacating the post of associate conductor in Richmond – she takes over the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus next season – Freeman obtained spirited, sonorous performances from voices and instruments alike.

Review: 'Ariadne auf Naxos'

Virginia Opera
Adam Turner conducting
Feb. 21, Richmond CenterStage

“Ariadne auf Naxos,” the comic opera that Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannstahl produced as a follow-up to their greatest hit, “Der Rosenkavalier,” is a show-within-a-show that almost inevitably comes across as two shows, and wildly mismatched ones at that. But, then, mismatch is the crux of this creation.

A wealthy parvenu’s lavish dinner party is to be followed by a mythological opera, and then comic turns by a commedia dell’arte troupe. (Oh, and fireworks.) The evening is running a bit long, so the master decides to have the tragedy of Ariadne, abandoned by Thesus to pine her life away on a desert island, performed simultaneously with the comic cavorting.

Act 1 is the backstage set-up for this theatrical train wreck – much wailing and drama queenery from the outraged composer and his opera singers, with sneering and giggling counterpoint from the rowdy show folk. Act 2 gives us the preposterous results onstage.

Virginia Opera’s current production, designed by Andrew Lieberman and directed by Sam Helfrich, dispenses with much of the subtle give-and-take of Hofmannstahl’s text and takes its broadly humorous cues from Strauss’ colorful score. This show kits out the comic players as if they were a grunge-rock band, then gives them quasi-Busby Berkeley dance routines. Ariadne’s desert island is represented by a sleep sofa and tilted floor lamp with potted palms. These and other touches garnish the surreality of the story with visual dada.

The contrast between the two acts is underlined by the decision to stage Act 1 in English and Act 2 in German.

At strategic points in both acts, Strauss injects the kind of nobly wistful, long-lined melodies that made “Rosenkavalier” so well-loved. In Act 2, there are several fine samples of this composer’s distinctive writing for multiple female voices (at least one of which also serves as a keen parody of Wagner).

These scenes are the highlights of this show, thanks to the voices of Christina Pier (as the diva singing Ariadne), Audrey Luna (Zerbinetta, star of the comic troupe) and Stephanie Lauricella (the composer). Pier and Lauricella have the warm, hefty, soulful Strauss style well in hand. Luna sets off the needed sparks dashes with her coloratura vocalizing, and adds flesh and blood to her character’s show-girl persona.

Amanda Opuszynski, Courtney Miller and Jessica Julin are in fine voice, individually and collectively, as the trio of nymphs who hover around (and psychoanalyze) Ariadne.

In the most prominent male role, Ric Furman (Bacchus) nicely contrasts the boy-toy tenor offstage character with the soulful rescuer of Ariadne in the opera. Edwin Vega exudes sly good cheer as the Dancing Master. Jake Gardner (the Music Teacher) and Mike Schaeffer (the Major Domo) sing straightforwardly and act broadly, not inappropriately for these characters.

Virginia Opera generally draws on the Virginia Symphony or Richmond Symphony for its pit orchestra. As both are giving concerts this weekend, a group billed as the Bel’ Aria Ensemble, whose roster includes Karen Johnson, former concertmaster of the Richmond Symphony, and several other members of the orchestra, performs on these Richmond “Ariadne” dates. Adam Turner, Virginia Opera’s resident conductor, takes over from Garrett Keast, who led earlier performances in Norfolk and Fairfax.

In the first of two Richmond performances, Turner was a steady, attentive musical director. The orchestra sounded rather thin, especially in the strings, but also well-attuned to Strauss’ orchestral voice.

Virginia Opera’s run of “Ariadne auf Naxos” concludes with a performance at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 23 in the Carpenter Theatre of Richmond CenterStage. Tickets: $29-$111. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); www.vaopera.org

Letter V Classical Radio this week

Feb. 20
1-3 p.m. ET
1800-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Satie: “Real Flabby Preludes (for a Dog)”
Pascal Rogé, piano (Decca)

Ravel: Quartet in F major
Soovin Kim & Jessica Lee, violins; Jonathan Vinocour, viola; Soo Bae, cello (Marlboro Recording Society)

Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor
Zuill Bailey, cello; Roanoke Symphony/David Stewart Wiley (Telarc)

J.S. Bach: “English Suite” No. 6 in D minor, BWV 811
Murray Perahia, piano (Sony Classical)

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622
Martin Fröst, clarinet; Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Peter Oundjian (BIS)

Satie: “Three Distinguished Waltzes of a Jaded Dandy”
Pascal Rogé, piano (Decca)

Review: Escher & Vieaux

Escher String Quartet
Jason Vieaux, guitar
Feb. 15, Virginia Commonwealth University

Chamber music does not get much more fun than Luigi Boccherini’s Quintet in D major, the “Fandango,” for guitar and string quartet, the biggest crowd-pleaser, if not the highlight, of a Rennolds Chamber Concerts program by the Escher String Quartet and classical guitarist Jason Vieaux.

(At least that was the printed order of billing. Much of the audience, I suspect, would have preferred to see the guitarist given top billing.)

The musicians drew great jollity and swagger from the Boccherini’s namesake final movement – all that was missing (sorely) was castanets. The first two movements of the quintet struck me as a bit too measured in tempo and careful in articulation and accenting, sounding elegant but short on verve and spontaneity.

The program opened with Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2, which proved to be a showcase of the Escher’s strengths. This work encapsulates the voices that Mendelssohn assumed in his greatest works – stormy drama in its outer movements, quicksilver speed and lightness in its scherzo, high sentiment in its andante; and the ensemble captured all those voices in a performance of understated but revealing virtuosity.

The collective sound of violinists Adam Barnett-Hart and Aaron Boyd, violist Pierre Lapointe and cellist Dane Jonansen was not especially big or overly assertive, but highly focused and surprisingly room-filling.

Unlike the typical string quartet in classical and romantic repertory, the Escher did not treat the first violin as a default lead voice – Barnett-Hart was a presence but not an especially dominant one; and the foursome made a point of rendering internal and contrapuntal voices with exceptional clarity. The duos and exchanges of Boyd and Lapointe were some of the highlights of the performance.

Vieaux, who is becoming a regular visitor to these parts (this was his third Richmond appearance in 10 years), also joined the Escher in Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Guitar Quintet, Op. 143, a work whose prevailing neoclassical style makes room for Italianate melody (the composer was a Florentine who emigrated to Southern California before World War II) and energetic, jazzy riffs.

Vieuax’s solo cameo was Mario Giuliani’s “Grande Overture,” a sonata-form compression of the Mozart-to-Rossini style of opera overture to the voice of a solo guitar, played with appropriate lilt, wit and suavity.

Restoring Landmark's theater organ

Charles Hague of the American Theater Organ Society, writing in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, wonders whether the Landmark Theater restoration will include restoration of its currently inoperative 1927 Wurlitzer organ:

http://www.timesdispatch.com/opinion/their-opinion/columnists-blogs/guest-columnists/hague-can-the-landmark-s-organ-be-saved/article_d104b4ad-57f4-519a-a803-f623706525b1.html

Hague notes that this is quite an instrument. From rather dim memories of hearing it 30-some years ago, I would agree.

A local organ maven tells me that the Landmark Wurlitzer has not been regularly maintained for years, so its restoration is likely to be neither cheap nor easy.

One hopes that the current restoration’s planners and builders will treat the organ according to the Hippocratic Oath: “[A]bstain from doing harm.”

ADDENDUM (Feb. 24): The Landmark Theater, formerly the Mosque, is now the Altria Theater, formerly the Landmark Theater.

Review: Carsten Schmidt

Feb. 8, Richmond Public Library

Carsten Schmidt, packing an ornate and richly sonorous harpsichord – a Cornelis Bom instrument, dating from 2012, modeled after several Flemish harpsichords of the mid-17th century – gave a recital and tutorial to a full house in the first of two weekend performances, part of the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia’s current season, exploring “Aspects of Time.”

The time frame here was the 1650s; the place, Paris. Schmidt imagined a meeting between the French keyboard master Louis Couperin and a traveler from Vienna, Johann Jakob Froberger. Whether such a meeting ever happened is not known, but would not have been unlikely, Schmidt said.

In any event, French harpsichord style, derived from lute music, and the Central European style, more akin to organ music, began to trade influences and techniques around this time, as Schmidt demonstrated in a succession of excerpts from works by Louis and François Couperin (Louis’ nephew) and Froberger.

The setting, the Richmond Public Library’s Gellman Room, is about the same size as the rooms in which this music was heard in its time, though Schmidt noted that the typical 17th-century audience would have been much smaller.

Close proximity to the instrument exposed a range of sound textures and colors that aren’t as audible (if audible at all) in a concert hall.

Schmidt’s performances were quite expressive – he never lets this music’s often elaborate ornamentation bury a melody or rhythmic pattern – and surprising in the dynamism he conjured from a keyboard whose loudness is unaffected by touch.

Carsten Schmidt performs works by Louis and François Couperin, Froberger, Bach and others in “The French Connection,” 4 p.m. Feb. 9 in a private home in Manakin-Sabot, Goochland County. Tickets: $30 (limited seating). Details: (804) 519-2098; www.cmscva.org

Breaking symphonic sound barriers

Scott Cantrell of The Dallas Morning News detects a regrettable rise in volume levels of orchestral and other classical performances to “ear-splitting intensities,” unimagined by composers until the 20th century.

“[B]y contrast with our world of jet airplanes and literally deafening rock-music concerts, the loudest sound most people experienced all through the 19th century was probably a thunderclap,” Cantrell observes.

“By all means, let the climaxes in Shostakovich and [Christopher] Rouse blast us into submission. But let the gentler climaxes of Brahms and Dvořák ring out on their own far less forced standards. Let us meet earlier music on its own ground, rather than coarsening it to fit ours,” he writes:

http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/scott-cantrell/20140131-lets-go-easier-on-those-fortissimos.ece?nclick_check=1

There’s a similar phenomenon at play in performance tempos, especially of classical-period and earlier music.

When Mozart calls for an exceptionally fast tempo – as, for example, in the finale of the “Haffner” Symphony (No. 35) – present-day interpreters should bear in mind that in Mozart’s time the highest speed a human would experience (and live to recall it) was atop a galloping horse.

Just because today’s performers can play prestos at jet speed doesn’t mean they should.

Ellington's opera, lost and found

At NPR Music, Priska Neely explores what might have been – and still may become – the great American “street opera,” Duke Ellington’s “Queenie Pie.”

This jazz opera, first conceived in the 1930s and almost brought to fruition 30 years later, was left unfinished when Ellington died in 1974. A version by Marc Bolin, currently being staged at California’s Long Beach Opera and also being used for a production opening on Feb. 15 at Chicago Opera Theater, is the latest in a succession of “completions” crafted from surviving material:

http://www.npr.org/2014/02/02/269524876/duke-ellingtons-lost-opera-forever-a-work-in-progress

Memphis blues

Facing financial implosion, the Memphis Symphony – whose rising-star music director, Mei-Ann Chen, just performed with the Richmond Symphony (review in previous post) – “says that its current season will be the final one in its current configuration,” Memphis Business Journal reports:

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2014/02/03/memphis-symphony-financial-crisis.html

Officials quoted in the brief article say nothing about how the orchestra might be reconfigured or what role Chen might play in it.

The Commercial Appeal, Memphis’ daily newspaper, quotes orchestra officials as saying it would need $20-$25 million to continue as it is currently constituted. (The paper’s coverage is behind a pay wall.)

Norman Lebrecht focuses on the orchestra board’s choice of words – “wind down” – to characterize the situation:

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2014/02/a-us-orchestra-is-being-wound-down.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+artsjournal%2FbQrW+%28Slipped+disc%29

ADDENDUM: Ruth McCambridge of Nonprofit Quarterly fills in some of the blanks. The Memphis Symphony’s endowment, she writes, “has been spent down through covering operating deficits that have totaled $8.34 million since 2005. The symphony board has unanimously approved a resolution saying the Memphis Symphony ‘cannot incur future deficits in operations’ and giving its executive committee authority to ‘wind down MSO’s operations’ if adequate funding or commitments aren’t found.”

Review: Richmond Symphony

Mei-Ann Chen conducting
with George Li, piano
Feb. 1, Richmond CenterStage

Standing ovations are almost de rigueur at classical concerts these days, but still can be startling and exhilarating experiences. You just have to distinguish between routine, polite ones and genuine, spontaneous ones. For future reference, the response to George Li at the end of the Grieg Piano Concerto was what a genuine ovation looks and sounds like.

Much of the audience leaped to its feet, loudly applauding, in many cases shouting and whooping as well. The happy tumult didn’t die down until Li played a first encore (Vladimir Horowitz’s Fantasy on themes from Bizet’s “Carmen”), then resumed until he played a second (Chopin’s Nocturne in C sharp minor), which finally down-shifted the applause to highly appreciative.

Li, an 18-year-old Bostonian, is one of the proliferating number of young piano virtuosos who boast both knockout technique and a level of musicality normally heard from more mature artists. It took a while for the latter to manifest itself in his performance of the Grieg.

He hit the opening chords and stated the big theme of the first movement almost as if pounding an anvil. His tone remained ringingly bright throughout the concerto, but with frequent shading of color and flexibility in tempo – more lyrical and poetical, that is.

The Chopin encore found Li at his most poetic and tonally nuanced – seemingly a different performer and instrument from those heard at the beginning of the Grieg.

The pianist had a forceful and expressive partner in guest conductor Mei-Ann Chen, music director of the Memphis Symphony and Chicago Sinfonietta. In the Grieg, Chen crafted sonorously atmospheric, warmly lyrical orchestral playing.

Her treatment of Schumann’s Second Symphony was brisk and alert, effectively centering the listener’s attention on the second, scherzo movement, with its speedy crosscurrents of brilliant string and wind scoring. The slow movement, marked adagio expressivo, was paced more like an andante and plumbed few expressive depths. The conductor mustered a collective triumphant outcry for the symphony’s finale.

Chen and the orchestra’s strings opened the program with Osvaldo Golijov’s orchestral version of “Last Round,” a piece that incorporates the Argentinian-born composer’s formative influences: East European Jewish music (Golijov’s parents were émigrés), Stravinsky-cum-Hindemith neoclassicism and the “new tango” style of Argentine master Astor Piazzolla.

Unusually, the symphony’s violinists and violists played standing, with first and second violins to the left and right of the conductor. This may have helped energize the players – several seemed on the verge of dancing in the fast opening section; and it certainly didn’t detract from tone production in the longer lentissimo that followed. I’ve rarely heard lusher sound from these fiddlers.

February calendar

Classical performances in and around Richmond, with selected events elsewhere in Virginia and the Washington area. Program information, provided by presenters and performers, is updated throughout the month 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 Richmond Symphony launches the month with guest conductor Mei-Ann Chen and pianist George Li in a program of Grieg, Schumann and Golijov, Feb. 1 at Richmond CenterStage. . . . The King’s Singers delve into “The Great American Songbook,” Feb. 7 at the University of Richmond’s Modlin Arts Center. . . . Symphony Music Director Steven Smith leads a jazz pops concert with trumpeter Rex Richardson and friends, Feb. 8 at Richmond CenterStage. . . . Harpsichordist Carsten Schmidt performs works of Couperin, Froberger, Bach and others for the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia, in a free concert Feb. 8 in the Richmond Public Library’s Gellman Room, and a “house concert” on Feb. 9 in Manakin-Sabot. . . . The Escher String Quartet and guitarist Jason Vieaux play Mendelssohn, Boccherini and more in a Rennolds Chamber Concerts program, Feb. 15 at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Singleton Arts Center. . . . Bruce Stevens plays Bach, Buxtehude, contemporary music by Mary Beth Bennett and more on UR’s Beckerath organ, Feb. 17 at Cannon Memorial Chapel. . . . The Venice Baroque Orchestra, with cellist Mario Brunello, play Vivaldi, Boccherini and more, Feb. 19 at UR’s Modlin Center (following earlier dates at the American Theatre in Hampton and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville). . . . Erin R. Freeman conducts the symphony and Richmond Symphony Chamber Chorus in a Mozart-Handel program, Feb. 21 at St. Augustine Catholic Church, Feb. 23 at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland. . . . Virginia Opera brings its production of Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos” to Richmond CenterStage on Feb. 21 and 23, following dates in Norfolk and Fairfax. . . . And a heads-up for March 1, when Steven Smith and the Richmond Symphony play Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony and the Violin Concerto of Richmond-bred composer Mason Bates, with Anne Akiko Meyers as soloist, at Richmond CenterStage.

* Noteworthy elsewhere: Time for Three, a string trio that bills itself as chamber music’s first “garage band,” plays Bach, Brahms and pop-song arrangements, Feb. 3 at Washington’s Kennedy Center. . . . The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra plays Bach’s six “Brandenburg” concertos, Feb. 4 at the Library of Congress in DC. . . . Cellist Steven Isserlis joins Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony in a program of Schumann, Haydn and Brahms, Feb. 6-8 at the Kennedy Center. . . . Pianist Simone Dinnerstein plays Bach, Beethoven and contemporary works by George Crumb and Nico Muhly, Feb. 9 at the Kennedy Center. . . . Yuri Temirkanov conducts Russia’s St. Petersburg Philharmonic in Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff, Feb. 12 at Strathmore in the Maryland suburbs of DC. . . . Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter joins Cristian Macelaru and the National Symphony in concertos by Currier (Feb. 13) and Dvořák (Feb. 14-15) at the Kennedy Center. . . . Violinist Joshua Bell visits Virginia Tech’s new Center for the Arts in Blacksburg for a Valentine’s Day concert on Feb. 14 (sold out; waiting list). . . . Pianist Lang Lang plays Mozart and Chopin, Feb. 15 at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville. . . . Virginia-bred singers Jake Tanner and Matthew Worth star in the Washington National Opera production of Jake Heggie’s “Moby-Dick,” Feb. 22, 25 and 28 (with more dates in March) at the Kennedy Center. . . . The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra plays Vivaldi, Bach and Tchaikovsky, Feb. 24 at the Virginia Tech Center for the Arts in Blacksburg. . . . Evgeny Kissin gives an unusual program, performing piano works of Jewish and Yiddish heritage, and reciting Yiddish poetry, Feb. 24 at the Kennedy Center.


Feb. 1 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony
Mei-Ann Chen conducting
Osvaldo Golijov: “Last Round”
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor
George Li, piano
Schumann: Symphony No. 2
$10-$76
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 1 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Albemarle Ensemble
Reicha: Wind Quintet in D major, Op. 91, No. 3
Milhaud: Sonata, Op. 47, for oboe, flute, clarinet and piano
Zemlinsky: Humoreske (Rondo) for wind quintet
Farrenc: Sextet, Op. 40, for piano and winds
$15
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu/events

Feb. 1 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Haifa Symphony Orchestra
Bohuslaw Dawidow conducting
Mozart: Symphony No. 40
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”)
Uri Bracha: “Melodies for Mount Carmel”
Avshalom Sarid, viola
$30-$60
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.cfa.gmu.edu

Feb. 1 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Benjamin Hochman, piano
Oliver Knussen: Variations for piano
Brahms: “Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel,” Op. 24
Frederic Rzewski: “The People United Will Never Be Defeated!”
$35
(202) 985-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

Feb. 1 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
Joshua Bell, violin
Hindemith: “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”
Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano
Matthias Goerne, baritone
Choral Arts Society of Washington
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Feb. 1 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
Charlie Chaplin’s “The Idle Class” and “The Kid” with live orchestral accompaniment
$31-$94
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

Feb. 2 (3 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Richard Becker, piano
works by Beethoven Liszt, Chopin; recent works inspired by Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

Feb. 2 (2 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Richmond Symphony LolliPops
Erin R. Freeman conducting
Glinka: “Russlan and Ludmilla” Overture
Grieg: “Peer Gynt” suites Nos. 1-2
Mendelssohn: Wedding March from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” incidental music
$10.50-$15.50
(434) 979-1333
www.theparamount.net

Feb. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Neumann Lecture on Music:
Anthony Seeger
“Is Music Prophetic or Reflexive? Music, Activism and Social Change”
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

Feb. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Time for Three
works by Bach, Brahms; popular song arrangements
$38
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Feb. 4 (8 p.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg:
Hermitage Piano Trio
Beethoven: “Kakadu Variations,” Op. 121
Arensky: Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 32
Rimsky-Korsakov: Piano Trio in C major
$15 (waiting list)
(757) 229-0385
www.chambermusicwilliamsburg.org

Feb. 4 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
J.S. Bach: “Brandenburg” concertos Nos. 1-6
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1314-preview.html

Feb. 5 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Paul Jacobs, organ
works by Vierne, Boulanger, Duruflé, Messiaen, Guilmant
$15
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Feb. 6 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Feb. 8 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Pops
Benjamin Rous conducting
cast of “Beatlemania”
“Classical Mystery Tour: a Tribute to the Beatles”
$22-$90
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

Feb. 6 (7 p.m.)
Feb. 7 (8 p.m.)
Feb. 8 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Haydn: Symphony No. 72
Schumann: Cello Concerto
Steven Isserlis, cello
Brahms-Schoenberg: Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Feb. 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
The King’s Singers
“The Great American Songbook”
works by the Gershwins, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, others
$36
free master class with Jeffrey Riehl and UR Schola Cantorum, 4:15 p.m. Feb. 7
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

Feb. 7 (8 p.m.)
Feb. 9 (2:30 p.m.)
Feb. 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Opera
Garrett Keast conducting
Richard Strauss: “Ariadne auf Naxos”
Christina Pier (Ariadne)
Ric Fuhrman (Bacchus)
Audrey Luna (Zerbinetta)
Stephanie Lauricella (Composer)
Jake Gardner (Music Teacher)
Edwin Vega (Dancing Master)
Ryan Connelly (Scaramuccio)
Christopher Burchett (Harlekin)
Sam Helfrich, stage director
in German, English captions
$29-$114
(866) 673-7282
www.vaopera.org

Feb. 7 (8 p.m.)
The Barns of Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
Washington Saxophone Quartet
works by Gabrieli, Bach, Copland, Pierné, Barber, others
$35
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org

Feb. 8 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
“Paris 1652: When Johann Met Louis”
works by Johann Jakob Froberger, Louis Couperin
free
(804) 646-7223
www.richmondpubliclibrary.org

Feb. 8 (4 p.m.)
Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 8 N. Laurel St., Richmond
Anne O’Byrne, soprano
Ben Kwak, tenor
Chase Peak, baritone
Grace Notes
“In Love With Music”
program TBA
reception follows
free
(804) 359-5628
www.ghtc.org

Feb. 8 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony Pops
Steven Smith conducting
Rex Richardson, trumpet
Steve Wilson, saxophones
Nate Smith, drums
Russell Wilson, piano
Pete Spaar, bass
works by Gershwin, Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, James M. Stephenson
$10-$76
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 8 (8 p.m.)
Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, Washington
Sybarite5
“Everything in Its Right Place”
works by Mozart, Brubeck, Piazzolla, Eric Byers, Dan Visconti, others
$25
(202) 985-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

Feb. 9 (4 p.m.)
private home, Manakin-Sabot
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
works by Couperin, Froberger, Muffat, J.S. Bach, others
$30
(804) 519-2098
www.cmscva.org

Feb. 9 (4 p.m.)
Hylton Arts Center, George Mason University, Manassas
Haifa Symphony Orchestra
Boguslaw Dawidow conducting
Weber: “Euryanthe” Overture
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
Roman Rabinovich, piano
$44-$60
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.hyltoncenter.org

Feb. 9 (4 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
The King’s Singers
“The Great American Songbook”
works by the Gershwins, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, others
$24-$48
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.cfa.gmu.edu

Feb. 9 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Kennedy Center Chamber Players
Paganini: “Terzetto concertante” in D major for viola, cello and guitar
Grieg: Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45
Leisner: “Dances in the Madhouse” for violin and guitar
Beethoven: Piano Trio in E flat major, Op. 1
$35
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Feb. 9 (4 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Simone Dinnerstein, piano
J.S. Bach: 15 two-part inventions
George Crumb: “Eine kleine Mitternacht Musik” for prepared piano
Nico Muhly: “You Can’t Get There From Here”
Beethoven: Sonata in C minor, Op. 111
$25-$85
(202) 985-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

Feb. 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Feb. 12 (7:30 p.m.)
American Theatre, 125 E. Mellen St., Hampton
Sharon Isbin, Stanley Jordan & Romero Lubambo, guitars
“Guitar Passions”
program TBA
$25-$30
(757) 722-2787
www.hamptonarts.net

Feb. 12 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
St. Petersburg Philharmonic
Yuri Temirkanov conducting
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2
Sayaka Shoji, violin
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2
$35-$105
(202) 985-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

Feb. 13 (7 p.m.)
Feb. 14 (8 p.m.)
Feb. 15 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Cristian Macelaru conducting
Janáček: “The Cunning Little Vixen” Suite
Martinů: Symphony No. 1
Currier: “Time Machines” (Feb. 13)
Dvořák: Violin Concerto (Feb. 14-15)
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Feb. 13 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Sharon Isbin, Stanley Jordan & Romero Lubambo, guitars
“Guitar Passions”
works by Rodrigo, Albéniz, Jobim, others
$29-$70
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org

Feb. 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Peter Tirrell D’Elia, piano
program TBA
free
free master class at 10 a.m. Feb. 15, Perkinson Recital Hall
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

Feb. 14 (8 p.m.)
Feb. 16 (2:30 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Virginia Opera
Garrett Keast conducting
Richard Strauss: “Ariadne auf Naxos”
Christina Pier (Ariadne)
Ric Fuhrman (Bacchus)
Audrey Luna (Zerbinetta)
Stephanie Lauricella (Composer)
Jake Gardner (Music Teacher)
Edwin Vega (Dancing Master)
Ryan Connelly (Scaramuccio)
Christopher Burchett (Harlekin)
Sam Helfrich, stage director
in German, English captions
$44-$98
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.vaopera.org

Feb. 14 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Joshua Bell, violin
pianist TBA
“Valentine Concert”
program TBA
$40-$60 (waiting list)
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

Feb. 14 (7 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
JACK Quartet
Ursula Oppens, piano
Feldman: “Spring of Chosroes”
Feldman: “Structures”
Ferneyhough: “Exordium”
Carter: Quintet for piano and string quartet
Anderson: String Quartet No. 1 (U.S. premiere)
Anderson: Light Music”
Adès: Piano Quintet
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1314-preview.html

Feb. 15 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Joshua Allen, bass-baritone
Marianne Kessler, piano
art songs, folk songs, Negro spirituals TBA
free
(804) 646-7223
www.richmondpubliclibrary.org

 

Feb. 15 (8 p.m.)

Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Rennolds Chamber Concerts:
Escher String Quartet
Jason Vieaux, guitar
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2
Boccherini: Guitar Quintet
Giuliani: “Grande Overture”
Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Guitar Quintet
$34
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

Feb. 15 (8 p.m.)
Feb. 16 (4 p.m.)
Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 520 Graydon Ave., Norfolk
Virginia Chorale
Charles Woodward directing
Jeff Gallo, stage director
Joby Talbot: “Path of Miracles”
$25
(757) 627-8375
www.vachorale.org

Feb. 15 (8 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Lang Lang, piano
Mozart: Sonata in G major, K. 283
Mozart: Sonata in E flat major, K. 282
Mozart: Sonata in A minor, K. 310
Chopin: 4 ballades
$65.50-$250
(434) 979-1333
www.theparamount.net

Feb. 15 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Feb. 16 (3:30 p.m.)
Monticello High School, 1000 Independence Way, Charlottesville
Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra
Kate Tamarkin conducting
Rautavaara: “Isle of Bliss”
Ravel: “Mother Goose” Suite
Vaughan Williams: “Five Variants on ‘Dives and Lazarus’ ”
Copland: “Appalachian Spring” Suite
$10-$40
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu/events

Feb. 15 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Peter Nero, piano
“Music of the Heart”
works by Beethoven, Gershwin, Puccini, Lloyd Webber, others
$30-$60
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.cfa.gmu.edu

Feb. 15 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Gilbert Varga conducting
Berlioz: “Roman Carnival” Overture
Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 3
Jonathan Carney, violin
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”)
$46-$109
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

Feb. 16 (7:30 p.m.)
American Theatre, 125 E. Mellen St., Hampton
Venice Baroque Orcherstra
Andrea Marcon directing
Mario Brunello, cello
works by Vivaldi, Boccherini
$30-$35
(757) 722-2787
www.hamptonarts.net

Feb. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Cannon Memorial Chapel, University of Richmond
Bruce Stevens, organ
works by Sweelinck, Bach, Buxtehude, Couperin, Reger, Arthur Foote, Mary Beth Bennett
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

Feb. 18 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Venice Baroque Orchestra
Andrea Marcon directing
works by Vivaldi, Geminiani, Veracini
$12-$33
(434) 924-3376
www.tecs.org

Feb. 19 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Venice Baroque Orchestra
Andrea Marcon directing
Mario Brunello, cello
works by Vivaldi, Boccherini, Sollima
$38
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

Feb. 20 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
Ebène Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
Schumann: Quartet in A major, Op. 41, No. 3
Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1314-preview.html

Feb. 21 (7 p.m.)
St. Augustine Catholic Church, 4400 Beulah Road, Richmond
Feb. 23 (3 p.m.)
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland
Richmond Symphony
Erin R. Freeman conducting
Mozart: Symphony No. 34 in C major, K. 338
Handel: Coronation anthems Nos. 1-4
Richmond Symphony Chamber Chorus
$15-$20
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 21 (8 p.m.)
Feb. 23 (2:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Virginia Opera
Garrett Keast conducting
Richard Strauss: “Ariadne auf Naxos”
Christina Pier (Ariadne)
Ric Fuhrman (Bacchus)
Audrey Luna (Zerbinetta)
Stephanie Lauricella (Composer)
Jake Gardner (Music Teacher)
Edwin Vega (Dancing Master)
Ryan Connelly (Scaramuccio)
Christopher Burchett (Harlekin)
Sam Helfrich, stage director
in German, English captions
$29-$111
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.vaopera.org

Feb. 21 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Feb. 22 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Feb. 23 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
JoAnn Falletta conducting
Berlioz: “Roman Carnival” Overture
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
Martina Filjak, piano
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 (“Inextinguishable”)
$22-$105
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

Feb. 22 (7 p.m.)
Feb. 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Feb. 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Evan Rogister conducting
Jake Heggie: “Moby-Dick”
Carl Tanner (Ahab)
Stephen Costello (Ishmael)
Matthew Worth (Starbuck)
Eric Greene (Queequeg)
Talise Trevigne (Pip)
Alexander Lewis (Flask)
Leonard Foglia, stage director
in English, English captions
$25-$305
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Feb. 22 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
Mitzi Meyerson, harpsichord
works by J.S. Bach, Purcell, Rameau, Croft, Couperin
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1314-preview.html

Feb. 22 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Brian Ganz, piano
Chopin: 4 mazurkas, Op. 17
Chopin: “Variations brillantes” in B flat Major, Op. 12
Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52
Chopin: Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48
Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52
Chopin: Nocturne in F Sharp Minor
Chopin: Mazurka in D Major, Op. Posth.
Chopin: Mazurka in A Minor (“Notre Temps”)
Chopin: 2 waltzes, Op. 69
Chopin: Prelude in C Sharp Minor, Op. 45
Chopin: Scherzo in E Major, Op. 54
$28-$63
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org

Feb. 24 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Matthew Ernst, trumpet
Janna Ernst, piano
works by Brahms, Albinoni, Antheil, Enescu, others
$15
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu/events

Feb. 24 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Vivaldi: “The Four Seasons”
J.S. Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 3
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for strings
$25-$40
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

Feb. 24 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Musica Hebraica:
Evgeny Kissin, piano & recitation
Bloch: Piano Sonata (1935)
Alexander Veprik: Piano Sonata No. 2 (1924)
Milner: “Farn opsheyd” (“Little Rhapsody”)
Krein: first 5 pieces from “Suite dansee” (1928)
selected Yiddish poetry
$35-$99
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Feb. 26 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Symphonic Wind Ensemble
Terry Austin directing
program TBA
$7 in advance, $10 day of performance
(804) 828-6776
www.vcumusic.org

Feb. 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Vocal Arts DC:
Hei-Kyung Hong, soprano
Vlad Iftinca, piano
program TBA
$50
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Feb. 27 (8 p.m.)
Phi Beta Kappa Hall, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg
Virginia Symphony
Benjamin Rous conducting
Beethoven: “Leonore” Overture No. 3
Rodrigo: “Concierto de Aranjuez”
Artryom Dervoed, guitar
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1
$22-$67
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

Feb. 27 (7 p.m.)
Feb. 28 (8 p.m.)
March 1 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Beethoven: Symphony No. 1
Widmann: Violin Concerto
Christian Tetzlaff, violin
Beethoven: Symphony No. 2
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Feb. 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio
Beethoven: Piano Trio in G major, Op. 1, No. 2
André Previn: Piano Trio (2012)
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66
$45
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Feb. 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House Washington
Washington National Opera:
Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists
works by Mozart, Puccini, Gounod, Bellini, Verdi, others
$15
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Feb. 28 (8:15 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
“Off the Cuff: Mozart CSI”
Didi Balle, writer-director
$44-$78
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

Feb. 28 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
David Niethamer, clarinet
pianist TBA
program TBA
free
(804) 828-6776

http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events