Paley Festival reviewed

My review for the Richmond Times-Dispatch of the three-day Alexander Paley Music Festival:

http://www.richmond.com/entertainment/music/article_8fe1d655-6114-5f22-a5be-7d36ae53e7c0.html

Yo-Yo Ma, cultural gardener

“Culture is kind of like a living seed and it can grow in places that are not fertile,” says one of the most prolific cultural gardeners of our time.

That would be Yo-Yo Ma, the cellist, master of crossing cultures and nicest guy in classical music, who on Oct. 7 will be celebrating his 60th birthday.

(Yes, really. Sixty.)

One of the places most in need of musical fertilization is the educational system, Ma tells Martin Steinberg in an interview published in Strings magazine:

http://www.allthingsstrings.com/Article-Index/Department/Feature/Yo-Yo-Ma-On-Intonation-Practice-and-the-Role-of-Music-in-Our-Lives

Review: Paley Music Festival

Alexander Paley, piano
Paley and Peiwen Chen, piano four-hands
Sept. 25, St. Luke Lutheran Church

Musical impressionism, with its shimmering colors, rarified harmonies and seemingly open-ended structures, is usually associated with Debussy, Ravel and other French composers of the early 20th century. Pianist Alexander Paley, in the opening concert of his 18th annual Richmond festival, showed that impressionism has Slavic voices, too – notably, Pancho Vladigerov (1899-1978), the leading composer of modern Bulgaria.

Paley played Vladigerov’s “Sonatina concertante,” Op. 28, a work that belies its title – it’s no miniature – and probably confounded expectations of what classical music from the most southeastern of Slavic lands might sound like. Who would have expected a main theme theme in the first movement, recurring in the third, that could be a not-too-distant cousin of “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square?”

The vaguely “oriental” central andantino of Vladigerov’s sonatina came closer to ethnic expectations, but proved to be an interlude in music mainly driven by moodiness and sophisticated melodic invention.

The “Sonata-Reminiscenza” in A minor, Op. 38, No. 1, of the Russian Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951) was somewhat more firmly moored to its national/ethnic origins, but still unmistakably impressionistic, and through much of the piece almost stream-of-consciousness in character.

In both works, Paley devoted as much energy and concentration in illuminating detail as in passionate expression – not that there was any shortage of the latter.

With his wife and piano four-hands partner, Peiwen Chen, Paley played three pieces from the little-known canon of Franz Schubert in this medium: the “Grand Rondeau” in A major, D. 951; Allegro in A minor, D. 947; and “Eight Variations on a Theme from Hérold’s Opera ‘Marie’,” D. 908.

The allegro, known as “Lebensstürme” (“Storms of Life”), was the most satisfying of the three – surely for Chen, who had a more substantive bass line here than in the other two works, but also for the listener in that the music follows a dramatized trajectory rather than the rather obsessive mining of a pleasing but slender tune that predominates in the rondo and set of variations. Paley’s volatile pianism found a better outlet in “Lebensstürme,” as well.

Paley rounded out this opening-night program with performances of Chopin’s “Polonaise-Fantasie,” Op. 61, and the solo-piano version of George Enescu’s “Romanian Rhapsody” No. 1. In both, the pianist summoned quite explosive playing in big climaxes; but both readings also were distinguished by close attention to finer details of phrasing, rhythm and dynamics.

The Paley Music Festival continues with Rossini’s “Petite Messe Solennelle” at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26, and chamber music of Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc and Saint-Saëns at 3 p.m. Sept. 27, at St. Luke Lutheran Church, Chippenham Parkway at Custis Road. Donations are requested. Details: (804) 665-9516; www.paleymusicfestival.org

Symphony concert moved

Because of the likelihood of rain, the Richmond Symphony has moved its Sept. 26 concert from Pocahontas State Park to the auditorium of James River High School, 3700 James River Road in Midlothian.

The concert, beginning at 6 p.m., will be conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Daniel Myssyk. The program includes works by Berlioz, Bernstein and others.

Admission is free.

Copyright on 'Happy Birthday' axed

A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled in favor of a group of plaintiffs who maintained that “Happy Birthday,” written in the 1890s by sisters Patty and Mildred Hill of Louisville, KY, is in the public domain.

The publishing division of Warner Music acquired rights to the song in 1988 and has been collecting an estimated $2 million a year in royalties. A spokesman says the firm is “considering [its] options” following the ruling, the Los Angeles Times’ Christine Mai-Duc reports:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-how-the-happy-birthday-song-was-set-free-20150923-story.html

Letter V Classical Radio this week

A preview of the Richmond Symphony’s 2015-16 season, with Steven Smith, the orchestra’s music director, joining me in the third hour of the show.

We’ll have lots to talk about: The symphony will be marking the 150th anniversary of the births of Finland’s Jean Sibelius and Denmark’s Carl Nielsen, and performing the rarely heard “Manfred” Symphony of Tchaikovsky and the choral version of Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain;” classic Americana from Copland, Barber and Charles Tomlinson Griffes; symphonies by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms and Shostakovich; and much more.

Sept. 24
10 a.m.-1 p.m. EDT
1400-1700 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Mussorgsky: “Sorochinsky Fair” –
“St. John’s Night on the Bare Mountain”
Anatoli Kotcherga, bass-baritone
Berlin Radio Chorus
South Tyrol Children’s Choir
Berlin Philharmonic/
Claudio Abbado
(Sony Classical)

Ravel: “Ma mère l’Oye” (“Mother Goose”) Suite
London Philharmonic/
Sian Edwards
(EMI Classics)

Past Masters:
Copland: “Appalachian Spring” Suite
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Aaron Copland
(RCA Victor)
(recorded 1959)

Sibelius: “The Swan of Tuonela”
Lawrence Thorstenberg, English horn
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Colin Davis (Philips)

Stravinsky: Octet
Boston Symphony Chamber Players
(Deutsche Grammophon/
Eloquence)

Past Masters:
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 (“Inextinguishable”)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Jean Martinon (RCA Victor)
(recorded 1966)

Bartók: Divertimento – I: Allegro non troppo
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/
Pierre Boulez (Deutsche Grammophon)

Charles Tomlinson Griffes: “The White Peacock”
Dallas Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Litton (Dorian)

Haydn: Symphony No. 92
in G major (“Oxford”) –
IV: Presto
Orchestra of the 18th Century/Frans Brüggen
(Philips)

Tchaikovsky: “Manfred” Symphony –
I: Lento lugubre - moderato con moto - andante
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Vasily Petrenko
(Naxos)

'Otello' without blackface, finally

Is it news that the Metropolitan Opera is finally bringing the curtain down on its 124-year-old tradition of staging Verdi’s “Otello” with the tenor singing the role of the Moor in blackface – or at least bronzed-face?

Or is it news that it has taken the company 124 years to end the practice?

British actors were still darkening their faces for the Shakespeare play as recently as 1990. And when the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta “The Mikado” was staged last year in Seattle with the characters made up in what a Seattle Times critic dubbed “yellowface,” it sparked “a wide-ranging discussion of whether the work was a witty satire of the British, an ugly caricature of the Japanese, or both,” The New York Times’ Michael Cooper notes in an article exploring how white performers are made to look when portraying non-white characters:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/arts/music/an-otello-without-the-blackface-nods-to-modern-tastes.html

Virginia Opera's Turner honored

Adam Turner, principal conductor and artistic advisor of Virginia Opera, has been selected as the first Julius Redel/Kurt Weill Conducting Fellow in a fellowship program of the Kurt Weill Foundation.

The fellowship’s namesake, Julius Rudel, led the New York City Opera from 1957-79 in its artistic heyday. He later served as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic and was artistic director of the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company. Rudel died last year.

The 32-year-old Turner called his selection “an exceptional distinction for which I’m deeply honored. I look forward to the opportunities of the year ahead.” The fellowship, which carries a $10,000 stipend, enables a young conductor to assist in the preparation and performance of a music-theater work by Weill or Marc Blitzstein, an American composer active in the mid-20th century.

Turner will serve as cover conductor to John DeMain in a February 2016 Washington National Opera production of Weill’s “Lost in the Stars.”

Virginia Opera will stage Weill’s “The Seven Deadly Sins” next fall at the beginning of its 2016-17 season. It is scheduled to run from Sept. 30-Oct. 16, 2016 in Norfolk, Richmond and Fairfax. Having the production led by “a conductor bearing a title of Julius Rudel/Kurt Weill Conducting Fellow is an exciting opportunity for our company,” Russell Allen, Virginia Opera’s president and CEO, said in a prepared statement.

Letter V Classical Radio this week

A program for the Jewish High Holy Days, featuring the “Sacred Service” (“Avodath Hakodesh”) of Ernest Bloch, in the historic recording conducted by the composer.

Sept. 17
10 a.m.-1 p.m. EDT
1400-1700 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Mozart: “Don Giovanni” Overture
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/
Neville Marriner (EMI Classics)

Beethoven: Quartet in
C sharp minor, Op. 131
Cypress String Quartet (Avie)

Golijov: “Lullaby and Doina”
Tara Helen O’Connor, flute
Todd Palmer, clarinet
Mark Dresser, double-bass
St. Lawrence String Quartet (EMI Classics)

Salomone Rossi: Psalms 128, 100, 126; sinfonias
Profeti della Quinta (Linn)

Past Masters:
Bloch: “Sacred Service” (“Avodath Hakodesh”)
Marko Rothmüller, bass-baritone (cantor)
London Philharmonic Choir
London Philharmonic/
Ernest Bloch (Rockport)
(recorded 1949)

Schubert: Impromptu in
C minor, D. 899, No. 1
Krystian Zimerman, piano
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Brahms: Symphony No. 4
in E minor
Konzerthaus Orchestra, Berlin/
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Orfeo)

Schubert: “Memnon”
(orchestration by Brahms)
Thomas Quasthoff, bass-baritone
Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon)

A flaw in the vinyl comeback

The resurgence of vinyl records – some 13 million new discs were sold in the US last year – depends largely on a limited stock of manufacturing equipment dating back to the 1970s, resulting in long delays on orders to press discs.

Because the equipment is so old, maintaining it sometimes requires making replacement parts by hand, The New York Times’ Ben Sisario reports:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/15/business/media/a-vinyl-lp-frenzy-brings-record-pressing-machines-back-to-life.html

UPDATE: The view from a new pressing plant – like others, using recycled manufacturing equipment – in Portland, OR, from Melanie Sevcenko for The Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/20/music-vinyl-records-new-pressing-plant-portland-oregon

Richmond Symphony reviewed

My review for the Richmond Times-Dispatch of the opening concert of this season’s Richmond Symphony Masterworks series, including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Symphony Chorus and guest artists:

http://www.richmond.com/entertainment/music/article_45229aeb-018f-5844-bf69-32b094bb4bac.html

Stravinsky lost and found

A long-lost early work by Igor Stravinsky, “Pogrebal’naya Pesnya” (“Funeral Song”), has been found among uncatalogued manuscripts of scores at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire.

The 12-minute orchestral piece was written by the 26-year-old Stravinsky in memory of his principal teacher, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and was given a single performance in January 1909, six months after Rimsky’s death. The score was thought to have been destroyed during the 1917 Bolshevik revolution or the subsequent Russian civil war.

“Funeral Song” is described as “a slow, unvarying processional with contrasting instrumental timbres: a dialogue of sonorities, very much as Stravinsky himself vaguely remembered it in his autobiography 25 years later. There are echoes of Rimsky-Korsakov [and] of Wagner, whose music Stravinsky admired more than he was later prepared to admit,” Stephen Walsh writes in an article for The Observer (UK):

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/06/igor-stravinsky-lost-work-emerges-after-100-years

(via www.artsjournal.com)

Catalyst Quartet reviewed

My review for the Richmond Times-Dispatch of the Catalyst Quartet, performing at the Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond:

http://www.richmond.com/entertainment/music/article_c1060cba-0bee-5211-956d-ed72387dfaba.html

Gewandhaus taps Nelsons

Andris Nelsons, music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, will succeed Riccardo Chailly as chief conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, and will head a new partnership of the US and German orchestras.

“They are starting a joint commissioning program that will begin in the 2017-18 season with a new work by the German composer Jörg Widmann that will be played in both cities. And over the course of that season, the Boston Symphony will hold a ‘Leipzig Week in Boston’ and the Gewandhaus a ‘Boston Week in Leipzig,’ with each ensemble playing repertoire the other is known for,” The New York Times’ Michael Cooper reports:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/arts/music/andris-nelsons-named-music-director-of-leipzig-gewandhaus-orchestra.html?ref=music&_r=0

With the Gewandhaus appointment, the 36-year-old, Latvian-born Nelsons becomes the leading conductor of his generation on the international circuit. And the budding partnership links orchestras and cities that boast pivotal roles in their countries’ musical histories.

As Cooper notes, the Boston Symphony has significant historical ties to the Gewandhaus. Artur Nikisch, one of the earliest conductors of the Boston Symphony (1893-95), subsequently took over the Leipzig orchestra, which he led until his death in 1922. A later Boston music director, Charles Munch (1949-62), had been concertmaster of the Gewandhaus (1926-33).

The Bostonians could easily fill several programs with works by American composers who studied in Leipzig. A short list would include William Mason, George Templeton Strong, George Whitefield Chadwick, Miklós Rózsa, Herman Berlinski and Harl McDonald.

The Leipzigers, in turn, could fill several seasons with composers linked to their city and orchestra – the Germans, starting with Johann Sebastian Bach and continuing with Mendelssohn, Schumann, Wagner, Brahms, Reinecke and Reger; and the many non-Germans who were schooled in Leipzig, among them Grieg, Busoni, Delius, Albéniz, Janáček, Erwin Schulhoff, Ethyl Smyth and Arthur Sullivan.

Letter V Classical Radio this week

Sept. 10
10 a.m.-1 p.m. EDT
1400-1700 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Schubert: “Quartettsatz” in C minor, D. 703
Artemis Quartet (Virgin Classics)

Brahms: Sonata in F minor, Op. 34b, for two pianos
Martha Argerich &
Lilya Zilberstein, pianos
(EMI Classics)

Past Masters:
Fauré: Élégie
Janos Starker, cello
Philharmonia Orchestra/
Walter Susskind
(EMI Classics)
(recorded 1956)

Barber: “Capricorn” Concerto
Basel Chamber Orchestra/
Christopher Hogwood
(Arte Nova)

Borodin: Piano Quintet
in C minor
Alexander Mogilevsky, piano
Andrey Baranov & Géza Hosszu-Legocky, violins
Nora Romanoff, viola
Jinh Zhao, cello
(Warner Classics)

Haydn: Symphony No. 94 in G major (“Surprise”)
Les Musiciens du Louvre, Grenoble/
Marc Minkowski
(Naïve)

Vaughan Williams:
Oboe Concerto
David Theodore, oboe
London Symphony Orchestra/
Bryden Thomson
(Chandos)

Onslow: Quartet in
A major, Op. 8, No. 3
Ruggieri Quartet (Aparte)

Paul Schoenfield: “Café Music”
Claremont Trio (Tria)

Rachmaninoff remains in Valhalla

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s great-great-granddaughter, Susan Sophia Rachmaninoff Volkonskaya Wanamaker, rebuffs Russian demands that the composer-pianist’s remains be disinterred from his grave in Valhalla, NY, and returned to Russia, which he fled following the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.

“After fleeing from one country to the next in life, as he did, is it too much to ask that he be allowed to rest in peace with his family? I don’t think so,” Wanamaker tells The New York Times’ James Barron:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/07/nyregion/family-balks-at-talk-by-russia-to-move-rachmaninoffs-remains.html?ref=music

Who owns the birthday song?

Ever wondered why restaurant staffers don’t sing “Happy birthday to you” to the familiar tune when they serenade celebrating patrons?

Because “Happy Birthday” is under copyright, and its owner, the publishing division of Warner Music Group, is due a royalty payment every time it is sung in a public performance. (You can sing it at home without owing the publisher.)

Now, a manuscript of the original version of the song, “Good Morning to All,” written by Patty and Mildred Hill of Louisville, KY, published in the 1890s in the collection “Song Stories for Kindergarten,” has turned up in in the library of the University of Louisville.

“There is an important detail to note, however: [T]he melody in the original manuscript is slightly different than the eventual, ‘Happy Birthday’ melody we all know,” leaving the ownership issue up to further debate, and ongoing litigation, Paul Resnikoff reports for Digital Music News:

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2015/09/01/breaking-original-1890s-manuscript-of-happy-birthday-discovered/

And why is a song written more than 120 years ago still under copyright, perhaps until 2030? Here’s one explanation:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You

They're the tops

The Berlin Philharmonic and Riccardo Chailly top the latest poll on best orchestras and conductors, by the classical website Bachtrack.

In the voting for best orchestra, the top two – the Berliners and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam – far outpaced those in third to 10th place. Five of the 10 are German orchestras.

The voting for best conductor was tighter, with the top three – Chailly, Simon Rattle and Mariss Jansons – scoring close to one another, and the next three in an even narrower cluster. Eight are current or incoming chief conductors of one of the top-10 orchestras.

Top orchestras:
1. Berlin Philharmonic
2. Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam
3. Vienna Philharmonic
4. Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig
5. Chicago Symphony Orchestra
6. London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Staatskapelle (tie)
8. Dresden Staatskapelle
9. Boston Symphony Orchestra
10. Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Top conductors:
1. Riccardo Chailly
2. Simon Rattle
3. Mariss Jansons
4. Andris Nelsons
5. Riccardo Muti
6. Daniel Barenboim
7. Kiril Petrenko
8. Esa-Pekka Salonen
9. Yannick Nezet-Seguin
10. Christian Thielemann

Sixteen critics, based in Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Peru, were polled.

“Three North American critics abstained from voting on the basis they felt that had not seen enough of the world’s top orchestras recently enough to cast their votes,” Mark Pullinger writes in an article outlining the survey:

https://bachtrack.com/worlds-best-orchestra-best-conductor-critics-choice-september-2015

(via www.artsjournal.com)

* * * 

UPDATE 1: Chailly (No. 1) will relinquish the chief conductor’s post at the Gewandhaus (No. 4) next summer, four seasons ahead of schedule, to concentrate on artistic leadership of Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the summer Lucerne Festival. Michael Cooper of The New York Times reports on the move:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/03/chailly-to-leave-leipzig-orchestra-early/?ref=music

* * *

UPDATE 2: Gewandhaus taps Nelsons (No. 4) to succeed Chailly. See Sept. 9 post, above.

Letter V Classical Radio this week

Sampling new recordings, including Mahler from Thierry Fischer and the Utah Symphony, Poulenc and Milhaud from pianist Martha Argerich and friends at the 2014 Lugano Festival, and the Catalyst Quartet’s string arrangement of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Goldberg Variations.” 

Sept. 3
10 a.m.-1 p.m. EDT
1400-1700 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Telemann: “Musique de table” – Book 2:
Overture in D major
Friedemann Immer, trumpet
Ann-Kathrin Brüggemann, oboe
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra/
Gottfried von der Goltz
(Harmonia Mundi)

Fauré: Violin Sonata
in A major, Op. 13
Itzhak Perlman, violin
Emanuel Ax, piano
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Brahms: Rhapsody
in G minor, Op. 79, No. 2
Alexander Beridze, piano (NY Classics)

Mahler: Symphony No. 1
Utah Symphony/
Thierry Fischer
(Reference Recordings)

Poulenc: Sonata for piano four-hands
Martha Argerich & Dagmar Clottu, piano four-hands
(Warner Classics)

Milhaud: “La création du monde”
(piano quintet arrangement by Darius Milhaud)
Eduardo Hubert, piano
Dora Schwarzberg & Michael Guttman, violins
Nora Romanoff, viola
Mark Dobrinsky, cello (Warner Classics)

J.S. Bach:
“Goldberg Variations”
(string quartet arrangement by Catalyst Quartet)
Catalyst Quartet (Azica)

September 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.

* In and around Richmond: An abbreviated September concert schedule, as the city’s central districts and some other neighborhoods are given over to the 2015 UCI Road World Championships bicycle races, Sept. 19-27. The Catalyst Quartet plays Beethoven, Bartók and Brahms, Sept. 9 at the Modlin Arts Center of the University of Richmond. . . . The Richmond Symphony opens its 2015-16 season with Steven Smith conducting Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, plus short works by Berlioz and John Adams, Sept. 12-13 at Richmond CenterStage. The symphony also will perform at the bike races’ opening ceremony, Sept. 18 on Brown’s Island. . . . Andrew McEvoy opens Virginia Commonwealth University’s Guitar Series, Sept. 13 at VCU’s Singleton Arts Center. . . . Cellist Schuyler Slack and pianist Daniel Stipe play sonatas by Gabriel Fauré and Frank Bridge, both composed during World War I, in “War and Peace,” Sept. 18 at Trinity Lutheran Church. . . . Pianist Alexander Paley presents his 18th Richmond music festival, joined by his wife and piano four-hands partner, Peiwen Chen, as well as the Richmond Symphony Chamber Chorus, violinist Daisuke Yamamoto, clarinetist Charles West and other guest artists, playing works by Schubert, Enescu, Vivaldi, Ravel, Poulenc, Saint-Saëns and others, Sept. 25-27 at St. Luke Lutheran Church.

* Noteworthy elsewhere: The Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, opening with the new-music quartet Brooklyn Rider on Sept. 8, continues with six more programs, through Sept. 20 at the Paramount Theater, Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia and The Southern Café and Music Hall. . . . Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and composer-pianist Jake Heggie introduce a new song cycle by Heggie and perform works by Schumann, Berlioz and Ned Rorem, Sept. 12 at Washington’s Kennedy Center. . . . Violinist Sarah Chang joins JoAnn Falletta and the Virginia Symphony in a season-opening program of Bernstein, Ravel, Barber and Brahms, Sept. 18-20 at venues in Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. . . . Bizet’s “Carmen” opens Washington National Opera’s new season, with eight performances from Sept. 19-29 (and two more in early October) at the Kennedy Center. . . . Virginia Opera opens its season with an English-language production of Jacques Offenbach’s comedy “Orpheus in the Underworld,” with three performances from Sept. 25-29 at Norfolk’s Harrison Opera House (and four more in October at venues in Fairfax and Richmond).
. . . Violinist Itzhak Perlman, on his 70th birthday tour with pianist Emanuel Ax, plays Mozart, Fauré, Richard Strauss and more, Sept. 28 at the Kennedy Center. . . . Behzod Abduraimov, the acclaimed young Uzbek pianist, plays Schubert, Liszt and Mussorgsky in the season-opener of the Tuesday Evening Concerts in Charlottesville, Sept. 29 at UVa’s Old Cabell Hall.


Sept. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
31st Street Stage, Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
conductor TBA
program TBA
free
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

Sept. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Lake Matoaka Amphitheater, 121 Ukrop Way, Williamsburg
Sept. 5 (7:30 p.m.)
Yorktown Riverwalk Landing, 425 Water St.
Sept. 6 (7 p.m.)
Chesapeake City Park, 900 Greenbriar Road
Virginia Symphony
Benjamin Rous conducting
Saint-Saëns: “Samson et Delila” – Bacchanale
Beethoven: “Egmont” Overture
Bartók: “Rumanian Folk Dances”
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 in C minor (“Little Russian”) – finale
Walton: “Crown Imperial”
Elgar: “Pomp and Circumstance” March No. 1
Custer: “Salute to the Big Apple”
Jerry Brubaker: “What’s Up at the Symphony?”
Leroy Anderson: “Blue Tango”
Rado & Long: “Hair” (excerpts)
free
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

Sept. 5 (8 p.m.)
Bruton Parish Church, 201 Duke of Gloucester St., Williamsburg
Cheryl van Ornam, organ
program TBA
free
(757) 229-2891
www.brutonparish.org

Sept. 5 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
“Vivaldi Project” Concert:
Elizabeth Field & David Sariti, violins
Stephanie Vial, cello
Charlotte Mattox Moersch, harpsichord
works TBA by Vivaldi, Corelli, Purcell, others
$10
(free masterclass, 3 p.m. Sept. 4, 113 Old Cabell Hall)
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu

Sept. 6 (8 p.m.)
West Lawn, U.S. Capitol, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Steven Reineke conducting
Kate Davis, vocalist
Soldiers’ Chorus of U.S. Army Field Band
program TBA
free
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Sept. 8 (8 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival:
Brooklyn Rider
“The Brooklyn Rider Almanac” (selections)
Schubert: Quartet in A minor, D. 804 (“Rosamunde”)
$18-$25
(434) 295-5395
www.cvillechambermusic.org

Sept. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Catalyst Quartet
Beethoven: Quartet in D major, Op. 18, No. 3
Bartók: Quartet No. 3
Brahms: Quartet No. 3 in B flat major, Op. 67
$32
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

Sept. 10 (8 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival:
Sharon Roffman, violin
Timothy Summers, violin/viola
Raphael Bell, cello
Benjamin Hochman, piano
Beethoven: Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70, No. 1 (“Ghost”)
Chopin: Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 45
Chopin: Barcarolle in F sharp minor, Op. 60
Chopin: Scherzo in C sharp minor, Op. 39
Brahms: Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25
$18-$25
(434) 295-5395
www.cvillechambermusic.org

Sept. 10 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Seaman conducting
Season Preview Concert:
Debussy: “Images” – “Ibéria”
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major (“Pastoral”) – 1st movement
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A minor (“Scottish”) – 3rd movement
Prokofiev: “Romeo and Juliet” – “The Montagues and the Capulets,” “Masks,” “Death of Tybald”
Vivaldi: “The Four Seasons” – “Spring”
Jonathan Carney, violin
Christopher Seaman, harpsichord
Elgar: “Enigma Variations”
$15
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

Sept. 11 (12:30 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival:
Timothy Summers & Sharon Roffman, violins
Raphael Bell, cello
Mimi Solomon, piano
works by Rachmaninoff, Kreisler, Gershwin, others
free
(434) 295-5395
www.cvillechambermusic.org

Sept. 12 (8 p.m.)
Sept. 13 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
Adams: “Short Ride in a Fast Machine”
Berlioz: “King Lear” Overture
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor (“Choral”)
Kishna Davis-Fowler, soprano
Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano
Marco Panuccio, tenor
Kevin Deas, bass
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Erin Freeman directing
$10-$78
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

Sept. 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Town Point Park, Norfolk
Virginia Opera singers
Virginia Symphony
Adam Turner conducting
arias and ensembles TBA by Mozart, Offenbach, Puccini, Gounod, Wagner, Bernstein, others
free
(866) 673-7282
www.vaopera.org

Sept. 12 (7 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Vocal Arts DC:
Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano
Jake Heggie, piano
Heggie: “Iconic Legacies”
Schumann: “Frauenliebe und -leben”
songs TBA by Berlioz, Ned Rorem
$50
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Sept. 13 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Guitar Series:
Andrew McEvoy, classical guitar
program TBA
$15
(804) 828-6776
www.arts.vcu.edu/music

Sept. 13 (3 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival:
Jennifer Frautschi, Sharon Roffman & Timothy Summers, violins
David Quiggle & Dov Scheindlin, violas
Raphael Bell & James Wilson, cellos
Emma Schied, oboe
Mozart: Oboe Quartet in F major, K. 370
Mark-Anthony Turnage: Cantilena for oboe and string quartet
Bruckner: String Quintet in F major
$18-$25
(434) 295-5395
www.cvillechambermusic.org

Sept. 16 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
“The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses – Master Quest”
performers TBA
$45-$150
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org

Sept. 17 (8 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival:
Timothy Summers, violin
Yura Lee, violin/viola
David Quiggle, viola
Raphael Bell, cello
Nicholas Walker, double-bass
I-Jen Fang, percussion
Emma Schied, oboe
Matthew Hunt, clarinet
Bartók: duos for 2 violas
Osvaldo Golijov: “Mariel” for marimba and cello
Hindemith: “Little Musical Flower Garden and Leipzigish Assortment”
Alejandro Viñao: “Tumblers” for violin, marimba and computer
Prokofiev: Quintet in G minor, Op. 39, for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and double-bass
$18-$25
(434) 295-5395
www.cvillechambermusic.org

Sept. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Fife Theatre, Street and Davis Performance Hall, Virginia Tech Arts Center, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
United States Marine Band (“The President’s Own”)
Lt. Col. Jason K. Fettig directing
program TBA
free; tickets required
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

Sept. 18 (6:30 p.m.)
Brown’s Island, Seventh and Tredegar streets, Richmond
2015 UCI Road World Championships Opening Ceremony:
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Erin Freeman directing
Rayvon Owen, vocalist
program TBA
free; tickets required
(804) 788-5820
www.eventbrite.com/e/uci-road-world-championships-opening-ceremony-tickets-18135981208

Sept. 18 (7 p.m.)
Trinity Lutheran Church, 2315 N. Parham Road, Richmond
Schuyler Slack, cello
Daniel Stipe, piano
Fauré: Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 109
Frank Bridge: Cello Sonata in D minor
free
(804) 270-4626
www.trinityrichmond.net

Sept. 18 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Sept. 19 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Sept. 20 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
JoAnn Falletta conducting
Barber: “The School for Scandal” Overture
Bernstein: “West Side Story” Suite for violin and orchestra
Ravel: “Tzigane”
Sarah Chang, violin
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major
$25-$110
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

Sept. 18 (8:30 p.m.)
The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 First St. south, Charlottesville
Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival:
Yura Lee & Timothy Summers, violins
David Quiggle, viola
Raphael Bell, cello
Kalle Kalima, guitar
Nicholas Walker, double-bass
Matthew Hunt, clarinet
Conor Hanick, piano
“Music Fresh Squeezed”
John D’earth: “Natural Bridge” for piano trio, double-bass and electric guitar
other works TBA
$20
(434) 295-5395
www.cvillechambermusic.org

Sept. 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Fife Theatre, Street and Davis Performance Hall, Virginia Tech Arts Center, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Anthony de Mare, piano
“Liasons: Reimagining Sondheim from the Piano”
$55
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

Sept. 19 (4 p.m.)
Perkinson Recital Hall, North Court, University of Richmond
Helena von Rueden, mezzo-soprano
R. David Salvage, piano
songs TBA by Korngold, Cesti, Respighi, Salvage
free
(804) 289-8980

Sept. 19 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, 4373 Mason Pond Drive, Fairfax
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Beethoven: “Coriolan” Overture
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major (“Emperor”)
Alon Goldstein, piano
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor
$34-$58
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.fairfaxsymphony.org

Sept. 19 (7 p.m.)
Sept. 20 (2 p.m.)
Sept. 21 (7 p.m.)
Sept. 24 (7 p.m.)
Sept. 25 (7 p.m.)
Sept. 26 (7 p.m.)
Sept. 27 (2 p.m.)
Sept. 29 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Evan Rogister conducting
Bizet: “Carmen”
Clémentine Margaine/Géraldine Chauvet (Carmen)
Bryan Hymel/Rafael Davila (Don José)
Michael Todd Simpson/Aleksey Bogdanov (Escamillo)
Janai Brugger/Jacqueline Echols (Micaëla)
E. Loren Meeker, stage director
in French, English captions
$25-$315
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Sept. 19 (8 p.m.)
Sept. 20 (3 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
National Philharmonic
Piotr Gajewski conducting
Bernstein: “Symphonic Dances from ‘West Side
Story’ ”
Gershwin: “An American in Paris”
Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F major
Thomas Pandolfi, piano
$29-$89
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org

Sept. 20 (3 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players
Gilbert & Sullivan: “The Pirates of Penzance”
cast TBA
in English
$34-$56
(855) 337-4849
www.fergusoncenter.org

Sept. 20 (3 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival:
Yura Lee & Timothy Summers, violins
Raphael Bell & James Wilson, cellos
Nicholas Walker, double-bass
Kalle Kalima, guitar
Matthew Hunt, clarinet
Conor Hanick, piano
Ravel: Sonata for violin and cello
Kalima: “Kata Heian Nidan (Peaceful Kata)”
John D’earth: “Natural Bridge” (selections)
Messiaen: “Quartet for the End of Time”
$18-$25
(434) 295-5395
www.cvillechambermusic.org

Sept. 20 (7 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, 4373 Mason Pond Drive, Fairfax
Jeffrey Siegel, piano
“Keyboard Conversations: Music of Joyous Celebration!”
works TBA by J.S. Bach, Schumann, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Falla, others
$24-$40
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.cfa.gmu.edu/calendar

Sept. 20 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach & Steven Reineke conducting
Opening Ball Concert:
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 (“Classical”)
Tan Dun: “Tears of Nature” – 1st movement
Keiko Abe: “Prism Rhapsody” (abridged)
Martin Grubinger, percussion
songs TBA by Frank Loesser, Jason Robert Brown, Stephen Sondheim, George Gershwin
Sutton Foster, vocalist
Smetana: “The Bartered Bride” – Overture and dances
$49-$125
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Sept. 24 (8 p.m.)
Crosswalk Community Church, 7575 Richmond Road, Williamsburg
Sept. 25 (8 p.m.)
Regent University Theater, 1000 Regent University Drive, Virginia Beach
Sept. 26 (8 p.m.)
TCC Roper Performing Arts Center, 340 Granby St., Norfolk
Virginia Symphony
JoAnn Falletta conducting
Mozart: Symphony No. 32 in G major, K. 318
Tchaikovsky: Serenade in C major for strings
Mozart: Sinfonia concertante in E flat major, K. 364
Simon Lapointe, violin
Beverly Baker, viola
$9-$65
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

Sept. 25 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Luke Lutheran Church, Chippenham Parkway at Custis Road, Richmond
Alexander Paley Music Festival:
Alexander Paley, piano
Alexander Paley & Peiwen Chen, piano four-hands
Schubert: Rondeau in A major, D. 951, for piano four-hands (“Grand Rondeau”)
Schubert: Allegro in A minor, D. 947, for piano four-hands (“Lebensstürme”)
Medtner: “Sonata-Reminiscenza” in A minor, Op. 38, No. 1
Schubert: “8 Variations on a Theme from Hérold’s Opera ‘Marie’,” D. 908, for piano four-hands
Chopin: “Polonaise-Fantasie”
Pancho Vladigerov: “Sonatina concertante,” Op. 28
Enescu: “Romanian Rhapsody” No. 1 for piano four-hands
donation requested
(804) 665-9516
www.paleymusicfestival.org

Sept. 25 (8 p.m.)
Sept. 27 (2:30 p.m.)
Sept. 29 (7:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, Virginia Beach Boulevard at Llewellyn Avenue, Norfolk
Virginia Opera
Anne Manson conducting
Offenbach: “Orpheus in the Underworld”
Meredith Lustig (Eurydice)
Javier Abreu (Orpheus)
Daniel Curran (Aristeus/Pluto)
Troy Cook (Jupiter)
Margaret Gawrysiak (Public Opinion)
Brian Mextorf (John Styx)
Kelly Glyptis (Cupid)
Molly Hill (Venus)
Keith Brown (Mars)
Katherine Polit (Diana)
Leah de Gruyl (Juno)
Kyle Tomlin (Mercury)
Bridgid Eversole (Minerva)
Sam Helfrich, stage director
in English, English captions
$30.91-$105.45
(866) 673-7282
www.vaopera.org

Sept. 25 (8 p.m.)
Sept. 26 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Steven Reineke conducting
Rajaton, guest stars
“Best of the Beatles”
$20-$88
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Sept. 26 (6 p.m.)
James River High School auditorium, 3700 James River Road, Midlothian
Richmond Symphony
Daniel Myssyk conducting
Berlioz: “The Damnation of Faust” – “Hungarian March”
Bernstein: “West Side Story” (selections)
other works TBA
free
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

Sept. 26 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Luke Lutheran Church, Chippenham Parkway at Custis Road, Richmond
Alexander Paley Music Festival:
Rossini: “Petite Messe Solennelle”
Jennifer Piazza-Pick, soprano
Martha Prewitt, mezzo-soprano
Aaron Jones, tenor
Ian Richardson, bass
Richmond Symphony Chamber Chorus
Erin Freeman conducting
Alexander Paley, piano
Daniel Stipe, organ
donation requested
(804) 665-9516
www.paleymusicfestival.org

Sept. 26 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Sept. 27 (3:30 p.m.)
Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center, Charlottesville High School, 1400 Melbourne Road
Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia
Kate Tamarkin conducting
Brahms: “Academic Festival” Overture
Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 in E flat major, K. 495
Eric Ruske, French horn
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor
$10-$45
(434) 924-3376
www.cvillesymphony.org

Sept. 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Gerhard Siegel, tenor
Gabriel Dobner, piano
songs TBA by Schubert, Wolf, Schoenberg, Richard Strauss
$25
(540) 886-9132

Sept. 26 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Juanjo Mena conducting
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 (“Classical”)
Glazunov: Violin Concerto in A minor
Jonathan Carney, violin
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major (“Pastoral”)
$20-$99
(888) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

Sept. 27 (3 p.m.)
St. Luke Lutheran Church, Chippenham Parkway at Custis Road, Richmond
Alexander Paley Music Festival:
Ravel: Violin Sonata No. 2
Daisuke Yamamoto, violin
Alexander Paley, piano
Poulenc: Clarinet Sonata
Charles West, clarinet
Alexander Paley, piano
Debussy: Violin Sonata in G minor
Daisuke Yamamoto, violin
Alexander Paley, piano
Saint-Saëns: “Carnival of the Animals”
Pamela McClain, narrator
Alexander Paley & Peiwen Chen, piano four-hands
donation requested
(804) 665-9516
www.paleymusicfestival.org

Sept. 27 (3 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
Benjamin Rous conducting
“A Seussical Symphony,” based on Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham” and “The Sneetches”
$10-$15
(757) 892-6366
www.virginiasymphony.org

Sept. 28 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Itzhak Perlman, violin
Emanuel Ax, piano
Mozart: Violin Sonata in C major, K. 296
Fauré: Violin Sonata No. 1 in A major, Op. 13
Richard Strauss: Violin Sonata in E flat major, Op. 18
other works TBA
$55-$135
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

Sept. 29 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Behzod Abduraimov, piano
Schubert: 4 impromptus, D. 935
Liszt: “Mephisto Waltz” No. 1
Mussorgsky: “Pictures at an Exhibition”
$12-$35
(434) 924-3376
www.tecs.org