Thursday, October 30, 2014
Maazel retrospective
“Lorin Maazel: His Life and Music,” a retrospective on the eminent conductor from the Society for Ethical Culture in New York, will be streamed live on Oct. 31 on the website of the Castleton Festival, the event that Maazel and his wife, Dietlinde Turban Maazel, founded in 2009 at their estate in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
The conductor died in July, in the midst of the 2014 festival.
The online broadcast will begin at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time (1630 UTC/GMT) here:
http://www.castletonfestival.org/
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Review: Chamber Music Society
Oct. 27, Bon Air Presbyterian Church
In preparation for its 10th anniversary season, the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia polled its patrons on their favorite music. Music from Vienna topped the poll, so the society launched its new season with Viennese and related – sometimes rather distantly related – repertory.
I couldn’t make it to “Neo-Vienna,” an Oct. 25 program at the Richmond Public Library that sampled contemporary takes on Viennese tradition and style. The subsequent offering, “Austro-Hungarian Waltz,” proved to be a wide-ranging, at times thrilling, survey of Viennese classicism, romanticism and modernism, with a couple of echoes from contemporary composers.
The anchor of the program was Haydn’s Quartet in C major, Op. 76, No. 3, known as the “Emperor” from theme of its adagio, which became known in Haydn’s time as the “Emperor’s Hymn” and several generations later as “Deutschland über alles.” Violinists Guillaume Pirard and Nurit Pacht, violist Melissa Reardon and cellist James Wilson (artistic director of the society) played the quartet with extraordinary energy and dynamism. The music’s elegance remained intact, but in an interpretive context far different from that of “standard” 18th-century classical performance.
The difference was most pronounced in the opening allegro and concluding presto. These outer movements were played with headlong propulsiveness and slashing accents, vividly anticpating the energy and intensity levels of Beethoven. Haydn’s menuetto was treated to an earthy reading, underlining its roots in the Ländler, the Central European hill-country folk dance that was the ancestor of the minuet and waltz. Only the “Emperor” theme and variations fell short in this performance, played a bit too briskly and consequently sounding too glib.
The string players made a comparably strong impression in the allegro agitato movement of Brahms’ Quartet in B flat major, Op. 67, part of “Evolution of the Waltz,” a medley of dance works by Viennese composers works, from Mozart to Schoenberg. Schmidt gave a well-paced and detailed performance of Schoenberg’s “Six Short Pieces,” Op. 19, concluding the waltz medley. Despite his best efforts, it sounded quite anti-climactic after the surging Brahms quartet performance.
The four fiddlers, joined by pianist Carsten Schmidt and organist Stephen Henley, polished a neglected gem in Schoenberg’s arrangement of “Roses from the South,” one of the most sumptuous of the waltzes of Johann Strauss II.
Flutist Mary Boodell, Schmidt and the string foursome, led by Pirard, delved into another dance style popular in old Vienna, the gypsy dance, in a technically dazzling, rhetorically florid reading of Franz Doppler’s “Pastoral Fantasy in the Hungarian Style.”
The contemporary pieces were “Moz-art” (1978) by the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke, a broadly humorous, at times almost slapstick, send-up of Viennese classical style and compositional technique, played for maximum humor and display of technique by violinists Pacht and Pirard (the former also whistling); and “mozart-adagio” (1992) by Arvo Pärt, a piano-trio fantasy on the the adagio from Mozart’s Piano Sonata in F major, K. 280, that doesn’t so much gild Mozart’s lily as subject it to fun-house mirror distortions. Pirard, Wilson and Schmidt realized Pärt’s often rarified effects nicely and clearly echoed Mozart whenever they could.
In preparation for its 10th anniversary season, the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia polled its patrons on their favorite music. Music from Vienna topped the poll, so the society launched its new season with Viennese and related – sometimes rather distantly related – repertory.
I couldn’t make it to “Neo-Vienna,” an Oct. 25 program at the Richmond Public Library that sampled contemporary takes on Viennese tradition and style. The subsequent offering, “Austro-Hungarian Waltz,” proved to be a wide-ranging, at times thrilling, survey of Viennese classicism, romanticism and modernism, with a couple of echoes from contemporary composers.
The anchor of the program was Haydn’s Quartet in C major, Op. 76, No. 3, known as the “Emperor” from theme of its adagio, which became known in Haydn’s time as the “Emperor’s Hymn” and several generations later as “Deutschland über alles.” Violinists Guillaume Pirard and Nurit Pacht, violist Melissa Reardon and cellist James Wilson (artistic director of the society) played the quartet with extraordinary energy and dynamism. The music’s elegance remained intact, but in an interpretive context far different from that of “standard” 18th-century classical performance.
The difference was most pronounced in the opening allegro and concluding presto. These outer movements were played with headlong propulsiveness and slashing accents, vividly anticpating the energy and intensity levels of Beethoven. Haydn’s menuetto was treated to an earthy reading, underlining its roots in the Ländler, the Central European hill-country folk dance that was the ancestor of the minuet and waltz. Only the “Emperor” theme and variations fell short in this performance, played a bit too briskly and consequently sounding too glib.
The string players made a comparably strong impression in the allegro agitato movement of Brahms’ Quartet in B flat major, Op. 67, part of “Evolution of the Waltz,” a medley of dance works by Viennese composers works, from Mozart to Schoenberg. Schmidt gave a well-paced and detailed performance of Schoenberg’s “Six Short Pieces,” Op. 19, concluding the waltz medley. Despite his best efforts, it sounded quite anti-climactic after the surging Brahms quartet performance.
The four fiddlers, joined by pianist Carsten Schmidt and organist Stephen Henley, polished a neglected gem in Schoenberg’s arrangement of “Roses from the South,” one of the most sumptuous of the waltzes of Johann Strauss II.
Flutist Mary Boodell, Schmidt and the string foursome, led by Pirard, delved into another dance style popular in old Vienna, the gypsy dance, in a technically dazzling, rhetorically florid reading of Franz Doppler’s “Pastoral Fantasy in the Hungarian Style.”
The contemporary pieces were “Moz-art” (1978) by the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke, a broadly humorous, at times almost slapstick, send-up of Viennese classical style and compositional technique, played for maximum humor and display of technique by violinists Pacht and Pirard (the former also whistling); and “mozart-adagio” (1992) by Arvo Pärt, a piano-trio fantasy on the the adagio from Mozart’s Piano Sonata in F major, K. 280, that doesn’t so much gild Mozart’s lily as subject it to fun-house mirror distortions. Pirard, Wilson and Schmidt realized Pärt’s often rarified effects nicely and clearly echoed Mozart whenever they could.
Letter V Classical Radio this week
Spook-prep for the day before Halloween, including the rarely heard, extra hair-raising choral version of Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain.”
Oct. 30
noon-2 p.m. EDT
1600-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org
Zelenka: Trio Sonata No. 4 in G minor
Heinz Holliger & Maurice Bourgue, oboes; Klaus Thunemann, bassoon; Klaus Stoll, double-bass; Christiane Jaccottet, harpsichord (ECM)
Mussorgsky: “St. John’s Night on the Bare Mountain”
Anatoli Kotcherga, bass-baritone
Berlin Radio Choir; South Tyrol Children’s Choir
Berlin Philharmonic/
Claudio Abbado
(Sony Classical)
Schubert: “Erlkönig”
(orchestration by Max Reger)
Thomas Quasthoff, baritone
Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon)
Liszt: “Totentanz”
Jorge Bolet, piano
London Symphony Orchestra/Iván Fischer (Deutsche Grammophon)
J.S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
George Ritchie, organ (Raven)
Past Masters:
Tartini: Sonata in G minor (“The Devil’s Trill”)
David Oistrakh, violin; Vladimir Yampolsky, piano (EMI Classics)
(recorded 1956)
Dukas: “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Jesús López-Cobos (Telarc)
Boccherini: Sinfonia in D minor, Op. 12, No. 4 (“La casa del diavolo”)
Il Giardino Armonico/Giovanni Antonini (Naïve)
Friday, October 24, 2014
Christopher Falzone (1985-2014)
Christopher Falzone, the Richmond-bred piano prodigy who became an internationally celebrated virtuoso, died on Oct. 21 in Geneva, Switzerland. He was 29.
Falzone, who grew up in the suburbs of Richmond, won the Young Musicians Foundation Competition when he was 8 years old, and the following year performed in a televised concert as the soloist in the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Disney Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra. He went on to win numerous honors and perform internationally.
Joanne Kong, the Richmond pianist who taught Falzone from the age of 4 until his late teen years, said, “He was one of the most remarkably gifted young pianists with whom I’ve worked. What was most striking to me was his ability to communicate with an audience, and his ability to get to the essence of the music. That’s something you can’t teach.”
After graduating from Monacan High School in Chesterfield County, Falzone enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where his principal teachers were Leon Fleisher and Claude Frank. He graduated from Curtis in 2008. Fleisher said of Falzone, “[T]here is scarcely anything beyond his means and his musical awarenesses.”
In 2004, he was the recipient of a $15,000 Gilmore Young Artist Award. In 2009, he was a gold medalist in the fourth International Piano Competition in Memory of Emil Gilels at the Odessa National A. V. Nezhdanova Academy of Music in Ukraine and winner of the Martha Argerich Les Virtuoses du Future competition in Switzerland. In 2010, he won the Grand Prix International Piano Competition: XX-XXI Century in Orléans, France.
Falzone performed as a recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with many orchestras in the United States and Europe.
He appeared several times as a soloist with the Richmond Symphony, most recently in 2005, playing Mozart’s “Coronation” Concerto (No. 26).
He also was a composer and arranger, notably of solo-piano versions of piano concertos and chamber works.
Here is a video, posted in 2013, of Christopher Falzone performing his solo transcription of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh0BALM_DZY
And a 2012 posting of his remarkable concert performance of Beethoven’s “Appassionata” Sonata (in F minor, Op. 57):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8TMkeQVZZA
* * *
POSTSCRIPT (Oct. 28): There is a dismaying array of conflicting views circulating online regarding the circumstances leading to the death of Christopher Falzone. None strike me as pertinent, except to those who were close to him; and the discussion is taking a voyeuristic turn that does no service to his artistic legacy. He was a brilliant pianist with extraordinary musical sensibility. He died too soon. Enough said.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Music Alive residency in Richmond
The Richmond Symphony is one of 12 recipients in the latest round of $7,500 grants from the Music Alive program of the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA, which finances one-week residencies by composers with small- and mid-market U.S. orchestras. The Richmond grant is for a residency by composer Laura Schwendinger in the 2015-16 season.
Schwendinger, a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, was the first composer to win the American Academy in Berlin Prize. Her works have been performed by the American Composers Orchestra, soprano Dawn Upshaw, violinist Janine Jansen, cellist Matt Haimovitz, the JACK Quartet and other leading artists.
The composer’s Richmond residency will feature a performance of her “Waking Dream” (2009) for flute and chamber orchestra.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Letter V Classical Radio this week
Oct. 23
noon-2 p.m. EDT
1600-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org
Haydn: Symphony No. 93 in D major
Les Musiciens du Louvre, Grenoble/Marc Minkowski
(Naïve)
Ligeti: Quartet No. 1 (“Métamorphoses nocturnes”)
Hagen Quartet
(Deutsche Grammophon)
Berlioz: “Lélio” – “Fantasia on Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ ”
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Michael Tilson Thomas
(RCA Victor)
Past Masters:
Mahler: Symphony No. 1
in D major
Czech Philharmonic/
Karel Ančerl
(Supraphon)
(recorded 1964)
Dvořák: “Silent Woods”
Alisa Weilerstein, cello;
Anna Polonsky, piano
(Decca)
noon-2 p.m. EDT
1600-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org
Haydn: Symphony No. 93 in D major
Les Musiciens du Louvre, Grenoble/Marc Minkowski
(Naïve)
Ligeti: Quartet No. 1 (“Métamorphoses nocturnes”)
Hagen Quartet
(Deutsche Grammophon)
Berlioz: “Lélio” – “Fantasia on Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ ”
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Michael Tilson Thomas
(RCA Victor)
Past Masters:
Mahler: Symphony No. 1
in D major
Czech Philharmonic/
Karel Ančerl
(Supraphon)
(recorded 1964)
Dvořák: “Silent Woods”
Alisa Weilerstein, cello;
Anna Polonsky, piano
(Decca)
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Review: Richmond Symphony
with soloists, Richmond Symphony Chorus
Steven Smith conducting
Oct. 18, Richmond CenterStage
Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony (No. 2) may be the most challenging work that Steven Smith has undertaken in his four years (and counting) as music director of the Richmond Symphony.
The piece is long, lasting about an hour and 20 minutes. Its big outer movements, veering between tempestuous and softly lyrical, at times otherworldly, passages, can seem episodic or internally disjointed. It is scored for a very large orchestra, with double or triple the standard complements of winds, brass and percussion, including several offstage ensembles, with chorus, organ and two vocal soloists in its conclusion.
So, the Mahler Second is an epic job of traffic control for the conductor. All the more so with an orchestra, like Richmond’s, that must bring in a large number of extra players to muster a band of this size, meaning that the conductor must meld an ensemble from musicians not used to playing together.
Moreover, this is not a piece that speaks fluently if you just play and sing the notes. It is more spiritually charged than many overtly religious works; and it requires deep immersion in Austro-German romantic style, especially the long arcs of phrasing and expression that are uniquely characteristic of this style.
In the first of two performances of the “Resurrection,” Smith showed a firm grasp of most of the demands this music makes. He paced the symphony unerringly, and with great sensitivity to its extraordinary dynamic range, from earth-shatteringly loud to a level of quiet that is almost sensed more than heard. He maintained fine balance between string sections not much larger than the orchestra’s usual complement and oversized wind and percussion sections. He obtained idiomatically Viennese waltz tempos in the second and third movements.
The only shortcoming was a slackening of tension in quiet sections, especially in the first movement, “Totenfeier,” a sprawling funeral march that, along the way, poses a query in tone: “Wherefore hast thou lived? Wherefore hast thou suffered? Is it all some great, fearful joke?” The questions are posed in lyrical music, but need to retain some audible edge.
The orchestra performed splendidly, both en masse and in solos and ensembles. An 11-member French horn section paced the band in expressive sonority. The percussion section, with two sets of timpani and plentifully employed bass drum and cymbals, was suitably emphatic but never coarsely loud. Lower strings sounded with impact and plenty of bite. English horn player Shawn Welk, oboist Gustav Highstein, flutist Mary Boodell, trombonist John Sipher and violinist Daisuke Yamamoto contributed characterful solos.
Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Feinstein proved to be an ideal Mahler singer in “Urlicht,” the solo song preceding the symphony’s “Resurrection” finale, and blended beautifully with a richly sonorous soprano, Michelle Areyzaga, in that finale.
The Richmond Symphony Chorus, prepared by Erin R. Freeman, was in generally fine fettle but sounded distant, as it usually does when pushed to the back of the Carpenter Theatre stage and fronted by a large orchestra. The male choristers’ exclamatory passages, more than faintly echoing Wagner’s “Tannhäuser,” projected better than massed choral sections.
A performance of great concentration and gripping tonal drama was rewarded with a lengthy ovation.
The program repeats at 3 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Carpenter Theatre of Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets. Tickets: $10-$78. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); www.richmondsymphony.com
Steven Smith conducting
Oct. 18, Richmond CenterStage
Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony (No. 2) may be the most challenging work that Steven Smith has undertaken in his four years (and counting) as music director of the Richmond Symphony.
The piece is long, lasting about an hour and 20 minutes. Its big outer movements, veering between tempestuous and softly lyrical, at times otherworldly, passages, can seem episodic or internally disjointed. It is scored for a very large orchestra, with double or triple the standard complements of winds, brass and percussion, including several offstage ensembles, with chorus, organ and two vocal soloists in its conclusion.
So, the Mahler Second is an epic job of traffic control for the conductor. All the more so with an orchestra, like Richmond’s, that must bring in a large number of extra players to muster a band of this size, meaning that the conductor must meld an ensemble from musicians not used to playing together.
Moreover, this is not a piece that speaks fluently if you just play and sing the notes. It is more spiritually charged than many overtly religious works; and it requires deep immersion in Austro-German romantic style, especially the long arcs of phrasing and expression that are uniquely characteristic of this style.
In the first of two performances of the “Resurrection,” Smith showed a firm grasp of most of the demands this music makes. He paced the symphony unerringly, and with great sensitivity to its extraordinary dynamic range, from earth-shatteringly loud to a level of quiet that is almost sensed more than heard. He maintained fine balance between string sections not much larger than the orchestra’s usual complement and oversized wind and percussion sections. He obtained idiomatically Viennese waltz tempos in the second and third movements.
The only shortcoming was a slackening of tension in quiet sections, especially in the first movement, “Totenfeier,” a sprawling funeral march that, along the way, poses a query in tone: “Wherefore hast thou lived? Wherefore hast thou suffered? Is it all some great, fearful joke?” The questions are posed in lyrical music, but need to retain some audible edge.
The orchestra performed splendidly, both en masse and in solos and ensembles. An 11-member French horn section paced the band in expressive sonority. The percussion section, with two sets of timpani and plentifully employed bass drum and cymbals, was suitably emphatic but never coarsely loud. Lower strings sounded with impact and plenty of bite. English horn player Shawn Welk, oboist Gustav Highstein, flutist Mary Boodell, trombonist John Sipher and violinist Daisuke Yamamoto contributed characterful solos.
Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Feinstein proved to be an ideal Mahler singer in “Urlicht,” the solo song preceding the symphony’s “Resurrection” finale, and blended beautifully with a richly sonorous soprano, Michelle Areyzaga, in that finale.
The Richmond Symphony Chorus, prepared by Erin R. Freeman, was in generally fine fettle but sounded distant, as it usually does when pushed to the back of the Carpenter Theatre stage and fronted by a large orchestra. The male choristers’ exclamatory passages, more than faintly echoing Wagner’s “Tannhäuser,” projected better than massed choral sections.
A performance of great concentration and gripping tonal drama was rewarded with a lengthy ovation.
The program repeats at 3 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Carpenter Theatre of Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets. Tickets: $10-$78. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); www.richmondsymphony.com
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Letter V Classical Radio this week
Oct. 16
noon-2 p.m. EDT
1600-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org
D.J. Sparr: “Woodlawn Drive”
New Music Raleigh (Centaur)
Bartók: “Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta”
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Boulez (Deutsche Grammophon)
Rachmaninoff: Étude-tableaux in B minor, Op. 39, No. 4; Élegie in E flat minor, Op. 3, No. 1; Étude-tableaux in E flat minor, Op. 39, No. 5
Yuja Wang, piano (Deutsche Grammophon)
Beethoven: “Leonore” Overture No. 1
Tonhalle Orchestra, Zürich/David Zinman (Arte Nova)
Past Masters:
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor
Berlin Philharmonic/
Eugen Jochum (Deutsche Grammophon)
(recorded 1953)
Domenico Scarlatti: sonatas in F minor, K. 386-387
Mikhail Pletnev, piano (Virgin Classics)
noon-2 p.m. EDT
1600-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org
D.J. Sparr: “Woodlawn Drive”
New Music Raleigh (Centaur)
Bartók: “Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta”
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Boulez (Deutsche Grammophon)
Rachmaninoff: Étude-tableaux in B minor, Op. 39, No. 4; Élegie in E flat minor, Op. 3, No. 1; Étude-tableaux in E flat minor, Op. 39, No. 5
Yuja Wang, piano (Deutsche Grammophon)
Beethoven: “Leonore” Overture No. 1
Tonhalle Orchestra, Zürich/David Zinman (Arte Nova)
Past Masters:
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor
Berlin Philharmonic/
Eugen Jochum (Deutsche Grammophon)
(recorded 1953)
Domenico Scarlatti: sonatas in F minor, K. 386-387
Mikhail Pletnev, piano (Virgin Classics)
Friday, October 10, 2014
Likes and dislikes
Norman Lebrecht, on his Slipped Disc blog, invited readers to list the top 10 composers or works they never wanted to hear again and those they considered worthy of more exposure. I couldn’t resist joining in the fun.
Scroll down to comments for my and others’ honor rolls:
http://slippedisc.com/2014/10/10-works-or-composers-we-need-to-hear-more/
And my and others’ dishonor rolls:
http://slippedisc.com/2014/10/10-works-you-never-want-to-hear-again/
Begging the question, “Who cares if you listen?” (borrowing the title given a Milton Babbitt commentary on another issue)? Perhaps. Or maybe it’s useful to know the likes and dislikes of those of us who publicly assess musical performances.
As a reviewer, I try to take music as it comes, whatever it is – with one exception.
That would be No. 1 on my dishonor roll: Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony. I have heard it played by some of the greatest orchestras and conductors (starting with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra, in concert in the 1960s), and I have always loathed it. So, when I retired from doing music journalism for money, I granted myself the privilege of never again having to endure the piece.
Is the “Pathétique” a masterpiece? Yes.
Should you trust any judgment I would make about a performance of it? No, and you won’t have occasion to.
UPDATE (Oct. 11): Conductor Leonard Slatkin weighs in:
http://slippedisc.com/2014/10/10-works-a-maestro-doesnt-need-to-conduct-again/
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Letter V Classical Radio this week
A show full of new recordings, including a potent reading of Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto by Leif Ove Andsnes, the Violin Concerto that Richmond-bred Mason Bates composed for Anne Akiko Meyers and piano discoveries from Tchaikovsky, Wagner and Bach-by-way-of-Brahms . . .
Oct. 9
noon-2 p.m. EDT
1600-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org
J.S. Bach: Partita in D minor, BWV 1004 – Chaconne
(arranged for piano left-hand by Johannes Brahms)
Leon Fleisher, piano
(Bridge)
Bates: Violin Concerto
Anne Akiko Meyers, violin
London Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin
(eOne Music)
Tchaikovsky: Dumka in C minor (“Russian Rustic Scene”),
Op. 59
Lada Valešová, piano
(Avie)
Wagner: “Sonata for Mathilde Wesendonck”
Llyr Williams, piano
(Signum Classics)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major (“Emperor”)
Leif Ove Andsnes,
piano & director
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
(Sony Classical)
traditional:
“Five Sheep, Four Goats”
Danish String Quartet
(Dacapo)
Monday, October 6, 2014
Atlanta Symphony: How many care?
Howard Pousner of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution summarizes an interview with Douglas Hertz, chairman of the board of the Woodruff Arts Center, corporate parent of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, whose musicians have been locked out over a contract dispute since Sept. 7:
http://artsculture.blog.ajc.com/2014/10/04/woodruff-arts-center-board-leader-takes-stands-on-atlanta-symphony-crisis/
Some of Hertz’s comments, especially his wondering aloud whether the orchestra’s musicians are “a bunch of crazy people” and his remark that ASO Music Director Robert Spano, who protested the lockout, “hasn’t been particularly constructive to this point,” have provoked quite a backlash, at home and elsewhere.
For example, here’s the reaction of orchestra administrative watchdog Drew McManus, on his blog Adapistration:
http://www.adaptistration.com/blog/2014/10/06/things-get-crazy-in-atlanta/
Hertz, unfortunately, does not address the statistic that compensation of ASO musicians amounts to about 25 percent of the orchestra’s budget, a substantially lower percentage than spending on musicians by comparably sized orchestras. That’s a key data point in comments from writers whom Hertz dismisses as “journalists who want to take the musicians’ side.”
To me, Hertz’s most telling comment is that “less than 5,000 donors in a metropolitan area of 5 million” support the orchestra. “If the public cared[,] maybe we wouldn’t be in this stituation.”
By comparison, the Richmond Symphony, performing in a market one-fifth the size of metro Atlanta, had about 1,250 individual, corporate, foundation and government donors in the 2013-14 fiscal year. (There were additional matching gifts.)
I find Hertz’s equation questionable. The orchestra’s relatively small donor pool may reflect public indifference; or it may be the result of not effectively reaching out to the public.
The only financial angels Hertz mentions are those who’ve donated or raised millions. How many of the less than 5,000 are small donors ($1,000 or less), and how much effort goes into soliciting their gifts?
Some professional fund-raisers question the tangible value of small donations – soliciting them may cost more than the solicitation raises. But there’s the intangible value: The more stakeholders an institution has in its community, the more credible its claim that the community cares about it. Big donors notice whether small donors care, so the intangible can translate into the tangible.
And when the crunch comes, as it obviously has in Atlanta, the more people literally invested in the institution, the brighter the prospects for a resolution of the crisis.
Buzzed on classics
OC Weekly’s Chris Walker and friend, attending a “Classically Cannabis” concert by the Colorado Symphony, find out whether marijuana intensifies the experience of classical music:
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/2014/10/does_classical_music_sound_better_when_youre_high.php
Judging by the comments following the article (“Your mom looks better when I’m high,” etc.), I wouldn’t bank on buzzed 20-somethings filling up empty seats at orchestra concerts.
(via www.artsjournal.com)
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Review: 'Sweeney Todd'
Virginia Opera
Adam Turner conducting
Oct. 3, Richmond CenterStage
Whether you think of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” as a quasi-opera or an operetta or a Broadway musical, it’s proving to be a terrific vehicle to launch the 40th anniversary season of Virginia Opera. The show packs a dramatic punch, garnished with titillation, and its cast of singing actors, from the stars to the choristers, perform like true believers. It earned the cheering ovation that erupted after the first of two Richmond presentations.
Stephen Powell plays the title character, a London barber intent on avenging his unjust transportation to the penal colony of Australia by a corrupt judge who lusted after Sweeney’s wife and now plans to possess the Todds’ daughter, Johanna, by marriage. Powell very effectively portrays Sweeney as a stolid, preoccupied figure, with only a certain dark look in the eye hinting at his pent-up rage. His dark but usually mellow voice sends the same signals, often to chilling effect.
Phyllis Pancella, as Mrs. Lovett, purveyor of the worst meat pies in London, who becomes Sweeney’s landlady and would be his lover, is the comic lead of the show. She further sets herself apart by being the only one in a cast full of London low-life characters to speak and sing in a Cockney accent. Pancella is gratifyingly manic without going over the top, and vocally top-flight.
Amanda Opuszynski, as Johanna, and Andre Chiang, as Anthony Hope, the young sailor who rescues Sweeney at sea, once they make landfall in London, falls in love with Johanna, are an attractive and suitably fresh-voiced couple. Chiang gives “I Feel You, Johanna,” the show’s big romantic number, the full measure of warmth and yearning.
Jake Gardner, as the villainous Judge Turpin, and Scott Ramsey, as the Beadle (bailiff), sing and play their characters with appropriately gruff, assertive tone. Gardner is convincingly conflicted, and smoother vocally, in his interlude of tortured introspection.
Among the supporting cast, Diana Dimarzio as the Beggar Woman and David Blalock as Tobias stand out both vocally and in characterization. Members of the Virginia Opera Chorus are in very good form, both as narrators and denizens of Fleet Street.
The show’s director, Ron Daniels, co-authored the play that Sondheim adapted for this musical, and Daniels’ immersion and authority show in virtually every move the cast makes. Kyle Lang’s choreography likewise rings with authenticity.
The production, originally staged by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, is dark and spare, but a nonetheless effective platform for a show driven by mood and character.
Adam Turner, in his first outing as Virginia Opera’s principal conductor and artistic advisor (he had been the company’s resident conductor for three seasons), draws vivid, colorful playing, nicely balanced with voices (amplified for this show), from a pit band composed of musicians from the Virginia Symphony.
Virginia Opera’s “Sweeney Todd” repeats at 3 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Carpenter Theatre of Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets, and at 8 p.m. Oct. 11 and 2 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Center for the Arts of George Mason University in Fairfax. Richmond tickets: $15.25-$103.95; Fairfax tickets: $44-$98. Details: (866) 673-6782 (Richmond); (888) 945-2468 (Fairfax); www.vaopera.org
Adam Turner conducting
Oct. 3, Richmond CenterStage
Whether you think of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” as a quasi-opera or an operetta or a Broadway musical, it’s proving to be a terrific vehicle to launch the 40th anniversary season of Virginia Opera. The show packs a dramatic punch, garnished with titillation, and its cast of singing actors, from the stars to the choristers, perform like true believers. It earned the cheering ovation that erupted after the first of two Richmond presentations.
Stephen Powell plays the title character, a London barber intent on avenging his unjust transportation to the penal colony of Australia by a corrupt judge who lusted after Sweeney’s wife and now plans to possess the Todds’ daughter, Johanna, by marriage. Powell very effectively portrays Sweeney as a stolid, preoccupied figure, with only a certain dark look in the eye hinting at his pent-up rage. His dark but usually mellow voice sends the same signals, often to chilling effect.
Phyllis Pancella, as Mrs. Lovett, purveyor of the worst meat pies in London, who becomes Sweeney’s landlady and would be his lover, is the comic lead of the show. She further sets herself apart by being the only one in a cast full of London low-life characters to speak and sing in a Cockney accent. Pancella is gratifyingly manic without going over the top, and vocally top-flight.
Amanda Opuszynski, as Johanna, and Andre Chiang, as Anthony Hope, the young sailor who rescues Sweeney at sea, once they make landfall in London, falls in love with Johanna, are an attractive and suitably fresh-voiced couple. Chiang gives “I Feel You, Johanna,” the show’s big romantic number, the full measure of warmth and yearning.
Jake Gardner, as the villainous Judge Turpin, and Scott Ramsey, as the Beadle (bailiff), sing and play their characters with appropriately gruff, assertive tone. Gardner is convincingly conflicted, and smoother vocally, in his interlude of tortured introspection.
Among the supporting cast, Diana Dimarzio as the Beggar Woman and David Blalock as Tobias stand out both vocally and in characterization. Members of the Virginia Opera Chorus are in very good form, both as narrators and denizens of Fleet Street.
The show’s director, Ron Daniels, co-authored the play that Sondheim adapted for this musical, and Daniels’ immersion and authority show in virtually every move the cast makes. Kyle Lang’s choreography likewise rings with authenticity.
The production, originally staged by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, is dark and spare, but a nonetheless effective platform for a show driven by mood and character.
Adam Turner, in his first outing as Virginia Opera’s principal conductor and artistic advisor (he had been the company’s resident conductor for three seasons), draws vivid, colorful playing, nicely balanced with voices (amplified for this show), from a pit band composed of musicians from the Virginia Symphony.
Virginia Opera’s “Sweeney Todd” repeats at 3 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Carpenter Theatre of Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets, and at 8 p.m. Oct. 11 and 2 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Center for the Arts of George Mason University in Fairfax. Richmond tickets: $15.25-$103.95; Fairfax tickets: $44-$98. Details: (866) 673-6782 (Richmond); (888) 945-2468 (Fairfax); www.vaopera.org
Friday, October 3, 2014
Concertgebouw taps Daniele Gatti
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam has tapped Daniele Gatti as its next chief conductor. He takes over from Mariss Jansons next year.
Gatti, who turns 53 next month, has been music director of the Orchestre National de France since 2008. He formerly was chief conductor of the Zürich Opera (2009-12) and the Royal Philharmonic of London (1996-2009). In his native Italy, he has served as principal conductor of the Orchestra Dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna.
He will be the Concertgebouw’s seventh principal conductor. Appropriately, given the orchestra’s history, among Gatti’s first dates after the announcement of his appointment will be performances of Mahler – the Sixth Symphony in November and Third Symphony in January.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
New mascot at Sydney Opera House?
A New Zealand fur seal seems to be settling in on the waterside VIP steps of the Sydney Opera House in Australia. The male seal, which is thought to be 3 or 4 years old, has been dividing its time between sunning itself at the opera house and going for swims in the Sydney harbor.
Tourists, naturally, are delighted.
Nonee Walsh of the Australian Broadcasting Company quotes a wildlife officer as saying that the visitor apparently “has found other seals that it can associate with” and predicts that it “will remember how comfortable it was [at the opera house] and it will probably come back every year” . . .
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-02/seal-suns-itself-on-steps-of-sydney-opera-house-vip-steps/5785810
(via www.slippedisc.com)
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Review: Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
Oct. 1, Richmond CenterStage
To launch this season’s chamber-orchestra concerts, Richmond Symphony Music Director Steven Smith pairs two works from 18th-century classicism, Mozart’s Symphony No. 36 in C major (“Linz”) and the Overture Domenico Cimarosa’s opera “Il matrimonio segreto” (“The Secret Marriage”), with two prime examples of 20th-century neoclassicism, Stravinsky’s Concerto in E flat major (“Dumbarton Oaks”) and the “Trittico botticelliano” (“Botticelli Triptych”) of Respighi.
At an invitational reception and performance, I heard a generous sampling of the program, which will be reprised in several guises in coming days.
As Smith observed, Cimarosa’s overture is closely related in style and content to music of Mozart, his contemporary; several elements of the overture, in fact, sound to have been “borrowed” from Mozart’s operas. Both the overture and symphony received stylish, propulsive performances, enhanced by finely detailed string and wind playing.
Stravinsky’s debts to old classical style are audible in “Dumbarton Oaks,” but the piece is unmistakably modern in its harmonic language, even more so in its rhythms. Played by a small string and wind contingent, its transparent scoring and rhythmic language, clearly indebted to swing-era jazz, were especially evident, and quite infectious.
“Trittico botticelliano” is arguably Respighi’s most brilliant small-scaled orchestration, with enchanting nature effects and unusually (for this composer) pastel-shaded colorations. Smith and the orchestra gave a technically impressive and affectionate account of the score.
The Richmond Symphony will play excerpts of these works in the first Rush Hour Concert of the season, 6:30 p.m. Oct. 2 in the Gottwald Playhouse of Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets; and will perform the program in full in the Metro Collection season-opener, 3 p.m. Oct. 5 in Blackwell Auditorium of Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St. in Ashland. Tickets: $20. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); www.richmondsymphony.com
Oct. 1, Richmond CenterStage
To launch this season’s chamber-orchestra concerts, Richmond Symphony Music Director Steven Smith pairs two works from 18th-century classicism, Mozart’s Symphony No. 36 in C major (“Linz”) and the Overture Domenico Cimarosa’s opera “Il matrimonio segreto” (“The Secret Marriage”), with two prime examples of 20th-century neoclassicism, Stravinsky’s Concerto in E flat major (“Dumbarton Oaks”) and the “Trittico botticelliano” (“Botticelli Triptych”) of Respighi.
At an invitational reception and performance, I heard a generous sampling of the program, which will be reprised in several guises in coming days.
As Smith observed, Cimarosa’s overture is closely related in style and content to music of Mozart, his contemporary; several elements of the overture, in fact, sound to have been “borrowed” from Mozart’s operas. Both the overture and symphony received stylish, propulsive performances, enhanced by finely detailed string and wind playing.
Stravinsky’s debts to old classical style are audible in “Dumbarton Oaks,” but the piece is unmistakably modern in its harmonic language, even more so in its rhythms. Played by a small string and wind contingent, its transparent scoring and rhythmic language, clearly indebted to swing-era jazz, were especially evident, and quite infectious.
“Trittico botticelliano” is arguably Respighi’s most brilliant small-scaled orchestration, with enchanting nature effects and unusually (for this composer) pastel-shaded colorations. Smith and the orchestra gave a technically impressive and affectionate account of the score.
The Richmond Symphony will play excerpts of these works in the first Rush Hour Concert of the season, 6:30 p.m. Oct. 2 in the Gottwald Playhouse of Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets; and will perform the program in full in the Metro Collection season-opener, 3 p.m. Oct. 5 in Blackwell Auditorium of Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St. in Ashland. Tickets: $20. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); www.richmondsymphony.com
October 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: Steven Smith conducts the Richmond Symphony in the first of the season’s Rush Hour and Metro Collection chamber-orchestra concerts, including music of Mozart, Stravinsky, Respighi and Cimarosa, Oct. 2 at Richmond CenterStage and Oct. 5 at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland; and the opening of the Masterworks series, Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony (No. 2) with soloists and the Richmond Symphony Chorus, Oct. 18-19 at Richmond CenterStage. . . . Virginia Opera presents its season-opening production, Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” Oct. 3 and 5 at Richmond CenterStage (also Oct. 11-12 at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax). . . . Small Trunk Opera stages a free performance of Arthur Sullivan’s first comedy, “Cox and Box,” Oct. 4 in the Gellman Room of the Richmond Public Library. . . . The Russian men’s chorus Lyra performs on Oct. 12 at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Bon Air. . . . The Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia opens its 2014-season with two programs of Viennese and Viennese-inspired music, a free concert on Oct. 25 in the Richmond Public Library’s Gellman Room and a ticketed concert on Oct. 27 at Bon Air Presbyterian Church. . . . The New York Brass Arts Trio performs in a Rennolds Chamber Concerts program, Oct. 25 at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Singleton Arts Center.
* Noteworthy elsewhere: Soprano Elizabeth Futral sings Barber’s “Knoxville, Summer of 1915” with the Roanoke Symphony, Oct. 5 at the Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre. . . . Opera Lafayette presents the first U.S. staging of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera-ballet “Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour, ou Les Dieux d’Égypte” (“The Celebrations of Marriage and Love, or the Gods of Egypt”), Oct. 6 at the Kennedy Center in Washington. . . . David Zinman conducts Washington’s National Symphony in Schoenberg, Richard Strauss and, with pianist Angela Hewitt, Mozart, Oct. 9-11 at the Kennedy Center. . . . Pianist Simone Dinnerstein plays Schumann, Bach and Schubert, Oct. 10 at The Barns at Wolf Trap in Northern Virginia. . . . Pianist Jon Nakamatsu joins the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet for a Tuesday Evening Concerts program of Mozart, Hindemith and Thuille, Oct. 14 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. . . . Violinist Cho-Liang Lin performs and leads the Virginia Symphony in an all-Mozart program, Oct. 17-19 at venues in Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. . . . St. Lawrence String Quartet and pianist Pedja Muzijevic play works of Beethoven, Korngold and Amy Beach, Oct. 24 at the Library of Congress in DC. . . . Violinist Midori joins Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony in a program of Schumann, Mendelssohn and Mozart, Oct. 30 (also Nov. 1) at the Kennedy Center.
Oct. 1 (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
(804) 828-6776
www.arts.vcu.edu/music
Oct. 1 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Oct. 2 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Pops
Benjamin Rous conducting
Spectrum, guest stars
“A Night in Motown”
$25-$93
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org
Oct. 1 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 2 (7 p.m.)
Oct. 4 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Matthew Halls conducting
Poulenc: Organ Concerto in G minor
J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543
Paul Jacobs, organ
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 2 in B flat major (“Lobegesang”)
Tamara Wilson & Twyla Robinson, sopranos
Paul Appleby, tenor
The Washington Chorus
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org
Oct. 2 (6:30 p.m.)
Gottwald Playhouse, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Oct. 5 (3 p.m.)
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
Cimarosa: “Il matrimonio segreto” Overture
Stravinsky: Concerto in E flat major (“Dumbarton Oaks”)
Respighi: “Trittico botticelliano”
Mozart: Symphony No. 36 in C major, K. 425 (“Linz”)
$20
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com
Oct. 3 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 5 (2:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Virginia Opera
Adam Turner conducting
Stephen Sondheim: “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Stephen Powell (Sweeney Todd)
Phyllis Pancella (Mrs. Lovett)
André Chiang (Anthony Hope)
Amanda Opuszynski (Johanna)
Jake Gardner (Judge Turpin)
Diana DiMarzio (beggar woman)
Javier Abreu (Pirelli)
Scott Ramsey (Beadle)
David Blalock (Tobias)
Adrian Smith (Jonas Fogg)
Brian Mextorf (bird keeper)
Ron Daniels, stage director
in English, English captions
$15.25-$103.95
(866) 673-6782
www.vaopera.org
Oct. 5 (3 p.m.)
Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre, Orange Avenue at Williamson Road
Roanoke Symphony
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Beethoven: “Egmont” Overture
Barber: “Knoxville, Summer of 1915”
Mahler: Symphony No. 4
Elizabeth Futral, soprano
$32-$52
(540) 343-9127
www.rso.com
Oct. 4 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Small Trunk Opera
Arthur Sullivan: “Cox and Box”
cast TBA
in English
free
(804) 646-7223
www.richmondpubliclibrary.org
Oct. 6 (7:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Opera Lafayette
Ryan Brown conducting
Rameau: “Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour, ou Les Dieux d’Égypte” (“The Celebrations of Marriage and Love, or the Gods of Egypt”)
Calire Debono (Orthésie, Ori)
Jeffrey Thompson (Osiris, Aruéris)
Ingrid Perruche (Mirrine, Memphis)
François Lis (Canope, un Égyptien)
Aaron Sheehan (le Plaisir, Agéris, un Berger égyptien)
Kelly Ballou (l’Amour, une Égyptienne)
Laetitia Spitzer Grimaldi (l’Hymen, une Bergère égyptienne)
William Sharp (le Grand Prêtre, un Égyptien)
Kyle Bielfield (un Berger égyptien)
Catherine Turocy, Anuradha Nehru & Seán Curran, choreographers
in French, English captions
$20-$95
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org
Oct. 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Symphony Orchestra
Daniel Myssyk conducting
program TBA
$7 in advance, $10 day of event
(804) 828-6776
www.arts.vcu.edu/music
Oct. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Dover Quartet
Glazunov: “Five Novelettes,” Op. 15
Mozart: Quartet in D major, K. 499 (“Hoffmeister”)
Schubert: Quartet in A minor, D. 804 (“Rosamunde”)
$32
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org
Oct. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Belgrade Philharmonic
Muhai Tang conducting
Khachaturian: “Masquerade” Suite
Stevan Hristic: “The Legend of Ohrid”
Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D major
$15-$55
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org
Oct. 9 (7 p.m.)
Oct. 10 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 11 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
David Zinman conducting
Schoenberg: “Five Pieces for Orchestra,” Op. 16
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat major, K. 482
Angela Hewitt, piano
Richard Strauss: “Also sprach Zarathustra”
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org
Oct. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Ray Chen, violin
Julio Elizalde, piano
Mozart: Violin Sonata in A major, K. 305
Sarasate: “Habanera,” “Playera,” “Zigeunerweisen”
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major, Op. 47 (“Kreutzer”)
$25
(202) 985-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org
Oct. 9 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Pops
Jack Everly conducting
Christina Bianco & Ted Keegan, vocalists
“Broadway Standing Ovations”
$45-$115
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org
Oct. 10 (7 p.m.)
Hanover Arts & Activities Center, 500 Center St., Ashland
Hanover Concert Band
Karla Bloom directing
Central Virginia Masterworks Chorale
David Sinden directing
pops concert marking 25th anniversary of band
program TBA
donations accepted
(804) 789-0536
www.hanoverconcertband.org
Oct. 10 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Jae Sinnett Trio
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
works by Sinnett, others TBA
$22-$57
(757) 594-8752
www.fergusoncenter.org
Oct. 10 (8 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
Simone Dinnerstein, piano
Schumann: “Kinderszenen”
J.S. Bach: “French Suite” No. 5 in G major, BWV 816
Schubert: Sonata in B flat major, D. 960
$40
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org
Oct. 11 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 12 (2 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Virginia Opera
Adam Turner conducting
Stephen Sondheim: “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Stephen Powell (Sweeney Todd)
Phyllis Pancella (Mrs. Lovett)
André Chiang (Anthony Hope)
Amanda Opuszynski (Johanna)
Jake Gardner (Judge Turpin)
Diana DiMarzio (beggar woman)
Javier Abreu (Pirelli)
Scott Ramsey (Beadle)
David Blalock (Tobias)
Adrian Smith (Jonas Fogg)
Brian Mextorf (bird keeper)
Ron Daniels, stage director
in English, English captions
$44-$98
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.vaopera.org
Oct. 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Pan-American Symphony Orchestra
Sergio Alessandro Buslje conducting
“The Soul of Tango”
Piazzolla: works TBA
Emilio Teubal: piano improvisations
$40-$50
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org
Oct. 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Christ the King Lutheran Church, 9800 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Lyra
Russian Orthodox chants and folk songs TBA
donation requested
(804) 272-2995
wsww.ctkrva.org
Oct. 12 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Kennedy Center Chamber Players
Debussy: Sonata for flute, viola, and harp
Ives: Piano Trio
Saint-Saëns: Fantasie, Op. 124, for violin and harp
Beethoven: Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70, No. 1 (“Ghost”)
$36
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org
Oct. 14 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet
Jon Nakamatsu, piano
Mozart-Hasel: Fantasy for mechanical organ, K. 608
Mozart: Quintet in E flat major, K. 452, for piano and winds
Hindemith: “Kleine Kammermusik,” Op. 24, No. 2
Thuille: Sextet in B flat major, Op. 6, for piano and winds
$12-$33
(434) 924-3376
www.tecs.org
Oct. 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Young Concert Artists Series:
Yun-Chin Zhou, piano
Haydn: Sonata in E flat major, Hob. XVI:49
Liszt: “Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude”
Ravel: “La Valse”
Trenet-Weissenberg: “Six Songs”
Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 36
$35
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org
Oct. 15 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Danish String Quartet
Mendelssohn: Capriccio in E minor, Op. 81, No. 3
Shostakovich: Quartet No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 117
Beethoven: Quartet in C sharp minor, Op. 131
$35
(202) 985-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org
Oct. 15 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Jeremy Filsell, organ
Jongen: “Sonata Eroica,” Op. 94
Dupré: “Évocation (poème symphonique),” Op. 37
Hampton: “Everyone Dance”
Rachmaninoff-Fuilsell: Symphonic Dances
$15
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org
Oct. 17 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Oct. 18 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Oct. 19 (7:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
Cho-Liang Lin, violin & director
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218
Mozart: Symphony No. 29 in A major, K. 201
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
$25-$107
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org
Oct. 18 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 19 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”)
Michelle Areyzaga, soprano
Jennifer Feinstein, mezzo-soprano
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Erin R. Freeman directing
$10-$78
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com
Oct. 18 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 19 (2:30 p.m.)
American Theatre, 125 E. Mellen St., Hampton
Hampton Roads Philharmonic
Peter Brindle conducting
program TBA
$20
(757) 722-2787
www.hamptonarts.net
Oct. 18 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 19 (3 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
National Philharmonic
Piotr Gajewski conducting
Mendelssohn: “A Midsuumer Night’s Dream” Overture
Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Chee-Yun, violin
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor (“From the New World”)
$28-$84
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org
Oct. 19 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Vocal Arts DC:
Matthew Rose, bass
Vlad Iftinca, piano
Purcell-Britten: “Job’s Curse,” “Let the Dreadful Engines of Eternal Will”
Loewe: “Archibald Douglas”
Schubert: “Schwanengesang”
$50
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org
Oct. 20 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Chamber Music Series:
Ayn Balija, viola
Rob Patterson, clarinet
Shelby Sender, piano
Prokofiev: “Scenes from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ ”
Mozart: Trio in E flat major, K. 498 (“Kegelstatt”)
Brahms: Sonata in E flat major, Op. 102, No. 2
$15
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu
Oct. 21 (7:30 p.m.)
American Theatre, 125 E. Mellen St., Hampton
Habaneros Quintet
Cuban and Latin-American works TBA
$25-$30
(757) 722-2787
www.hamptonarts.net
Oct. 23 (7 p.m.)
Oct. 24 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 25 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
John Mauceri conducting
“Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton”
$20-$88
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org
Oct. 24 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU BrassFest:
Nautilus Brass Quintet
program TBA
free
(804) 828-6776
www.arts.vcu.edu/music
Oct. 24 (7:30 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra
Peter Wilson conducting
Kevin Bennear, baritone
“Symphonic Masquerade, an Evening of Suspense and Romance”
Johann Strauss II: “Die Fledermaus” Overture
Broadway selections TBA
$30-$75
(434) 979-1333
www.theparamount.net
Oct. 24 (8 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
Jamie Barton, mezzo-soprano
Kim Pensinger Witman, piano
songs by Brahms, Ives, Rachmaninoff, Lee Hoiby
$35
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org
Oct. 24 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
St. Lawrence String Quartet
Pedja Muzijevic, piano
Beethoven: Quartet in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4
Amy Beach: Piano Quintet in F sharp minor, Op. 67
Korngold: Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 34
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
www.loc.gov/concerts
Oct. 24 (8:15 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
BSO Off the Cuff:
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting & speaking
Richard Strauss: “Ein Heldenleben”
$32-$95
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org
Oct. 25 (11 a.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony LolliPops
Kaitaro Harada conducting
“Beethoven Lives Upstairs”
$10-$12
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com
Oct. 25 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Nurit Pacht & Guillaume Pirard, violins
Melissa Reardon, viola
James Wilson, cello
Mary Boodell, flute
Carsten Schmidt, piano
“Neo-Vienna”
Onate Narbutaite: “Winter Serenade”
Arvo Pärt: “Mozart Adagio”
Alfred Schnittke: “Mozart à la Haydn”
Matthew Burtner: “(dis)integrations”
Judith Shatin: “Fledermaus Fantasy”
free
(804) 519-2098
www.cmscva.org
Oct. 25 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Rennolds Chamber Concerts:
New York Brass Arts Trio
program TBA
$34
(804) 828-6776
www.arts.vcu.edu/music
Oct. 25 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Richmond Ballet
Virginia Symphony & Virginia Symphony Chorus
conductor TBA
soloists TBA
Orff: “Carmina Burana”
$30-$107
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org
Oct. 25 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 26 (2 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Copland: “Quiet City”
Stravinsky: Concerto in E flat major (“Dumbarton Oaks”)
Copland: “Appalachian Spring”
Stravinsky: suites Nos. 1 and 2 for small orchestra
$25-$60
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.fairfaxsymphony.org
Oct. 26 (3 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Schola Cantorum & Women’s Chorale
Jeffrey Riehl & David Pedersen directing
program TBA
free
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu
Oct. 26 (4 p.m.)
Theatre House, Castleton Farms, 664 Castleton View Road, Rappahannock County
Stefano Greco, piano
wind ensemble
J.S. Bach: “Goldberg Variations” for piano and in wind-ensemble arrangement by John R. Bourgeois
$20-$40
(866) 974-0767
www.castletonfestival.org
Oct. 26 (3 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
Christopher Rouse: “Rapture”
Scriabin: “Poem of Ecstasy”
Richard Strauss: “Ein Heldenleben”
$32-$95
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org
Oct. 26 (4 p.m.)
Mansion at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Anthony McGill, clarinet
Christopher Shih, piano
program TBA
$32
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org
Oct. 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Nurit Pacht & Guillaume Pirard, violins
Melissa Reardon, viola
James Wilson, cello
Mary Boodell, flute
Carsten Schmidt, piano
Stephen Henley, organ
“Austro-Hungarian Waltz”
Johann Strauss II-Schoenberg: “Roses from the South”
Haydn: Quartet in C major, Op. 76, No. 3 (“Emperor”)
Korngold: Waltz for piano
Webern: Piece for string trio
Dohnányi: Piano Quintet in C minor, Op. 1
$25
(804) 519-2098
www.cmscva.org
Oct. 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 8 N. Laurel St., Richmond
Richmond chapter, American Guild of Organists:
Grant Hellmers, Beth Melcher, Charles Lindsey, Beth Melcher Davis, Larry Heath, John DeMajo & Cheryl Van Ornam, organ
“Organ Spooktacular”
works by J.S. Bach, Howells, Langlais, Anderson, Mancini, others
donation accepted
(804) 359-5268
www.richmondago.org
Oct. 28 (8 p.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg:
Horszowski Piano Trio
Haydn: Piano Trio in C major, Hob. XV:27
John Harbison: Piano Trio No. 2 (“Short Stories”)
Schumann: Piano Trio in F major, Op. 80
$15
(757) 229-0385
www.chambermusicwilliamsburg.org
Oct. 29 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
Vox Luminus
Lionel Meunier directing
anon. (12th cen.): “Lamentation de la Vierge au Croix”
Monteverdi: “Vorrei Baciarto, o Fili,” “Alcun non mi consigli,” “Lamento della ninfa”
Della Ciaia: “Lamentatio Virginis in Depositione Filii de Cruce”
D. Scarlatti: “Stabat Mater à 10”
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
www.loc.gov/concerts
Oct. 30 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 in D major (“Reformation”)
Schumann: Violin Concerto in D minor
Midori, violin
Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551 (“Jupiter”)
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org
Oct. 30 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
Ensemble Del Niente
George Lewis: new work TBA (premiere)
Lewis: “Assemblage”
Georg Friedrich Haas: “in vain”
free; tickets required
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster)
www.loc.gov/concerts
Oct. 30 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Hannu Lintu conducting
Beethoven: “Leonore” Overture No. 3
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1
Conrad Tao, piano
Andrew Balio, trumpet
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major
$32-$95
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org