Letter V Classical Radio this week

As University of Richmond students finish exams and leave school for the summer, the show expands to four hours. I’m beginning with a program of baroque music, contrasting original works with “rewrites” – adaptations, variations, reconstructions, homages – from the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

May 1
noon-4 p.m. EDT
1600-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

J.S. Bach: Suite in A minor, after BWV 1067
(reconstructed for oboe, strings and continuo by Gonzalo X. Ruiz)
Gonzalo X. Ruiz, oboe; Ensemble Sonnerie/Monica Huggett (Musical Heritage Society)

J.S. Bach: Partita No. 1 in B flat major, BWV 825
Christophe Rousset, harpsichord (Decca)

J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in E flat major, BWV 552 (“St. Anne”)
(orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg)
Houston Symphony Orchestra/Christoph Eschenbach (RCA Victor)

Past Masters:
Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in A minor, K. 54
Vladimir Horowitz, piano (Sony Classical)
(recorded 1964)

Past Masters:
Domenico Scarlatti: sonatas in B flat major,
K. 248-249
Ralph Kirkpatrick, harpsichord (DG Archiv)
(recorded 1965)

John Avison: Concerto grosso in A minor (after Domenico Scarlatti)
Roy Goodman, violin & director; Brandenburg Consort (Hyperion)

Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in B flat major, K. 396
Jean Françaix: “Hommage à Scarlatti”
Charles-Valentin Alkan: “Duettino (alla D. Scarlatti)”
Leopold Godowsky: Concert-Allegro
Marc-André Hamelin: “Esercizio per pianoforte”
György Kurtág: “Hommage à D.S.”
Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in B minor, K. 33
Viktoria Lakissova, piano (Labor Records)

Handel: Concerto “a due cori” No. 1 in B flat major
Tafelmusik/Jeanne Lamon (Sony Classical)

Past Masters:
Beethoven: “Twelve Variations on a Theme from Handel’s ‘Judas Maccabaeus’ ” (“See, the conquering hero comes”)
Pierre Fournier, cello; Wilhelm Kempff, piano (Deutsche Grammophon)
(recorded 1965)

Brahms: “Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel”
Murray Perahia, piano (Sony Classical)

Handel: Coronation anthems – “The King shall rejoice”
Choir of Westminster Abbey; The English Concert/Simon Preston (DG Archiv)

Vivaldi: “The Four Seasons” – “Summer”
Simon Standage, violin
The English Concert/Trevor Pinnock (DG Archiv)

J.S. Bach: Concerto in A minor, BWV 593 (after Vivaldi)
George Ritchie, organ (Raven)

Past Masters:
J.S. Bach: Concerto in A minor, BWV 1065 (after Vivaldi)
Gustav Leonhardt, Eduard Müller, Anneke Uittenbosch & Janny van Wering, harpsichords
Leonhardt Consort (Teldec)
(recorded 1968)

J.S. Bach: “Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele,” BWV 69
Ruth Ziesak, soprano; Elisabeth von Magnus, alto; Paul Agnew, tenor; Klaus Mertens, bass
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir/Ton Koopman (Challenge Classics)

Virginia Opera promotes from within

Virginia Opera has named Adam Turner, formerly its resident conductor and chorusmaster, to be its new principal conductor and artistic advisor. David Smith, who has been technical director of the company, will be production and technical director. Teresa Annas of The Virginian-Pilot reports:

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/04/virginia-opera-names-two-artistic-heads

'Audience for opera is not increasing'

As the Metropolitan Opera faces tough labor negotiations, its general manager, Peter Gelb, offers a grim assessment of the financial state of the business and future prospects of the art form in an interview with the German radio service Deutsche Welle:

http://www.dw.de/new-yorks-met-faces-social-rejection-of-opera/a-17595752

Eye-popping factoid: Gelb says that Met choristers receive, on average, annual compensation of $300,000, one-third of that in medical and pension benefits.

(via www.artsjournal.com)

Minnesota rehires Vänskä

The Minnesota Orchestra has rehired Osmo Vänskä as its music director. The Finnish conductor, who raised the stature of the orchestra after his engagement in 2003, resigned in frustration last October, a year into a lockout of musicians in one of the longest-running labor disputes in American musical history.

Vänskä has signed on for two more years, taking the same 15 percent pay cut that Minnesota Orchestra musicians accepted in settlement of the dispute, reports Graydon Royce of the Star Tribune of Minneapolis:

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/256589871.html?page=1&c=y

Letter V Classical Radio this week

April 24
1-3 p.m. EDT
1700-1900 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

J.C. Bach: Sinfonia concertante in A major for violin, cello, two oboes, strings and continuo
Stephan Schardt, violin; Joachim Fiedler, cello; Eduard Wesly & Wolfgang Dey, oboes
Musica Antiqua Köln/Reinhard Goebel (DG Archiv)

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453
András Schiff, piano
Camerata Academica des Mozarteums, Salzburg/Sandor Vegh (London)

Richard Strauss: Serenade in E flat major, Op. 7
National Chamber Players/Lowell Graham (Klavier)

Sarasate: “Zigeunerweisen”
Julia Fischer, violin; Milana Chernyavska, piano (Decca)

Past Masters:
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F major
Philharmonia Orchestra/Guido Cantelli (Testament)
(recorded 1955)

Past Masters:
Elgar: Introduction and Allegro
Allegri String Quartet
Sinfonia of London/John Barbirolli (EMI Classics)
(recorded 1962)

Feeling groovy

Today is Record Store Day.

How retro, you say? You may be surprised to learn that this is a very hipster occasion. Records – grooved discs played on a turntable (aka record player) with a stylus (aka needle) – are quite fashionable among the young. Especially the young with no money, as many used records are cheaper than a small latte. (New vinyl discs, on the other hand, can be outrageously expensive.)

WDCE at the University of Richmond, where I produce Letter V Classical Radio, festoons its studio wall with vinyl LPs and has two turntables, actually used by some of the station’s teen-age and 20-something DJs. A number of them dote on music that I was listening to when I was in my teens and 20s, back in the previous millennium. This makes me feel less elderly as I play music from the 1780s.

Checking the Yellow Pages (speaking of retro), I find eight record stores listed in the Richmond area. That’s not counting Goodwill stores, “antique” shops, flea markets and other places where you can find LPs, 45s, even 78s. (Also cassette tapes, which reportedly are becoming cool again. What’s next? Eight-tracks?)

A surprising number of these places stock classical records. I’ve even found mint-condition, sealed copies on occasion.

As you pursue other Saturday chores, take time to go record shopping. How many chances do folks like us get to be über-hip?

Akira Endo (1938-2014)

Akira Endo, former music director of the American Ballet Theatre and a frequent guest conductor of Richmond Ballet productions in the 1980s and ’90s, has died at 75 in Boulder, CO.

The Japanese-born Endo, who came to this country in 1954 and earned degrees from the University of Southern California, was a two-time prizewinner in the Dmitri Mitropoulos International Competition for Conductors. At the competition, he came to the attention of Leonard Bernstein, who recommended the young conductor to the ABT.

Endo served as music director of the Austin Symphony (1975-82) and Louisville Orchestra (1980-83), and was a candidate for music director of the Richmond Symphony in 1986-87. He also was music director of ballet companies in Pittsburgh, Miami and Denver, and taught at the University of Colorado at Boulder until his retirement in 2008.

Letter V Classical Radio this week

April 17
noon-3 p.m. EDT
1600-1900 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Baroque music for Passover and Easter . . .

J.S. Bach: Concerto in D major, after BWV 249 (“Easter Oratorio”)
Musica Antiqua Köln/Reinhard Goebel (DG Archiv)

Salomone Rossi: “Sinfonia decima;” Psalm 100: “Mizmór letodá;” “Gagliarda disperata;” “Correnta sesta;” Psalm 146: “Haleluyáh”
Profeti Della Quinta (Linn)

Heinrich Schütz: “Feget den alten Sauerteig aus” from “Symphoniae sacrae III”
Cantus Cölln, Concerto Palatino/Konrad Junghänel (Harmonia Mundi France)

Louis Saladin: “Canticum hebraicum”
Boston Camerata/Joel Cohen (Harmonia Mundi France)

J.S. Bach: “Erbarme dich” from “St. Matthew Passion”
Andreas Scholl, alto
Orchestra of Collegium Vocale Gent/Philippe Herreweghe (Harmonia Mundi France)

J.S. Bach: Partita in D minor, BWV 1004, with related chorales and Chaconne for violin & voices (“Morimur”)
(arranged by Christoph Poppen and Hilliard Ensemble, based on research by Helga Thoene)
Christoph Poppen, violin; Hilliard Ensemble (ECM)

Handel: “Messiah” (Part 2)
Lynne Dawson, soprano; Hilary Summers, contralto; John Mark Ainsley, tenor; Alastair Miles, bass; Choir of King’s College, Cambridge;
Brandenburg Consort/Stephen Cleobury (Argo)

Shankar concert canceled

“Musical Crossroads,” an April 26 concert by sitarist Anoushka Shankar with the Richmond Symphony, has been canceled “due to health concerns” on Shankar’s part, the orchestra has announced.

Ticket refunds or exchanges for tickets to other symphony concerts may be arranged by calling the orchestra’s patron services desk at (804) 788-1212.

Review: Leila Josefowicz

with John Novacek, piano
April 12, Virginia Commonwealth University

Juxtaposing works of Franz Schubert and Igor Stravinsky is pretty radical programming. Which composer, one wonders, would be more rattled or put off by the company he’s keeping? Stravinsky, I’d guess, and I don’t think I’m just being contrary.

Hearing violinist Leila Josefowicz and pianist John Novacek play Schubert’s Sonata in A major, D. 574 (known as the “Duo”), followed by Stravinsky’s “Duo concertant” and “Chanson russe,” followed by Schubert’s Rondo in B minor, D. 895, I was struck repeatedly by the questing, explorative character of Schubert’s writing, contrasting sharply with the sense that all issues are settled in Stravinsky’s pieces.

The “Duo concertant” (1931-32) is a highly polished exemplar of Stravinsky’s middle-period neo-classical style. Not a note or gesture is out of place or in need of amplification; proportions are as symmetrical and sensible to the ear as those of a Greek temple are to the eye. The piece is witty, akin to time spent with a clever conversationalist who needs neither an interlocutor nor a straight man, just a willing listener.

The “Chanson russe,” originally an aria from the opera “Marva” (1922), subsequently arranged for violin and piano by Stravinsky and Samuel Dushkin, conveys a different, earthier and more sly kind of wit, at least to ears that have had some exposure to klezmer and other Jewish/Slavic/gypsy dance music of Eastern Europe.

The Schubert sonata and rondo, by contrast, are about the lyrical and emotional stretching of classical form, an often garrulous and sometimes unruly process that resulted in hits and misses throughout the composer’s instrumental canon. The sonata, written in 1817 when Schubert turned 20, hits in details and misses in totality; the rondo, written in 1826 when he was 29, is better organized, structurally and expressively, but like many of his later works may be longer than its contents warrant. (The “heavenly” aspect of Schubert’s “heavenly length” is definitely in the ear of the beholder.)

Josefowicz did not play up the contrast between these two composers as much as she might have, largely because her sound did not vary greatly from one to the other. The lean, focused tone she produces – with and without muting the strings – is ideal for Stravinsky, and her rather chaste brand of lyricism suited the “Chanson russe” especially well. In Schubert, however, such fiddle tone sounded rather undernourished, at least in combination with a modern piano. (Has she ever done these pieces with a fortepiano?)

“Tre pezzi” (“Three Piece”), a 1979 opus by the Hungarian composer György Kurtág, came across as a detour of dubious relevance. Josefowicz and Novacek exphasized these short pieces’ rarified fiddle and keyboard effects, which recall those of Anton Webern but lack the implied line without which such music sounds like a succession of unrelated gestures.

Novacek’s performances amounted to a clinic in the art of accompaniment. His presence was in ideally proportional in all but the Schubert “Duo” and his style was unerring throughout the program. He even managed to coax some expressiveness out of the sometimes skeletal piano lines Stravinsky wrote for the “Chanson russe” and “Cantilene” of the “Duo concertant.”

For an encore, the violinist and pianist played Charles Chaplin’s “Smile,” a haunting musical postscript both in the context of the program and in its rather austere arrangement.

Letter V Classical Radio this week

April 10
1-3 p.m. EDT
1700-1900 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Beethoven: Sonata in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (“Moonlight”)
Fazil Say, piano (Naïve)

Schubert: Fantasy in C major, D. 934
Jennifer Koh, violin; Reiko Uchida, piano (Cedille)

Mozart: Rondo in A minor, K. 511
Richard Goode, piano (Nonesuch)

Dag Wirén: Serenade for strings
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Kenneth Montgomery (EMI Classics)

Past Masters:
Delibes: “Le Roi s’amuse”
Royal Philharmonic/ Thomas Beecham (EMI Classics)
(recorded 1958)

Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor
Stephen Hough, piano
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo (Hyperion)

Review: Takács Quartet

April 7, University of Richmond

A few years ago, Gramophone, the British classical-music magazine, polled a panel of experts to pick the world’s greatest symphony orchestra. The Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam came in first. A similar poll on string quartets quite likely would place the Takács, the Hungarian-bred ensemble now based at the University of Colorado, at the top of the heap.

I’m inclined to avoid such rankings – “greatest [whoever] I’ve heard lately” is tough enough in this era of musical over-achievers. I would say that an ensemble that tours with a program opening with Beethoven’s Quartet in E flat major, Op. 127, followed by Anton Webern’s “Six Bagatelles,” must feel reasonably secure about drawing a crowd on the strength of its reputation. And that it pays its audience the compliment of taking listeners’ discernment for granted.

(The Takács also tours with the six Bartók quartets in pairs of concerts, presented last season at the University of Richmond and reprised in January at Washington’s Kennedy Center. Compared with that, this may be its easy listening show.)

Violinists Edward Dusinberre and Károly Schranz, violist Geraldine Walther and cellist András Fejér may be the ideal foursome for Op. 127 and the Webern bagatelles. Both require painstakingly exact balances among string voices – especially inner voices – and close attention to the finest details of articulation, dynamics and tone color.

Beyond technical considerations, both need performers who are deeply immersed in the distinctive styles and spirits of these works. Op. 127 is the first – and, some say, the knottiest – of the six quartets that Beethoven wrote in his last years. Like the other late quartets, it calls for voicings and balances that teeter between the elusive and the barely possible. (Webern’s employment of some of the same sounds nearly a century later was considered “experimental.”)

Even more challenging, perhaps, is Beethoven’s juxtaposition of highly sophisticated classical structure with folkish tunes and rustic dance rhythms. Does any other music ask players to think algebraically while clog-dancing?

In this performance, the Takács managed those technical and interpretive challenges expertly. The differentiation of fiddle tones in the first movement and earthy groove of the finale were just two of many highlights in a reading whose spontaneity was as striking as its exposition of fine points.

Spontaneity, remarkably, was the most distinguishing feature in the group’s performance of the Webern. This highly concentrated work – six movements in barely four minutes – often sounds to be all detail, with little or no sense of linear flow. The Takács conveyed linearity through careful treatment of dynamics and pacing of silence, the black (but textured, not flat) surface on which the composer paints his little starbursts and shafts of light.

Smetana’s Quartet No. 1 (“From My Life”), which closed the program, could easily have sounded anticlimactic after the Beethoven and Webern. Like Beethoven, Smetana was deaf when he wrote this music (although Smetana’s recollection of hearing was much fresher); and like Beethoven, Smetana freely and challengingly juxtaposed classical form with folk-dance rhythms, notably the polka. “From My Life,” however, proceeds along a pretty explicit story and time line, and an emotional trajectory from light to dark.

The Takács traced the work’s narrative and darkening of spirit quite effectively, and treated its folkish elements with appropriate verve. The ensemble’s sound was a bit too rich, to my ears, thickening musical textures as an idiomatically Czech interpretation would not. A few slurred notes and imbalances also detracted from the performance.

Review: 'Carmen'

Virginia Opera
Adam Turner conducting
April 6, Richmond CenterStage

Ginger Costa-Jackson, the mezzo-soprano in the title role of Virginia Opera’s current production of Bizet’s “Carmen,” has the dusky brilliance of voice and sinewy physicality that audiences crave in a Carmen. Abetted by stage Tazewell Thompson – or was it the other way around? – she essays this character with none of the usual ambiguity.

Singers and directors often try to mitigate the essential badness of Carmen by emphasizing her yearnings for “freedom,” or treat her as a femme fatale who just can’t help it. None of that here: Costa-Jackson’s Carmen delights in seduction, discards lovers like used tissues, dismisses the lives she ruins without a backward glance. She sneers. She leers. She’s a she-devil who gets the good tunes.

Whether this is what Bizet and his librettists, Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, had in mind is an argument for another time. This time, Costa-Jackson’s gypsy seductress is a character who might have been conceived by Quentin Tarantino, a personfication of danger and evil, and she pulls it off with a characterization that chills as it provokes.

She is ably supported by most of the rest of the cast. Dinyar Vania, as José, the corporal of the guard who falls under Carmen’s spell, conveys the conflict between obsession and duty in every vocal and physical gesture. Corrine Winters, as Micaëla, the sweet girl who would be José’s bride, sings and acts her part with touching naïveté. Matthew Sconlin, as Zuniga, officer of the guard, is thoroughly convincing as the worldly antipode to Vania’s José.

In the second of two Richmond performances, Ryan Kuster, as the toreador Escamillio, projected weakly and sounded hoarse. Vocal difficulties aside, he simply did not command the stage, even when spot-lit at its center.

He wasn’t helped by a Las Vegas lounge lizard outfit, the major wardrobe malfunction in Merrily Murray-Walsh’s otherwise inoffensive semi-modern-dress costume design. Scenic designer David P. Gordon sticks to the traditional, dusty rococo look of old Spanish Seville.

Choreographer and fight director Anthony Salatino finesses the challenge of integrating choristers and dancers, not overly taxing the singers as they work alongside frenzied gypsy dancers.

Adam Turner, Virginia Opera’s resident conductor and chorusmaster, taking over from conductor John DeMain in the Richmond performances, obtained energetic and atmospheric playing from the pit orchestra, drawn from the Richmond Symphony.

Final performances of Virginia Opera’s “Carmen” will be staged at 8 p.m. April 11 and 2 p.m. April 13 at the Center for the Arts, George Mason University, in Fairfax. Tickets: $44-$98. Details: (888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com); www.vaopera.org

Review: Chamber Music Society

April 4, Church of the Holy Comforter

“Rule Brittania?” Not lately, musically or otherwise. But there were times . . .

George Frideric Handel’s time, in the first half of the 18th century; Henry Purcell’s time, in the last decades of the 17th century; John Dowland’s time, at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. All three were distinctive, and distinctively English, composers (the German-born Handel by adoption), who set the country’s aspirations and temperament to music as well as any composers in any lands at any time.

The Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia offered that welcome reminder in the first of three concerts of baroque music rounding out its 2013-14 season.

Cellist James Wilson, the society’s artistic director, recruited a cast of top-tier instrumentalists and singers of the historically informed performance (HIP) school. Heading the list, the German violinists Florian Deuter and Monica Waisman, whose energy and virtuosity made a lasting impression when they first visited Richmond in 2009.

Deuter and Waisman sizzled anew, leading an ensemble in two of the Op. 6 set of concerti grossi by Handel. Their playful call-and-response in the rollicking finale of the A major, Op. 6, No. 11 – plus the crunchy resonance of the bass continuo provided by cellist Wilson, harpsichordist Francesco Padrini and lutenist David Walker – probably will run through the mind’s ears of many in the audience for days to come.

The string bowers and pluckers, joined by oboist Meg Owens, were no less musically potent, and a shade tighter as an ensemble, in the program’s opener, the Concerto Grosso in D major, Op. 6, No. 5.

The resonant acoustic of the church sanctuary lent orchestral scale to the performances of one- or two-to-a-part instrumental forces.

Deuter and Waisman also were featured in the Chaconne from Purcell’s Sonata No. 6 in G minor. This slow dance was widely employed in baroque instrumental suites, most famously by Bach in his solo-violin Partita No. 2 in D minor. Purcell’s treatment is more decorous and danceable, and so perhaps sounds less profound or weighty than Bach’s. Purcell, however, weaves a more elaborate texture with two fiddles and gives their players more opportunity for expressiveness and spontaneity. Deuter and Waisman exploited the difference.

Three familiar Purcell songs, “Fairest Isle” (from “King Arthur”), “Music for a While” and “If Music Be the Food of Love,” and three by Dowland, “By a Fountain,” “Time Stands Still” and “Shall I Sue,” showcased soprano Jessica Petrus and tenor Owen McIntosh. Both proved to be estimable early music stylists, Petrus with an achingly lovely, low-vibrato “white” tone that especially suited the more yearning and lovelorn Dowland numbers, McIntosh with a more assertive, theatrical style that paid special dividends in the Shakespeare setting.

Playing less prominent, but no less impressive roles in this program were recorder player Anne Timberlake, who paced the ensemble in John Blow’s Overture to “Venus and Adonis” and, using two registers of recorder, complemented Petrus’ voice in “Fairest Isle;” mezzo-soprano Margaret Lias, featured in Handel’s highly charged Italian love aria “Dolc’è pur d’amor l’affanno” (“The pain of love is sweet if suffering”); and Peter Walker, playing the mellow, alto-voiced English bagpipes in a couple of dance tunes.

Walker’s mini-set, and an earlier one featuring Timberlake, were helpful reminders that the divide between classical and popular music is a modern one. Handel, Purcell and other composers of their eras felt free to adopt folk and popular music, especially dance tunes. Their putatively lowbrow contemporaries no doubt returned the favor. Old England, musically at least, was merrier for it.

The Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia continues its spring baroque festival, “Aspects of Time,” with a free mini-concert by violinist Florian Deuter and Monica Waisman at noon April 5 at the Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets, and ticketed concerts at 7:30 April 5 and 4 p.m. April 6 at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road. Tickets: $30. Details: (804) 519-2098; www.cmscva.org

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 Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia, led by cellist James Wilson, surveys music of the baroque in three ticketed concerts, April 4-6 at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter, plus a free mini-recital by baroque violinists Florian Deuter and Monica Waisman on April 5 in the Richmond Public Library’s Gellman Room. . . . Virginia Opera brings its production of Bizet’s “Carmen,” conducted by John DeMain, to Richmond CenterStage on April 4 and 6 (with performances on April 11 and 13 at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax). . . . The Takács Quartet returns to the University of Richmond’s Modlin Arts Center on April 7 for a program of Smetana, Beethoven and Webern. (The ensemble plays Beethoven, Webern and Dvořák on April 8 in a Tuesday Evening Concerts date at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.) . . . Violinist Leila Josefowicz, with pianist John Novacek, plays Schubert, Stravinsky and György Kurtág, April 12 in a Rennolds Chamber Concerts program at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Singleton Arts Center. . . . The Richmond Symphony stages a special concert this month: “Windbourne’s Music of the Stones,” featuring Brent Havens’ symphonic arrangements of songs by the Rolling Stones, April 12 at the Altria (formerly Landmark) Theater. . . . The James River Singers introduce “Seasons” by University of Richmond-based Benjamin Broening and sample works of other composers from Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic in concerts on April 26 at River Road Church, Baptist, and April 27 at the Church of the Holy Comforter.

* Noteworthy elsewhere: Hampton Roads’ Virginia Arts Festival presents the Israel Philharmonic in an all-French program, April 2 at the Sandler Arts Center in Virginia Beach; the Tallis Scholars, April 6 at Christ & St. Luke’s Church in Norfolk; William Christie’s Juilliard 415 ensemble with Juilliard Opera singers in Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s “Actéon,” April 15 at First Lutheran Church in Norfolk; and the Eastern Virginia Brass with choruses in a program highlighted by the premiere of Adolphus Hailstork’s “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” April 28 at the Attucks Theatre in Norfolk. (The vocal ensemble Chanticleer visits the festival on May 1.) . . . The period-instruments Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin samples music of J.S. and C.P.E. Bach and their contemporaries, April 5 at the Library of Congress’ Coolidge Auditorium in Washington. . . . André Watts plays the Grieg Piano Concerto, and Jakub Hrusa conducts Janáček and Dvořák, with the Baltimore Symphony, April 5 at the Music Center at Strathmore in the Maryland suburbs of DC. . . . The British composer-conductor Oliver Knussen and the UK’s Birmingham Contemporary Music Group survey modern and contemporary works in two concerts, April 8 and 11 at the Library of Congress. . . . Itzhak Perlman plays Beethoven and conducts Mozart and Berlioz with the Baltimore Symphony, April 10 at Strathmore. . . . The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Amphion String Quartet give the premiere of the String Quintet No. 2 (“Variations for Five”) by the Finnish master Einojuhani Rautavaara, and play Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” and recent works by Pierre Jalbert, Elliott Carter and Jörg Widmann, April 10 at the Library of Congress. . . . Canadian pianist Louis Lortie plays Chopin and transcriptions of Wagner, April 11 at Washington’s Kennedy Center. . . . Violinist Hilary Hahn plays Schoenberg, Mozart, Schubert and Telemann, plus a couple of the 27 encores she recently commissioned, April 23 at Strathmore. . . . Osmo Vänskä, the now re-hired music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, conducts Sibelius and Mendelssohn, with Martin Fröst playing Kalevi Aho’s Clarinet Concerto, with Washington’s National Symphony, April 24 and 26 at the Kennedy Center. . . . Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott joins the Charlottesville & University Symphony in a program of Mozart, Shostakovich and Mussorgsky, April 26 at the University of Virginia’s Old Cabell Hall and April 27 at Charlottesville High School. . . . Christopher Zimmerman conducts the Fairfax Symphony in Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, April 26 at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts. . . . Pianist Yevgeny Sudbin plays Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Shostakovich and more, April 29 in a Tuesday Evening Concerts program at UVa. . . . Opera Lafayette’s artistic director, violinist Ryan Brown, is joined by harpsichordists Olivier Baumont and Andrew Appel in a sampler of chamber works by the French baroque master Jean-Philippe Rameau, April 30 at the Kennedy Center.


April 1 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Philip Glass, piano
Glass: works TBA
free; tickets required (waiting list)
(434) 924-3052
www.music.virginia.edu/events

April 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Nash Ensemble of London
Mozart: Flute Quartet in D major, K. 285
Johann Strauss II-Schoenberg: “Emperor” Waltz
Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 1
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115
$32
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Arts Festival:
Israel Philharmonic
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Fauré: “Pelléas et Mélisande” Suite
Ravel: “Ma Mère l’Oye” (“Mother Goose”) Suite
Ravel: “Daphnis et Chloé” Suite No. 2
Berlioz: “Symphonie fantastique”
$77-$127
(757) 282-2822
www.vafest.org

April 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Minguet Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in D major, Op. 76, No. 5
Wolfgang Rihm: Quartet No. 4 (1980-81)
Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
$35
(202) 985-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

April 3 (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 3 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Faculty Wind Quintet
Hindemith: Wind Quintet
Nielsen: Wind Quintet
Paquito d’Rivera: “Latin American” Quintet
free
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events

April 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road, Richmond
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
“Rule Britannia”
works TBA by Handel, Dowland, others
$30
(804) 519-2098
www.cmscva.org

April 4 (8 p.m.)
April 6 (2:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Virginia Opera
John DeMain conducting
Bizet: “Carmen”
Ginger Costa-Jackson (Carmen)
Dinyar Vania (Don José)
Ryan Kuster (Escamillio)
Corrine Winters (Micaela)
Matthew Scollin (Zuniga)
Hunter Enoch (Morales)
Jeni Houser (Frasquita)
Courtney Miller (Mercedes)
Tazewell Thompson, stage director
in French, English captions
$29-$111
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.vaopera.org

April 4 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
April 5 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 201 Brambleton Ave., Norfolk
April 6 (8 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
JoAnn Falletta conducting
Smetana: “The Bartered Bride” Overture
Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Michael Ludwig, violin
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”)
$22-$105
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

April 4 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Baroque Orchestra
David Sariti directing
Joseph Gascho, harpsichord
program TBA
free
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu/events

April 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Salem Civic Center, 1001 Roanoke Boulevard
Roanoke Symphony Pops
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Jeans ’n Classics
“The Music of Pink Floyd”
$29-$80
(540) 343-9127
www.rso.com

April 4 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord
Kuhnau: “The Melancholy of Saul Assuaged by Means of Music”
J.S. Bach: “Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue”
W.F. Bach: Fantasia in D minor
C.P.E. Bach: Sonata in E flat major
Martinů: “Deux Impromptus pour clavecin”
Toru Takemitsu: “Rain Dreaming”
C.P.E. Bach: Sonata in A minor (“Württemberg”)
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1314-preview.html

April 5 (noon)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Florian Deuter & Monica Waisman, baroque violins
“Seeing Double”
Leclair: Sonata in E major, Op. 12, No. 2
Pez: “Sonata Seconda” in G major from “Duplex Genius,” Op. 1
Monteverdi: “Chiome D'oro”
Leclair: Sonate V in G minor, Op. 12, No. 5
free
(804) 519-2098
www.cmscva.org

April 5 (7:30 p.m.)
Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road, Richmond
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
“Night Music”
Biber: “Serenade of the Nightwatchmen”
Purcell: “Evening Hymn”
Cherambault: “Orfee”
Vivaldi: Flute Concerto in G minor (“La Notte”)
Vivaldi: Trio Sonata in D minor (“La Folia”)
Monteverdi: “Sfogava con le stelle”
De Selma: “Canzona prima a due”
Bach: Cantata 131, “Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir”
$30
(804) 519-2098
www.cmscva.org

April 5 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
J.S. Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 1
Handel: Concerto grosso in F major, Op. 6, No. 2
C.P.E. Bach: Sinfonia in B minor
C.P.E. Bach: Concerto in E flat major oboe, strings and continuo
J.C. Bach: Symphony in G minor, Op. 6, No. 6
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1314-preview.html

April 5 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Jakub Hrusa conducting
Janáček: “The Cunning Little Vixen” Suite
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor
André Watts, piano
Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in D minor
$31-$94
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

April 6 (3 p.m.)
Cannon Memorial Chapel, University of Richmond
UR Schola Cantorum & Women’s Chorale
Second Presbyterian Church Choir
period-instruments orchestra
Jeffrey Riehl conducting
Handel: “Messiah”
Anne O’Byrne, soprano
Megan Allison Durham, mezzo-soprano
Steven Williamson, tenor
Jeremy Galyon, bass
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 6 (4 p.m.)
Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road, Richmond
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
“Cafe Zimmerman”
Quantz: Flute Concerto in G major
Vivaldi: Concerto in B minor for four violins
J.S. Bach: Concerto for two harpsichords, BWV 1061
Bach: Cantata 211, “Coffee Cantata”
$30
(804) 519-2098
www.cmscva.org

April 6 (3 p.m.)
Christ & St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 560 W. Olney Road, Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Tallis Scholars
Peter Phillips directing
program TBA
$25
(757) 282-2822
www.vafest.org

April 6 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Paul Appleby, tenor
Joshua Hopkins, baritone
Natalia Kautukova, piano
works TBA by Mozart, Rossini, Bizet, others
$45
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Takács Quartet
Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E minor (“From My Life”)
Webern: “Six Bagatelles”
Beethoven: String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 127
$36
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 7 (8 p.m.)
St. Patrick Catholic School, 1000 Bolling Ave., Norfolk
Feldman Chamber Music Society:
Leipzig String Quartet
Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D major
Stravinsky: “Three Pieces for String Quartet”
Wagner: “Albumblatt”
Bruckner: Quartet in C minor
$25
(757) 552-1630
www.feldmanchambermusic.org

April 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Cicely Parnas, cello
Noreen Polera, piano
Debussy: Cello Sonata
Messiaen: “Praise to the Eternity of Jesus” from “Quartet for the End of Time”
Cassadó: Suite for solo cello
Peter John: “From the Zodiac” (2014)
Brahms: Cello Sonata in F major, Op. 99
$35
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 8 (8 p.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg:
Leipzig String Quartet
Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D major
Stravinsky: “Three Pieces for String Quartet”
Wagner: “Albumblatt”
Bruckner: Quartet in C minor
$15 (waiting list)
(757) 229-0385
www.chambermusicwilliamsburg.org

April 8 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Takács Quartet
Beethoven: Quartet in E flat major, Op. 127
Webern: “Six Bagatelles”
Webern: “Five Movements”
Dvořák: Quartet in F major, Op. 96 (“American”)
$12-$33
(434) 924-3376
www.tecs.org

April 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Vocal Arts DC:
Iestyn Davies, countertenor
Thomas Dunford, lute
Nico Muhly: “Old Bones”
other works TBA
$50
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 8 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
Oliver Knussen directing
Lucy Schaufer, soprano
Andrew Sauvageau, baritone
Stravinsky: Septet
Knussen: “Ophelia Dances,” Book 1
Niccolo Castiglioni: “Tropi”
Ruth Crawford Seeger: “Three Songs”
Knussen: “Ophelia’s Last Dance”
Schoenberg: Serenade, Op. 24
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1314-preview.html

April 9 (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
program TBA
$7 in advance, $10 day of event
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events

April 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Kordzaia conducting
Tchaikovsky: “Capriccio Italien”
new works by UR student composers
Michael J. Maccaferri, clarinet
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 10 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Yin Zheng, piano
Daisuke Yamamoto, violin
Ralph Skiano, clarinet
“Journey to Eastern Europe”
works TBA by Lutoslawski, Bartók, Khachaturian
free
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events

April 10 (7 p.m.)
April 11 (8 p.m.)
April 12 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
James Conlon conducting
Zemlinsky: “Seejungfrau”
Korngold: Violin Concerto
Gil Shaham, violin
Brahms: “Variations on a Theme by Haydn”
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 10 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Amphion String Quartet
Pierre Jalbert: “Visual Abstract”
Elliott Carter: “Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux II”
Jörg Widmann: Fantasie for solo clarinet
Einojuhani Rautavaara: String Quintet No. 2 (“Variations for Five”) (premiere)
Messiaen: “Quartet for the End of Time”
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1314-preview.html

April 10 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Itzhak Perlman conducting
Beethoven: romances Nos. 1, 2
Itzhak Perlman, violin
Mozart: Symphony No. 27 in G major, K. 199
Berlioz: “Symphonie fantastique”
$31-$94
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

April 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Commonwealth Singers
Choral Arts Society
Rebecca Tyree & Jay Beville directing
works TBA by Bach, Faure, Rautavaara, Eric Whitacre, Libby Larsen, others
$7 in advance, $10 day of event
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events

April 11 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
April 12 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 201 Brambleton Ave., Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Pops
Benjamin Rous conducting
“PIXAR in Concert”
$22-$90
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

April 11 (8 p.m.)
April 13 (2 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Virginia Opera
John DeMain conducting
Bizet: “Carmen”
Ginger Costa-Jackson (Carmen)
Dinyar Vania (Don José)
Ryan Kuster (Escamillio)
Corrine Winters (Micaela)
Matthew Scollin (Zuniga)
Hunter Enoch (Morales)
Jeni Houser (Frasquita)
Courtney Miller (Mercedes)
Tazewell Thompson, stage director
in French, English captions
$44-$98
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.vaopera.org

April 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Louis Lortie, piano
Chopin: waltzes, Op. 34
Chopin: Ballade in F major/A minor, Op. 38
Chopin: waltzes, Op. 70
Chopin: Ballade in F minor, Op. 52
Wagner-Lortie: Prelude from “Tristan und Isolde”
Wagner-Liszt: “Liebestod” from “Tristan und Isolde”
Wagner-Liszt: “Tannhäuser” Overture
$49
(202) 985-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

April 11 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
Alexandra Woods, violin
Ulrich Heinen, cello
Huw Watkins, piano
Britten: “Phantasy,” op. 2
Elliott Carter: “Epigrams”
Marc Neikrug: Piano Trio (premiere)
Oliver Knussen: Cantata (Triptych, part 3)
Frank Bridge: Piano Trio No. 2
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1314-preview.html

April 12 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Sarah Kate Walston, soprano
pianist TBA
art songs, musical theater songs TBA
free
(804) 646-7223
www.richmondpubliclibrary.org

April 12 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 520 N. Boulevard, Richmond
Virginia Commonwealth University Women’s Choir
Richmond Women’s Choir
Rebecca Tyree & Darryl Waller directing
Paul Carey: “Cantigas de Amigo”
Carey: “The City of Heaven”
free
(804) 358-4771
www.monumentcitymusic.org

April 12 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Rennolds Chamber Concerts:
Leila Josefowicz, violin
John Novacek, piano
Schubert: Sonata in A major, D. 574
Stravinsky: “Duo Concertante”
Stravinsky: “Chanson Russe”
György Kurtág: “Tre Pezzi”
Schubert: Rondo in B minor, D. 895
$34
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events

April 12 (8 p.m.)
Altria (formerly Landmark) Theater, Main and Laurel streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Brent Havens conducting
Brody Dolyniuk, vocalist
“Windbourne’s Music of The Stones”
Rolling Stones songs TBA in symphonic arrangements by Havens
$25-$60
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

April 12 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
University Singers
orchestra
Michael Slon conducting
Handel: “Messiah”
Christina Pier, soprano
Cherry Duke, mezzo-soprano
Randall Black, tenor
David Newman, bass
$5-$15
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu/events

April 12 (2 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
U.S. Marine Band (“The President’s Own”)
Col. Michael J. Colburn directing
Stravinsky: “Symphonies of Wind Instruments” (1920 version)
Peter Lieberson: “Wind Messengers”
Elliott Carter: “Wind Rose”
Gunther Schuller: “Tre Invenzioni”
Sibelius-Stravinsky: Canzonetta
Mozart: Serenade in B flat major, K. 361 (“Gran Partita”)
free; no tickets required
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1314-preview.html

April 12 (8 p.m.)
April 13 (3 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
National Philharmonic & Chorale
Stan Engebretson conducting
J.S. Bach: Mass in B minor
Rosa Lamoreaux, soprano
Magdalena Wór, mezzo-soprano
Matthew Smith, tenor
Christopher Nomura, baritone
$28-$84
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org

April 13 (4 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Zakir Hussain & Masters of Percussion
Indian classical works TBA
$20-$65
(202) 985-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

April 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano
Christopher Cano, piano
program TBA
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 15 (7:30 p.m.)
First Lutheran Church, 1301 Colley Ave., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Juilliard 415
Juilliard Opera members
William Christie conducting
Marc-Antoine Charpentier: “Actéon”
cast TBA
in French
$30
(757) 282-2822
www.vafest.org

April 17 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa New Music Ensemble
I-Jen Fang directing
Philip Glass: “Music with Changing Parts”
Frederic Rzewski: “Holes”
Morton Feldman: “Durations 2”
Kevin Davis: “Suite for Improvisers”
James Tenney: “Harmonium”
free
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu/events

April 17 (7 p.m.)
April 18 (8 p.m.)
April 19 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Cornelius Meister conducting
Mendelssohn: “Calm Seas and Prosperous Voyage” Overture
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
Nikolai Lugansky, piano
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 18 (3:30 p.m.)
grounds of University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Judith Shatin, Paul Turowski & Joe Adkins, composers-performers
wind ensemble
Shatin: “Being in Time” work for interactive electronics, video and winds
free
(434) 924-3052
www.music.virginia.edu/events

April 19 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 201 Brambleton Ave., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
orchestra
Richard Kaufmann conducting
Stewart Copeland’s “Orchestral Ben Hur”
1925 silent film accompanied by live orchestra
$20-$60
(757) 282-2822
www.vafest.org

April 19 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Peter Spaar, double-bass
pianist TBA
Eccles: Sonata in G minor
Hindemith: Sonata for double-bass and piano
Bottesini: Elegy
Spaar: original works TBA
Burtner: “Falls”
$15
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu/events

April 21 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR student chamber ensembles
program TBA
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

April 21 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Augustin Hadelich, violin
Pablo Villegas, guitar
André Previn: Tango
Rodrigo: “Invocation and Dance”
De Falla: “Five Popular Songs”
Ginastera: “Danzas Argentinas” No. 2
Previn: Song
Piazzolla: “L’Histoire du tango”
Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 6 for solo violin
Previn: Dance
Villa-Lobos: “Bachianas Brasileiras” No. 5
$32
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 23 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Hilary Hahn, violin
Cory Smythe, piano
Schoenberg: “Phantasy,” Op. 47
Mozart: violin sonata TBA
Schubert: Fantasia in C major, D. 934
Telemann: Fantasia No. 6 in E minor for solo violin
Antón García Abril: “Three Sighs”
Richard Barrett: “Shade”
$35-$105
(202) 985-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

April 24 (7 p.m.)
April 26 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä conducting
Sibelius: Symphony No. 3
Kalevi Aho: Clarinet Concerto
Martin Fröst, clarinet
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 (“Italian”)
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 24 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
Daniel Müller-Schott, cello
Simon Trpčeski, piano
Beethoven: Sonata in C major, Op. 102, No. 1
Brahms: Sonata in F major, Op. 99
Chopin: Sonata in G minor, Op. 65
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/1314-preview.html

April 25 (7:30 p.m.)
April 27 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Opera
VCU Symphony
Daniel Myssyk conducting
conductor TBA
Léhar: “The Merry Widow”
cast TBA
Melanie Day & Kenneth Wood, co-directors
in English
$10
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events

April 25 (8 p.m.)
Williamsburg Presbyterian Church, 215 Richmond Road
April 26 (8 p.m.)
First Presbyterian Church, 300 36th St., Virginia Beach
April 27 (4 p.m.)
Royster Memorial Presbyterian Church, 6901 Newport Ave., Norfolk
Virginia Chorale
Charles Woodward directing
Clay Bradshaw, percussion
Bob Chillicott: “The Making of the Drum”
Eriks Esenvald: “Northern Lights”
Daniel Elders: “Three Themes of Life & Love”
Gershwin: “I Got Rhythm”
Moses Hogan: “Hold On!”
Janika Vandervelde: “O Viridissima Virga”
Ernst Toch: “Geographical Fugue”
$15
(757) 627-8375
www.vachorale.org

April 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Martinsville High School Auditorium, 351 Commonwealth Boulevard East
Virginia Symphony
Benjamin Rous conducting
Mozart: “The Marriage of Figaro” Overture
Adolphus Hailstork: Violin Concerto
Brendon Elliott, violin
Debussy: “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”
Gershwin: “An American in Paris”
$18-$25
(276) 276-3221 (Piedmont Arts)
www.piedmontarts.org

April 25 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Chamber Singers
Michael Slon directing
program TBA
free
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu/events

April 25 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä conducting
“Beyond the Score: Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 – Why Italy?”
multimedia introduction and orchestra performance
$10-$50
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 25 (8:15 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
“Off the Cuff: Mahler’s Titan”
discussion and performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1
$39-$73
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

April 26 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Treble Choir of Greater Richmond Children’s Choir
director TBA
“Lyrics, Laughter & Learning!”
program TBA
free
(804) 201-1894
www.grcc.org

April 26 (7 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River and Ridge roads, Richmond
April 27 (5 p.m.)
Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road, Richmond
James River Singers
David Pedersen directing
Benjamin Broening: “Seasons”
works TBA by Adolphus Hailstork, Allan Blank, James Erb, Undine Smith Moore, Richard Waters, Jeffrey Riehl
$15
(804) 814-5446
www.jamesriversingers.org

April 26 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
April 27 (4 p.m.)
MLK Performing Arts Center, Charlottesville High School, 1400 Melbourne Road
Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra
Kate Tamarkin conducting
Mussorgsky: “Triumphal March” from “Mlada”
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503
Anne-Marie McDermott, piano
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
$10-$40
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu/events

April 26 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Virginia Symphony
Benjamin Rous conducting
Natalie Cole, vocalist
Brendon Elliott, violin
program TBA
$110-$150, includes pre- and post-concert events
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

April 26 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Fairfax Symphony
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
$25-$60
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.fairfaxsymphony.org

April 27 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Virginia Symphony
Benjamin Rous conducting
Mozart: “The Marriage of Figaro” Overture
Adolphus Hailstork: Violin Concerto
Brendon Elliott, violin
Debussy: “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”
Gershwin: “An American in Paris”
$22-$74
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

April 27 (8 p.m.)
Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre, Orange Avenue at Williamson Road
Roanoke Symphony
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B minor (“Unfinished”)
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
$29-$52
(540) 343-9127
www.rso.com

April 27 (7 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Jeffrey Siegel, piano
“Keyboard Conversations: Mistresses and Masterpieces”
works TBA by Brahms, Schumann, Liszt
$19-$38
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
http://cfa.gmu.edu

April 27 (5 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Choral Arts Society of Washington
Scott Tucker directing
“Tango! Soul and Heart”
Ginastera: “Lamentations of Jeremiah”
“Misa Tango”
$15-$75
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

April 27 (6 p.m.)
Lisner Auditorium, George Washington University, 21st and H streets NW, Washington
Peabody Chamber Orchestra
Rob Kapilow, narrator
“Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ – What Makes It Great?”
discussion and performance
$20
(202) 985-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

April 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Attucks Theatre, 1010 Church St., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Eastern Virginia Brass
Deihn Chorale
I. Sherman Greene Chorale
Schola Cantorum
director TBA
Adolphus Hailstork: “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” (premiere)
other works TBA
$5
(757) 282-2822
www.vafest.org

April 29 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Yevgeny Sudbin, piano
Scarlatti: 4 sonatas
Shostakovich: 3 preludes
Rachmaninoff: 3 preludes
Scriabin: Sonata No. 5
Scriabin: Sonata No. 9 (“Black Mass”)
Mozart-Sudbin: Lacrimosa from Requiem
Chopin-Sudbin: “À la Minute” (paraphrase on Chopin’s “Minute” Waltz)
$12-$33
(434) 924-3376
www.tecs.org

April 29 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano
Mendelssohn: “Andante and Rondo capriccioso,” Op. 14
Schubert: Impromptu in G flat major, Op. 90, No. 3
Schumann: Humoreske in B flat major, Op. 20
Mompou: “Paisajes”
Medtner: “Fairy Tales,” Op. 51, No. 3; Op. 14, No. 2 (“March of Paladin”)
Ravel: “Valses nobles et sentimentales”
Johann Strauss II: “On the Beautiful Blue Danube”
$49
(202) 985-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

April 30 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Ryan Brown, violin
Olivier Baumont & Andrew Appel, harpsichords
“A Celebration of Rameau, Part 1: The Salon”
Rameau: suite TBA
Rameau: “Pièces de clavecin en concert” (excerpts)
Rameau: “Les Indes Galantes” (selections)
$60
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org