March 29
noon-3 p.m. EST
1700-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://www.wdce.org
Peter Warlock: “Capriol” Suite
Camerata Wales/
Owain Arwel Hughes
(BIS)
Bruch: Serenade in A minor
Salvatore Accardo, violin
Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig/
Kurt Masur
(Philips)
Past Masters:
Delius: “On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring”
Royal Philharmonic/
Thomas Beecham
(recorded 1956)
(EMI Classics)
Mozart:
Oboe Concerto
in C major, K. 314
Heinz Holliger, oboe
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/
Neville Marriner
(Philips)
Poulenc: Sextet for piano and winds
Pascal Rogé, piano
Patrick Gallois, flute
Maurice Bourgue, oboe
Michel Portal, clarinet
Amaury Wallez, bassoon
André Cazalet, French horn
(Decca)
J.S. Bach:
“Brandenburg” Concerto
No. 5 in D major,
BWV 1050
Akademie für
alte Musik Berlin/
Stefan Mai
(Harmonia Mundi)
Mason Bates:
“String Band”
Claremont Trio
(Innova)
Beethoven:
Symphony No. 6
in F major (“Pastoral”)
Orchestra of
the 18th Century/
Frans Brüggen
(Philips)
Monday, March 27, 2017
Monday, March 20, 2017
Letter V Classical Radio this week
March 22
noon-3 p.m. EST
1700-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://www.wdce.org
Alexander Reinagle: “Occasional Overture” in D major
(reconstruction by Bertil van Boer)
Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä/
Patrick Gallois
(Naxos)
Jan Ladislav Dussek:
Piano Concerto in G minor
Andreas Staier,
fortepiano & director
Concerto Köln
(Capriccio)
Johann Friedrich Peter:
Quintet No. 1 in D major
American Moravian Chamber Ensemble
(New World)
François-Joseph Gossec: Symphony in D major,
Op. 5, No. 5 (“Pastorella”)
Tafelmusik/Jeanne Lamon
(CBC)
Past Masters:
Copland:
“Appalachian Spring” Suite
Boston Symphony Orchestra/
Aaron Copland
(recorded 1959)
(RCA Victor)
Debussy: “Printemps”
Cleveland Orchestra/Pierre Boulez
(Deutsche Grammophon)
Borodin:
Piano Quintet in C minor,
Op. posth.
Alexander Mogilevsky,
piano
Andrey Baranov &
Géza Hosszu-Legocky,
violins
Nora Romanoff, viola
Jing Zhao, cello
(Warner Classics)
Past Masters:
Dvořák:
Symphony No. 8 in G major
London Symphony Orchestra/István Kertész
(recorded 1963)
(Decca)
noon-3 p.m. EST
1700-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://www.wdce.org
Alexander Reinagle: “Occasional Overture” in D major
(reconstruction by Bertil van Boer)
Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä/
Patrick Gallois
(Naxos)
Jan Ladislav Dussek:
Piano Concerto in G minor
Andreas Staier,
fortepiano & director
Concerto Köln
(Capriccio)
Johann Friedrich Peter:
Quintet No. 1 in D major
American Moravian Chamber Ensemble
(New World)
François-Joseph Gossec: Symphony in D major,
Op. 5, No. 5 (“Pastorella”)
Tafelmusik/Jeanne Lamon
(CBC)
Past Masters:
Copland:
“Appalachian Spring” Suite
Boston Symphony Orchestra/
Aaron Copland
(recorded 1959)
(RCA Victor)
Debussy: “Printemps”
Cleveland Orchestra/Pierre Boulez
(Deutsche Grammophon)
Borodin:
Piano Quintet in C minor,
Op. posth.
Alexander Mogilevsky,
piano
Andrey Baranov &
Géza Hosszu-Legocky,
violins
Nora Romanoff, viola
Jing Zhao, cello
(Warner Classics)
Past Masters:
Dvořák:
Symphony No. 8 in G major
London Symphony Orchestra/István Kertész
(recorded 1963)
(Decca)
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Chuck Berry (1926-2017)
Chuck Berry, who melded blues guitar licks and boogie-woogie rhythms with country balladry to produce the still-greatest examples of the rock ’n’ roll song, has died at 90.
Growing up in St. Louis in the 1930s and ’40s, Berry absorbed a variety of styles, from gospel and blues to swing and country, distilling them into a song form that became the model of the new rock ’n’ roll genre in the ’50s. His tunes were elevated by lyrics that combined a wit comparable to Noel Coward’s with the authenticity and enduring appeal of folksong.
“His guitar lines wired the lean twang of country and the bite of the blues into phrases with both a streamlined trajectory and a long memory. And tucked into the lighthearted, telegraphic narratives that he sang with such clear enunciation was a sly defiance, upending convention to claim the pleasures of the moment,” Jon Pareles writes in an obituary for The New York Times.
Berry’s lyrics, to my ears, place him in the triumvirate of great mid-20th century American merry pranksters, alongside Bugs Bunny and Archie Goodwin, the wise-cracking, street-savvy assistant to the pompous, cerebral detective in Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories.
The inclusion of Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” (1958) on a disc launched aboard the Voyager I spacecraft in 1977 prompted one of the most spot-on punchlines of any joke ever told on “Saturday Night Live.” First message to Earth from extraterrestrials: “Send more Chuck Berry.”
The full obituary by Pareles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/arts/chuck-berry-dead.html
Bill Wyman, the former culture editor of National Public Radio and Salon, casts Berry as head chef in devising the recipe of rock ’n’ roll, in a wide-ranging piece of pop musicology originally posted on Vulture, now re-posted on Slate:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/03/18/chuck_berry_dead_at_90_invented_the_idea_of_rock_and_roll.html
Monday, March 13, 2017
Letter V Classical Radio this week
Britannia rules the airwaves, in a program of British music ranging over four centuries. Along with familiar works such as Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations,” Benjamin Britten’s “Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Henry Purcell” (better-known as “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra,” here without the narration), Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis” and Purcell’s “Come, Ye Sons of Art,” a number of discoveries: the Cello Concerto in D minor of Charles Villers Stanford, Arthur Sullivan (minus William S. Gilbert) taking on “Macbeth,” and compositions by 18th-century Brits of the generation after Handel’s, including selections from Thomas Arne’s “Alfred,” the royal masque, introduced in 1740, that gave the world “Rule Britannia!”
March 15
noon-3 p.m. EST
1700-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://www.wdce.org
Past Masters:
William Boyce: Symphony No. 5 in D major
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/
Neville Marriner
(recorded 1976)
(Decca)
Thomas Arne: “Rosamond” – “Rise, glory, rise”
Emma Kirkby, soprano
Academy of Ancient Music/
Christopher Hogwood
(Decca)
William Boyce:
“Solomon” –
“Softly rise,
o southern breeze”
Ian Bostridge, tenor
Albert Grazzi, bassoon
Sophie Daneman, soprano
Madeleine Shaw,
mezzo-soprano
Benjamin Hulett, tenor
Jonathan Gunthorpe, baritone
The English Concert/Bernard Labadie
(Warner Classics)
John Marsh: Symphony No. 10 in E flat major
(“A Conversation for Two Orchestras”)
London Mozart Players/Matthias Bamert
(Chandos)
Thomas Arne: “Alfred” –
Overture
“Through storms awhile
the sun obscure”
“O guardian angels,
o descend”
“See liberty, virtue and honour appearing”
“Rule Britannia!”
Jennifer Smith &
Christine Brandes, sopranos
David Daniels, countertenor
Jamie MacDougall, tenor
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale/
Nicholas McGegan
(Deutsche Harmonia Mundi)
Arthur Sullivan:
“Macbeth” Overture
Royal Philharmonic/
Royston Nash
(Decca)
Charles Villiers Stanford: Cello Concerto in D minor
Alexander Baillie, cello
Royal Philharmonic/
Nicholas Braithwaite
(Lyrita)
Past Masters:
Elgar: “Variations on an Original Theme” (“Enigma”)
London Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Monteux
(recorded 1958)
(Decca)
Thomas Tallis:
“Why Fum’th in Fight?”
Atlanta Symphony Chorus/
Norman Mackenzie
(Telarc)
Vaughan Williams:
“Fantasia on a Theme
of Thomas Tallis”
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra/
Robert Spano
(Telarc)
Past Masters:
Britten:
“Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Henry Purcell”
London Symphony Orchestra/Benjamin Britten
(recorded 1966)
(Decca)
Purcell:
“Come, Ye Sons of Art”
Emily van Evera, soprano
John Mark Ainsley &
Charles Daniels, tenors
David Thomas, bass
Taverner Consort
& Players/
Andrew Parrott
(EMI Classics)
Saturday, March 11, 2017
UR Modlin Center '17-'18 preview
Pianist Richard Goode and Tan Dun and the China National Symphony Orchestra highlight the roster of classical artists scheduled to perform in the 2017-18 season of the University of Richmond’s Modlin Arts Center.
The center’s classical schedule next season also includes the Shanghai, Jerusalem and Escher string quartets, the latter performing with guitarist Jason Vieaux.
Tan Dun, perhaps the best-known contemporary composer from China, is the artistic director of the China National Symphony Orchestra. Their concert programs often mix works by Chinese and Western composers.
Three more new-music or cross-cultural events are on the schedule:
– The So Percussion quartet – Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting – joined by soprano Dawn Upshaw and her longtime recital accompanist, pianist Gilbert Kalish.
– eighth blackbird, UR’s resident contemporary music sextet, joined by composer-fiddler Dan Trueman and singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, in “Olagón: a Cantata in Doublespeak,” a concert-length work, based on
an Irish folk tale, composed by Trueman, Ó Lionáird and poet Paul Muldoon.
– “Songbook,” featuring vocalist Steven Page, a founding member of the Canadian pop-rock group Barenaked Ladies, and The Art of Time Ensemble, which bills its programming as “fusing high art and popular culture.”
A “Save the Date” advisory on the coming classical season was mailed last week to subscribers. Programs, ticket details and venues, as well as other Modlin Center offerings for 2017-18, will be announced later.
The Modlin Center’s 2017-18 classical dates, all at 7:30 p.m.:
Sept. 19 – Escher Quartet with guitarist Jason Vieaux.
Oct. 20 – Pianist Richard Goode.
Nov. 9 – Shanghai Quartet.
Feb. 7 – Steven Page & The Art of Time Ensemble in “Songbook.”
Feb. 14 – China National Symphony Orchestra, Tan Dun conducting.
March 21 – Jerusalem Quartet.
March 23 – eighth blackbird with composer-fiddler Dan Trueman and singer Iarla Ó Lionáird in “Olagón: a Cantata in Doublespeak.”
April 7 – So Percussion with soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist Gilbert Kalish.
To be added to the Modlin Center’s mailing list, call the box office at (804) 289-8980, or visit http://modlin.richmond.edu
Friday, March 10, 2017
Review: Chamber Music Society
Jesse Mills, violin
James Wilson, cello
Mary Boodell, flute
James Ferree, French horn
Rieko Aizawa, piano
March 10, Boodell-Davis House
“The future of live music,” the BBC reported recently, is for people to have friends over and invite musicians to play concerts in their homes:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-39153751
Hmm, where have we heard this before? Those whose memories stretch back to the previous millennium will recall that there’s a genre called chamber music, and that it came by that name because, until fairly recently, it generally was performed in domestic settings. (Those with shorter memories are referred to an at-home musicale with tragic consequences in season 4, episode 3 of “Downton Abbey.”)
Each season in Richmond, the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia revives the genre’s roots by staging a couple of its programs in houses: a December baroque program at the Wilton House Museum and another chamber concert in a home large enough for the musicians to play to a smallish but not minuscule audience.
This time, the venue was the Fan District home that Mary Boodell, the Richmond Symphony’s principal flutist and a regular performer with (and current board president of) the Chamber Music Society, shares with her husband, Evan Davis, and their sons.
The selections were big enough in sound and scope, and the setting intimate enough – three dozen or so listeners in the house’s living room and front hall – to produce a truly enveloping evening of music-making.
The main attraction was Brahms’ Trio in E flat major, Op. 40, for piano, violin and French horn, not the most muscular of the composer’s chamber works, but in this setting, as played by pianist Rieko Aizawa, violinist Jesse Mills and horn player James Ferree, borderline-brawny in impact and deeply passionate in spirit.
The musicians played with technical assurance, expressive spontaneity and – remarkably, considering how assertively they played – fine balance among the three instruments.
A more in-your-face reading of Bohuslav Martinů’s “Madrigal Sonata” by Aizawa, Mills and flutist Boodell nearly cracked the sound barrier of the space in which they played, especially in the sonata’s opening movement, a busy construct with all three instruments emphasizing their high registers.
Dvořák’s “Silent Woods,” which cellist James Wilson, the society’s artistic director, played in a custom-made arrangement with piano, flute and horn, and the Elegie for violin and piano by the short-lived (1915-40) Czech composer Vitěslava Kaprálová complemented each other musically – the Elegie is more Slavic-romantic than some of Kaprálová’s other works, which reflect French-impressionist influence – and complemented the performance space in warmth and intimacy.
The Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia presents “Brahms and Friends,” a free mini-concert of works by Brahms, Robert and Clara Schumann, Ferdinand David and Heinrich von Herzogenberg, 2 p.m. March 11 in the Gellman Room of the Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets. (Seating is limited.) Details: (804) 646-7723; http://cmscva.org
James Wilson, cello
Mary Boodell, flute
James Ferree, French horn
Rieko Aizawa, piano
March 10, Boodell-Davis House
“The future of live music,” the BBC reported recently, is for people to have friends over and invite musicians to play concerts in their homes:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-39153751
Hmm, where have we heard this before? Those whose memories stretch back to the previous millennium will recall that there’s a genre called chamber music, and that it came by that name because, until fairly recently, it generally was performed in domestic settings. (Those with shorter memories are referred to an at-home musicale with tragic consequences in season 4, episode 3 of “Downton Abbey.”)
Each season in Richmond, the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia revives the genre’s roots by staging a couple of its programs in houses: a December baroque program at the Wilton House Museum and another chamber concert in a home large enough for the musicians to play to a smallish but not minuscule audience.
This time, the venue was the Fan District home that Mary Boodell, the Richmond Symphony’s principal flutist and a regular performer with (and current board president of) the Chamber Music Society, shares with her husband, Evan Davis, and their sons.
The selections were big enough in sound and scope, and the setting intimate enough – three dozen or so listeners in the house’s living room and front hall – to produce a truly enveloping evening of music-making.
The main attraction was Brahms’ Trio in E flat major, Op. 40, for piano, violin and French horn, not the most muscular of the composer’s chamber works, but in this setting, as played by pianist Rieko Aizawa, violinist Jesse Mills and horn player James Ferree, borderline-brawny in impact and deeply passionate in spirit.
The musicians played with technical assurance, expressive spontaneity and – remarkably, considering how assertively they played – fine balance among the three instruments.
A more in-your-face reading of Bohuslav Martinů’s “Madrigal Sonata” by Aizawa, Mills and flutist Boodell nearly cracked the sound barrier of the space in which they played, especially in the sonata’s opening movement, a busy construct with all three instruments emphasizing their high registers.
Dvořák’s “Silent Woods,” which cellist James Wilson, the society’s artistic director, played in a custom-made arrangement with piano, flute and horn, and the Elegie for violin and piano by the short-lived (1915-40) Czech composer Vitěslava Kaprálová complemented each other musically – the Elegie is more Slavic-romantic than some of Kaprálová’s other works, which reflect French-impressionist influence – and complemented the performance space in warmth and intimacy.
The Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia presents “Brahms and Friends,” a free mini-concert of works by Brahms, Robert and Clara Schumann, Ferdinand David and Heinrich von Herzogenberg, 2 p.m. March 11 in the Gellman Room of the Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets. (Seating is limited.) Details: (804) 646-7723; http://cmscva.org
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Youth Orchestra Program sessions
The Richmond Symphony will hold open-house sessions later in the month on its Youth Orchestra Program, with introductions to its entry-level String Sinfonietta and intermediate-level Camerata Strings and Youth Concert Orchestra at 4:30 p.m. March 21 at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, 1000 Mosby St.; and an introduction to its advanced-level Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra at 4:45 p.m. March 28 at Dominion Arts Center, Sixth and Grace streets.
Reservations are required to attend the sessions.
Prospective members and their parents are invited to bring their instruments and experience a rehearsal. Question-and-answer sessions will follow the rehearsals.
Auditions are not required for membership in the String Sinfonietta. Auditions for the other ensembles, all to be held at Dominion Arts Center:
May 23 (4:30-8 p.m.) and May 30 (4:30-8 p.m.) – Camerata Strings, Youth Concert Orchestra and Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra.
June 6 (4:30-8 p.m.) – Youth Concert Orchestra and Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Aug. 15 (5-7 p.m.) – Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Aug. 22 (4:30-8 p.m.) – Camerata Strings and Youth Concert Orchestra.
To make reservations for an open house or obtain more information about the Youth Orchestra Program, call (804) 788-4717, Ext. 144, or link online: http://www.richmondsymphony.com/education-engagement/
Monday, March 6, 2017
Letter V Classical Radio this week
The plan for this program was to see how much instrumental virtuosity I could fit into three hours without turning it into a succession of splashy showpieces. Plenty of dazzlers here – you’ll often be amazed that real people in real time made the sounds that you’re hearing – but real music to chew on, too.
March 8
noon-3 p.m. EST
1700-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://www.wdce.org
Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in D major, RV 208
(“Il grosso Mogul”)
Gordan Nikolitch, violin
Combattimento Consort
Amsterdam/
Jan Willem de Vriend
(Challenge Classics)
Past Masters:
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major
Sviatoslav Richter, piano
London Symphony Orchestra/
Kirill Kondrashin
(recorded 1961)
(Philips)
Ravel: “Gaspard de la nuit”
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano
(Decca)
Haydn:
Cello Concerto No. 1
in C major
Pieter Wispelwey,
cello & director
Florilegium Ensemble
(Channel Classics)
Bartók: Sonata for solo violin
Viktoria Mullova, violin
(Philips)
J.S. Bach:
Partita in D minor,
BWV 1004 – Chaconne
(arrangement by
Jean Rondeau)
Jean Rondeau, harpsichord
(Erato)
Dukas: Villanelle
David Jolley, French horn
Samuel Sanders, piano
(Arabesque)
Brahms:
Piano Quintet
in F minor, Op. 34
Stefan Vladar, piano
Artis Quartet
(Sony Classical)
Sarasate:
“Zigeunerweisen”
Julia Fischer, violin
Milana Chernyavska, piano
(Decca)
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Review: Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
with Jinjoo Cho, violin
March 4, Dominion Arts Center
“Pétrouchka,” second of the three ballet scores that launched Igor Stravinsky’s career in early 20th century Paris – introduced in 1911, it followed “The Firebird” (1910) and preceded “The Rite of Spring” (1913) – is a work that, while still regularly staged by ballet troupes, also has become a staple of the orchestral repertory.
Conductors and orchestras typically perform such pieces more “symphonically” in concert, with more propulsion in fast sections and greater flexibility in slower or more lyrical passages, than they might while accompanying a ballet production.
Steven Smith, the Richmond Symphony’s music director, paced this “Pétrouchka” for invisible dancers. His fairly strict, generally measured tempos enhanced the music in some ways – clarifying the colors and textures of Stravinsky’s elaborately detailed orchestration, giving its many solos and small-ensemble exchanges the space to be fully realized – but lowered the voltage of the score’s more exciting parts.
“The Shrovetide Fair,” the opening section, came across as a colorful procession rather than a display of musical fireworks, and subsequent big moments sounded similarly understated.
The orchestra played splendidly, painting Stravinsky’s wide pallette of tone colors vividly and producing his many novel sound effects effectively. Trumpeter Brian Strawley, English horn player Alexandra von der Embse, flutist Mary Boodell, bassoonist Thomas Schneider, clarinetist David Lemelin and the orchestra’s percussionists were the stars of the show, playing with the expressiveness and attention to timbral detail more often heard in chamber music than in orchestral performances.
The evening’s guest soloist, the Korean-born, Cleveland-based violinist Jinjoo Cho, treated Tchaikovsky’s Concerto in D major to an ultra-romantic interpretation, phrasing with plentiful rubato, lingering on expressive details, emphasizing dynamic contrasts and playing up big rhetorical gestures. Tchaikovsky invites this kind of italicization, and Cho was not shy about accepting the invitation.
Listening to Cho, I was reminded of singers who have distinctly different head, throat and chest voices. Her high-register playing was light, sweet and focused, her low notes solid and rounded. Her “throat” took awhile to clear: A rather raw, congested tone afflicted her middle register, especially in double-stopping, during much of the concerto’s first movement, but became less throaty as her performance progressed.
Smith and the symphony supported her admirably, producing the rich, robust and grandly lyrical sound that Tchaikovsky demands of an orchestra, while reducing the orchestral bulk when Cho played quietly.
The curtain-raiser of the program was “An American Port of Call,” which the Virginia Beach-based composer Adolphus Hailstork wrote in 1985 for his hometown band, the Virginia Symphony.
Like Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” Hailstork’s score is a miniature concerto for orchestra, a succession of colorful scenes with bluesy asides. Hailstork faced a bigger challenge than Gershwin – Paris in the 1920s was a vastly more enticing subject for sound-scaping than Hampton Roads in the 1980s – but he took up the task with enthusiasm and produced a work of enduring appeal.
Performing with the composer in attendance, Smith and the symphony gave “An American Port of Call” an energetic, consistently engaging performance.
with Jinjoo Cho, violin
March 4, Dominion Arts Center
“Pétrouchka,” second of the three ballet scores that launched Igor Stravinsky’s career in early 20th century Paris – introduced in 1911, it followed “The Firebird” (1910) and preceded “The Rite of Spring” (1913) – is a work that, while still regularly staged by ballet troupes, also has become a staple of the orchestral repertory.
Conductors and orchestras typically perform such pieces more “symphonically” in concert, with more propulsion in fast sections and greater flexibility in slower or more lyrical passages, than they might while accompanying a ballet production.
Steven Smith, the Richmond Symphony’s music director, paced this “Pétrouchka” for invisible dancers. His fairly strict, generally measured tempos enhanced the music in some ways – clarifying the colors and textures of Stravinsky’s elaborately detailed orchestration, giving its many solos and small-ensemble exchanges the space to be fully realized – but lowered the voltage of the score’s more exciting parts.
“The Shrovetide Fair,” the opening section, came across as a colorful procession rather than a display of musical fireworks, and subsequent big moments sounded similarly understated.
The orchestra played splendidly, painting Stravinsky’s wide pallette of tone colors vividly and producing his many novel sound effects effectively. Trumpeter Brian Strawley, English horn player Alexandra von der Embse, flutist Mary Boodell, bassoonist Thomas Schneider, clarinetist David Lemelin and the orchestra’s percussionists were the stars of the show, playing with the expressiveness and attention to timbral detail more often heard in chamber music than in orchestral performances.
The evening’s guest soloist, the Korean-born, Cleveland-based violinist Jinjoo Cho, treated Tchaikovsky’s Concerto in D major to an ultra-romantic interpretation, phrasing with plentiful rubato, lingering on expressive details, emphasizing dynamic contrasts and playing up big rhetorical gestures. Tchaikovsky invites this kind of italicization, and Cho was not shy about accepting the invitation.
Listening to Cho, I was reminded of singers who have distinctly different head, throat and chest voices. Her high-register playing was light, sweet and focused, her low notes solid and rounded. Her “throat” took awhile to clear: A rather raw, congested tone afflicted her middle register, especially in double-stopping, during much of the concerto’s first movement, but became less throaty as her performance progressed.
Smith and the symphony supported her admirably, producing the rich, robust and grandly lyrical sound that Tchaikovsky demands of an orchestra, while reducing the orchestral bulk when Cho played quietly.
The curtain-raiser of the program was “An American Port of Call,” which the Virginia Beach-based composer Adolphus Hailstork wrote in 1985 for his hometown band, the Virginia Symphony.
Like Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” Hailstork’s score is a miniature concerto for orchestra, a succession of colorful scenes with bluesy asides. Hailstork faced a bigger challenge than Gershwin – Paris in the 1920s was a vastly more enticing subject for sound-scaping than Hampton Roads in the 1980s – but he took up the task with enthusiasm and produced a work of enduring appeal.
Performing with the composer in attendance, Smith and the symphony gave “An American Port of Call” an energetic, consistently engaging performance.
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
March 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: Korean-American violinist Jinjoo Cho joins Steven Smith and the Richmond Symphony in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, in a Masterworks program also featuring Stravinsky’s “Petrouchka” and Virginia composer Adolphus Hailstork’s “An Ametican Port of Call,” March 4 at the Carpenter Theatre of Dominion Arts Center, following a March 3 Casual Fridays discussion and performance of “Petrouchka” by Smith, the orchestra and host Todd Waldo, also at the Carpenter Theatre.
. . . The Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia presents pianist Reiko Aizawa, flutist Mary Boodell, violinist Jesse Mills and cellist James Wilson (the society’s artistic director) in “Brahms and Friends,” a free talk and mini-concert, March 11 in the Gellman Room of the Richmond Public Library’s downtown main branch. (A March 10 Chamber Music Society concert in a private home is sold out.) . . . Singer Ann Hampton Calloway joins Chia-Hsuan Lin and the Richmond Symphony Pops in songs made famous by Barbra Streisand, March 11 at the Carpenter Theatre. . . . Members of the Richmond chapter of the American Guild of Organists, joined by the Richmond Choral Society, perform in the annual Bach marathon, March 12 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. . . . The Jefferson Baroque ensemble samples rarely heard pieces of French baroque music in a free concert on March 18 in the Gellman Room of the Richmond Public Library. . . . Violinist Irina Muresanu joins Peter Wilson and the Richmond Philharmonic to introduce the new Violin Concerto of Elena Ruehr, on an “American Women in Music” program, also featuring music by Joan Tower and Amy Beach, March 19 at The Steward School. . . . Gamelan Raga Kusuma, led by Andrew McGraw, presents a program of pieces for the traditional Indonesian percussion ensemble, March 19 at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Grace Street Theater. . . . Cellist Ronald Crutcher (president of the University of Richmond) and pianist Joanne Long play Brahms, Schumann, Debussy and Alvin Singleton in a free recital on March 22 at UR’s Modlin Arts Center. . . . eighth blackbird, the University of Richmond’s resident new-music sextet, is joined by Will Oldham (aka “Bonnie Prince Billy”) in music by Oldham, Frederic Rzewski, David Lang and Bryce Dessner, March 29 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. . . . Virginia Opera stages its final production of the season, Puccini’s “Turandot,” March 31 and April 2 at the Carpenter Theatre, following runs earlier in March at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk and George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax.
* Noteworthy elsewhere: Pianist Helène Grimaud joins Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, on a program with works by Schumann and Anna Clyne, March 2 at the Music Center at Strathmore in the Maryland suburbs of DC.
. . . Pianist Alon Golstein plays Saint-Saëns’ Concerto No. 2 in an all-French program with JoAnn Falletta and the Virginia Symphony, March 3-5 in venues in Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. . . . Richmond-born mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey stars as Sister Helen Prejean in Washington Opera’s production of “Dead Man Walking” by Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally, March 3, 5, 8 and 11 at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington. . . . Cameron Carpenter brings his International Touring Organ to Strathmore on March 3 in music ranging from Bach and Wagner to Scriabin and Piazzolla. . . . George Manahan, the former music director of the Richmond Symphony, conducts Washington National Opera’s production of “Champion,” a jazz opera by Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer based on the real-life story of closeted gay boxer Emile Griffith, March 4, 6, 10, 12, 15 and 18 at the Kennedy Center Opera House. . . . The Kronos Quartet plays Steve Reich’s Triple Quartet and an international array of contemporary chamber works, March 4 at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in DC. . . . Pianist András Schiff performs in all-Schubert program, March 7 at Strathmore.
. . . Cellist Alisa Weilerstein joins Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony Orchestra in
the Concerto No. 2 of Shostakovich, sharing the program with Schubert’s Symphony No. 9, March 9 and 11 at the Kennedy Center. . . . Jan Lisiecki, the celebrated young Canadian pianist, plays Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto (No. 5) with Paul Goodwin and the Baltimore Symphony, on a program with Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony and Stravinsky’s “Dumbarton Oaks” Concerto, March 11 at Strathmore. . . . Pianist Richard Goode plays Bach and Chopin, March 12 at the University of the District of Columbia in DC. . . . Pianist Wu Han and colleagues from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center perform in an all-French program, including Chausson’s Concerto for piano, violin and string quartet, March 14 at Old Cabell Hall of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. . . . JoAnn Falletta conducts the Virginia Symphony, Virginia Symphony Chorus and soloists in Verdi’s Requiem, March 17-19 at venues in Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. . . . Charlottesville Opera (formerly Ash Lawn Opera) opens its 2017 season with the East Coast premiere of “Middlemarch in Spring” by Allen Shearer, with a libretto by former Richmonder Claudia Stevens, March 23-24 at the Paramount Theater. . . . The Kennedy Center’s SHIFT: a Festival of American Orchestras presents programs, mostly of contemporary American music, by Colorado’s Boulder Philharmonic on March 28, the North Carolina Symphony on March 29 and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus on March 31, with The Knights, the Brooklyn-based chamber orchestra, performing on April 1.
March 2 (7 p.m.)
March 3 (11:30 a.m.)
March 4 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Mark Wigglesworh conducting
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1
Simone Lamsma, violin
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major
$15-$89
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org
March 2 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
Anna Clyne: “Within Her Arms”
Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (“Rhenish”)
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major
Helène Grimaud, piano
$35-$99
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
http://www.strathmore.org
March 3 (6:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Arts Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Casual Fridays
Steven Smith conducting & speaking
Todd Waldo, host
Stravinsky: “Petrouchka”
$10-$50
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://www.richmondsymphony.com
March 3 (4 p.m.)
Black Music Center Recital Hall, Virginia Commonwealth University, Grove Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Max Lincoln, viola
program TBA
free
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events/
March 3 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
March 4 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
March 5 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
JoAnn Falletta conducting
Debussy: “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
Alon Goldstein, piano
Debussy: Nocturnes
women of Virginia Symphony Chorus
Roussel: “Bacchus et Ariane” Suite No. 2
$25-$110
(757) 892-6366
http://www.virginiasymphony.org
March 3 (7:30 p.m.)
March 5 (2 p.m.)
March 8 (7:30 p.m.)
March 11 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Michael Christie conducting
Jake Heggie & Terrence McNally: “Dead Man Walking”
Kate Lindsey (Sister Helen Prejean)
Michael Mayes (Joseph De Rocher)
Susan Graham (Mrs. De Rocher)
Jacqueline Echols (Sister Rose)
Wayne Tigges (Owen Hart)
Francesco Zambello, stage director
in English, English captions
$45-$300
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org
March 3 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Cameron Carpenter, International Touring Organ
Wagner-Carpenter: “Die Meistersinger” Overture
Astor Piazzolla: “Oblivion”
J.S. Bach: “The Art of the Fugue,” BWV 1080 – Kontrapunktus IX
J.S. Bach-Carpenter: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
J.S. Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
Vierne: “Naïades”
Vierne: “Carillon de Westminster”
Scriabin-Carpenter: Sonata No. 4 in F sharp major, Op. 30
Leslie Bricusse-Carpenter: “Pure Imagination”
other works, improvisations TBA
$35-$75
(202) 785-9727
http://www.washingtonperformingarts.org
March 4 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Arts Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
Adolphus Hailstork: “An American Port of Call”
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major
Jinjoo Cho, violin
Stravinsky: “Petrouchka”
$10-$80
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://www.richmondsymphony.com
March 4 (7 p.m.)
March 6 (7 p.m.)
March 10 (7:30 p.m.)
March 12 (2 p.m.)
March 15 (7:30 p.m.)
March 18 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
George Manahan conducting
Terence Blanchard & Michael Cristofer: “Champion”
Arthur Woodley (Emile Griffith)
Aubrey Allicock (Young Emile)
Denyce Graves (Emelda Griffith)
Victor Ryan Robertson (Benny Paret)
Wayne Tigges (Howie Albert)
Meredith Arwady (Kathy Hagan)
James Robinson, stage director
in English, English captions
$35-$300
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org
March 4 (8 p.m.)
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, 600I St. NW, Washington
Kronos Quartet
Franghiz Ali-Zadeh: “Mugam Sayagi”
Aleksander Kosciów: “Hílathi”
Yotam Haber: “From the Book” (premiere)
Steve Reich: Triple Quartet
Alter Yechiel Karniol-Judith Berkson: “Sim Sholom”
Tanburi Cemil Bey-Stephen Prutsman: “Eviç Taksim”
Abel Meeropol-Jacob Garchik: “Strange Fruit”
Vladimir Martynov: “The Beatitudes”
Cafe Tacvbai-Osvaldo Golijov: “12/12”
$40
(202) 785-9727
http://www.washingtonperformingarts.org
March 5 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Virginia Consort
Virginia Consort Festival Chorus
Judith Gary conducting
Mozart: Requiem
Jaely Chamberlain, soprano
Sarah Best, mezzo-soprano
Sammy Huh, tenor
David Brundage, bass
Z. Randall Stroope: “Lamentations of Jeremiah”
Z. Randall Stroope: “The Pasture”
Morten Lauridsen: “Sure on This Shining Night”
Ola Gjeilo: “Across the Vast, Eternal Sky”
Bob Chilcott: “I Share Creation” – “When the Sun Rises”
$35
(434) 924-3376
http://virginiaconsort.org
March 5 (7 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Jeffrey Siegel, piano & speaker
“Keyboard Conversations: The Immortal Melodies of Schubert”
$25-$42
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
http://cfa.gmu.edu/calendar
March 6 (7 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Furman University Singers
Hugh Floyd directing
program TBA
$10 donation requested
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org
March 6 (7:30 p.m.)
Kaufman Theater, Chrysler Museum of Art, 1 Memorial Place, Norfolk
Feldman Chamber Music Society:
Doric String Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in B flat major, Op. 64, No. 3
Bartók: Quartet No. 2
Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
$30
(757) 552-1630
http://feldmanchambermusic.org
March 7 (8 p.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg:
Doric String Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in B flat major, Op. 64, No. 3
Bartók: Quartet No. 2
Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
$15 (waiting list)
(757) 220-0051
http://www.chambermusicwilliamsburg.org
March 7 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
András Schiff, piano
Schubert: Sonata in A minor, D. 845
Schubert: Sonata in G major, D. 894
Schubert: 3 piano pieces, D. 946
Schubert: 4 impromptus, D. 935
$40-$80
(202) 785-9727
http://www.washingtonperformingarts.org
March 9 (8 p.m.)
Phi Beta Kappa Hall, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg
March 24 (7:30 p.m.)
Roper Arts Center, 340 Granby St., Norfolk
Virginia Symphony
Benjamin Rous conducting
Malcolm Arnold: “Tam O’Shanter” Overture
Britten: “Suite on English Folk Tunes”
Beethoven-Rous: “Irish Songs”
John McGuire, tenor
Haydn: Symphony No. 101 in A major (“The Clock”) (March 9 only)
$5-$65
(757) 892-6366
http://www.virginiasymphony.org
March 9 (7 p.m.)
March 11 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Tobias Picker: “Old and Lost Songs”
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 2
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C major (“Great”)
$15-$89
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org
March 10 (7 p.m.)
Trinity Lutheran Church, 2315 N. Parham Road, Richmond
Martha Prewitt, mezzo-soprano
Daniel Stipe, piano
Ture Rangstrom: “Dark Flower”
Grieg: “Melodies of the Heart,” Op. 5
Nielsen: songs, Op. 4
free
(804) 270-4626
http://www.trinityrichmond.net
March 11 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Reiko Aizawa, piano
Mary Boodell, flute
Jesse Mills, violin
James Wilson, cello
“Brahms and Friends”
works TBA by Brahms, Robert & Clara Schumann
free
(804) 646-7223
http://cmscva.org
March 11 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Arts Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Pops
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Ann Hampton Calloway, guest star
“The Streisand Songbook”
$10-$80
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://www.richmondsymphony.com
March 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Berglund Performing Arts Theatre, Orange Avenue at Williamson Road, Roanoke
March 12 (3 p.m.)
Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Roanoke Symphony
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Smetana: “The Moldau”
Copland: “Billy the Kid” Suite
Jerome Margolis: “Franklin County”
Ravel: Bolero
$25-$55
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com
March 11 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Paul Goodwin conducting
Stravinsky: Concerto in E flat major (“Dumbarton Oaks”)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major (“Emperor”)
Jan Lisiecki, piano
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B flat major
$35-$99
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
http://www.strathmore.org
March 12 (3 p.m.)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Grace at Ryland streets, Richmond
Richmond chapter, American Guild of Organists:
Bach Marathon
J.S. Bach: “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben,”
BWV 147
Richmond Choral Society
Markus Compton directing
J.S. Bach: solo organ works TBA
Chris Martin, Christopher Reynolds, Marty Barstow, Scott Hayes, Paula Pugh Romanaux, Aaron Renninger, Joel Kumro, Grant Hellmers & Daniel Stipe, organ
free
(804) 353-4413
http://richmondago.org
March 12 (4 p.m.)
Theater of the Arts, University of the District of Columbia, Washington
Richard Goode, piano
J.S. Bach: “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” Book 2 – 4 preludes and fugues
J.S. Bach: Partita No. 6 in E minor, BWV 830
Chopin: Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 55, No. 2
Chopin: Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1
Chopin: Mazurka in C major, Op. 24, No. 2
Chopin: Mazurka in A flat major, Op. 59, No. 2
Chopin: Mazurka in F minor, Op. 7, No. 3
Chopin: Mazurka in B flat minor, Op. 24, No. 4
Chopin: Ballade in A flat major, Op. 47, No. 3
Chopin: Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1
Chopin: Nocturne in E major, Op. 62, No. 2
Chopin: Polonaise-Fantasie in A flat major, Op. 61
$68
(202) 785-9727
http://www.washingtonperformingarts.org
March 13 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
The Ten Tenors
program TBA
$30-$85
(301) 581-5100
http://www.strathmore.org
March 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Leclair: Concerto in E minor, Op. 10, No. 5, for violin, string quartet and continuo
Françaix: String Trio
Ravel: “Tzigane” for violin and piano
Chausson: Concerto in D major for violin, piano and string quartet, Op. 21
$12-$35
(434) 924-3376
http://tecs.org
March 15 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Marco Schirripa, marimba
program TBA
free
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events/
March 16 (7 p.m.)
March 17 (11:30 a.m.)
March 18 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216
Nurit Bar-Josef, violin
Bruckner: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
$15-$89
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org
March 16 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Pops
Jack Everly conducting
guest stars TBA
“A Celtic Celebration”
$35-$99
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
http://www.strathmore.org
March 17 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
March 18 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
March 19 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony
JoAnn Falletta conducting
Verdi: Requiem
soloists TBA
Virginia Symphony Chorus
$25-$110
(757) 892-6366
http://www.virginiasymphony.org
March 17 (8 p.m.)
March 19 (2:30 p.m.)
March 21 (7:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Opera
John DeMain conducting
Puccini: “Turandot”
Kelly Cae Hogan (Turandot)
Derek Taylor (Calaf)
Ricardo Lugo (Timur)
Danielle Pastin (Liù)
Keith Brown (Ping)
Ian McEuen (Pang)
Joseph Gaines (Pong)
John McGuire (Emperor)
Andrew Paulson (Mandarin)
Lillian Groag, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$32.73-$107.27
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org
March 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Michael Christie conducting
Mozart: “Don Giovanni”
Michael Adams (Don Giovanni)
Raquel González (Donna Anna)
Kerriann Otaño (Donna Elvira)
Rexford Tester (Don Ottavio)
Andrew Bogard (Leporello)
Ariana Wehr (Zerlina)
Hunter Enoch (Masetto)
Timothy J. Bruno (Commendatore)
Francesca Zambello, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$35-$75
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org
March 18 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Jefferson Baroque
French baroque works TBA
introductory talk at 1:30 p.m.
free
(804) 646-7223
http://rvalibrary.org
March 18 (4 p.m.)
First Presbyterian Church, 500 Park St., Charlottesville
Oratorio Society of Virginia
Michael Slon directing
community participants
“Together in Song”
Morten Lauridsen: “Lux Aeterna”
choral master class, 10 a.m.
$25
(434) 295-4385
http://www.oratoriosociety.org
March 18 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
National Philharmonic
Piotr Gajewski conducting
Jonathan Leshnoff: “Zohar” (“Radiance”)
Brahms: “A German Requiem”
Danielle Talamantes, soprano
Nmon Ford, baritone
National Philharmonic Chorale
$33-$66
(301) 581-5100
http://www.strathmore.org
March 19 (4 p.m.)
Cramer Center, Steward School, 11600 Gayton Road, Richmond
Richmond Philharmonic
Peter Wilson conducting
“American Women in Music”
Joan Tower: “Made in America”
Elena Ruehr: Violin Concerto (premiere)
Irina Muresanu, violin
Amy Beach: Symphony No. 2 in E minor (“Gaelic”)
$8 in advance, $10 at door
(804) 673-7400
http://www.richmondphilharmonic.org
March 19 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Guitar Series:
Ron Alig, Nathan Aldhizer, Joel Hansen & Andrew McEvoy, classical guitars
works TBA by J.S. Bach, Tárrega, Granados, Schubert, Chopin
$15
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events/
March 19 (7 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River at Ridge roads, Richmond
Jory Vinikour, harpsichord
works TBA by J.S. Bach
free
(804) 288-1131
http://www.rrcb.org
March 19 (8 p.m.)
Grace Street Theater, Virginia Commonwealth University, 934 W. Grace St., Richmond
Gamelan Raga Kusuma
Andrew McGraw directing
Indonesian gamelan works TBA
$12
(860) 989-4707
http://ragakusuma.org
March 19 (3 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Chamber Music Series:
Katy Ambrose, French horn
John Mayhood, piano
other artists TBA
Hindemith: Horn Sonata
Franz Joseph Strauss: “Fantasie on Schubert’s ‘Sehnsuchtswalzer’ ”
Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 3 in E flat major, K. 447 (chamber arrangement)
$15
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events
March 22 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
performers TBA
“Faculty Showcase”
program TBA
free
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events/
March 22 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Ronald Crutcher, cello
Joanne Kong, piano
Schumann: “Fantastiestücke,” Op. 73
Debussy: Cello Sonata
Alvin Singleton: “Argoru ii”
Brahms: Sonata in E minor, Op. 38
free
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu
March 23 (7:30 p.m.)
March 24 (2 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Charlottesville Opera
Douglas Kinney Frost conducting
Allen Shearer & Claudia Stevens: “Middlemarch in Spring”
Sara Duchovnay (Dorothea)
Philip Skinner (Casaubon)
David Margulis (Will)
Tonia D’Amelio (Celia)
Michael Mendelsohn (Brooke)
Gideon Dabi (Sir James)
Andrea Dorf McGray, stage director
in English
pre-performance talks by Claudia Stevens, March 23; Rebecca Mead, March 24
$25-$49
(434) 979-1333
http://www.charlottesvilleopera.org
March 24 (8 p.m.)
Theater of the Arts, University of the District of Columbia, Washington
JCT Trio
Dvořák: Piano Trio in F minor, Op. 65
Ives: Piano Trio, Op. 86
Mozart: piano trios TBA
$35
(202) 785-9727
http://www.washingtonperformingarts.org
March 24 (8 p.m.)
March 25 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Steven Reineke conducting
Montego Glover, Capathia Jenkins & Sy Smith, guest stars
“Sophisticated Ladies: 100 Years of Ella & Company”
$24-$99
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org
March 25 (11 a.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Arts Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony LolliPops
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Michael Boudewyns, actor
“A Child’s Guide to the Orchestra”
Britten: “A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”
$12-$17
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://www.richmondsymphony.com
March 25 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
March 26 (3:30 p.m.)
Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center, Charlottesville High School, 1400 Melbourne Road
Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia
Cheung Chau conducting
Ravel: Bolero
Schumann: Cello Concerto in A minor
Cicely Parnas, cello
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique”)
$10-$45
(434) 924-3376
http://cvillesymphony.org
March 25 (8 p.m.)
March 26 (2 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Virginia Opera
John DeMain conducting
Puccini: “Turandot”
Kelly Cae Hogan (Turandot)
Derek Taylor (Calaf)
Ricardo Lugo (Timur)
Danielle Pastin (Liù)
Keith Brown (Ping)
Ian McEuen (Pang)
Joseph Gaines (Pong)
John McGuire (Emperor)
Andrew Paulson (Mandarin)
Lillian Groag, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$52-$110
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
http://vaopera.org
March 25 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Yan Pascal Tortelier conducting
Dukas: “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”
Chausson: “Poème”
Ravel: “Tzigane”
Augustin Hadelich, violin
Stravinsky: “Petrouchka”
$35-$99
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
http://www.strathmore.org
March 26 (3 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Yin Zheng, piano
Misha Quint, cello
Schubert: Sonata in A minor, D. 821 (“Arpeggione”)
Shostakovich: Sonata in D minor
Ravel: “Habañera”
Shchedrin: “À la Albéniz”
free
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events/
March 26 (7 p.m.)
St. Bede Catholic Church, 3686 Ironbound Road, Williamsburg
Lynn Trapp, organ
program TBA
free
(757) 229-3631
http://bedeva.org/concerts
March 26 (3 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Annapolis Symphony Orchestra
José-Luis Novo conducting
Beethoven: “Fidelio” Overture
Barber: Violin Concerto
James Ehnes, violin
Wagner: “Tristan und Isolde” – Prelude & “Liebestod”
Stravinsky: “The Firebird” Suite
$10-$30
(301) 581-5100
http://www.strathmore.org
March 28 (5 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Erika Boysen, flute
program TBA
free
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events/
March 28 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
SHIFT: a Festival of American Orchestras:
Boulder Philharmonic
Michael Butterman conducting
Stephen Lias: “All the Songs That Nature Sings” (premiere)
Jeff Midkiff: Mandolin Concerto (“From the Blue Ridge”)
Jeff Midkiff, mandolin
Steve Heitzeg: “Ghosts of the Grasslands”
Copland: “Appalachian Spring” Suite
Frequent Flyers dance troupe
$25
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org
March 29 (7:30 p.m.)
Cheek Theater, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Boulevard at Grove Avenue, Richmond
eighth blackbird
Will Oldham, vocalist & narrator
Frederic Rzewski: “Come Together”
David Lang: “Learn to Fly”
Bryce Dessner: “Murder Ballades”
Will Oldham: songs TBA
$28
(804) 289-8980 (UR Modlin Center box office)
http://modlin.richmond.edu
March 29 (7:30 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Colleen Thorburn, harp
program TBA
free
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events/
March 29 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
SHIFT: a Festival of American Orchestras:
North Carolina Symphony
Grant Llewellyn conducting
Robert Ward: “Jubilation” Overture
Caroline Shaw: “Lo”
Mason Bates: “Rusty Air in Carolina”
Sarah Kirkland Snider: “Hiraeth”
Robert Ward: “City of Oaks”
$25
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org
March 30 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
David Tayloe, tenor
program TBA
free
(804) 828-6776
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/events/
March 31 (8 p.m.)
April 2 (2:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Arts Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Virginia Opera
John DeMain conducting
Puccini: “Turandot”
Kelly Cae Hogan (Turandot)
Derek Taylor (Calaf)
Ricardo Lugo (Timur)
Danielle Pastin (Liù)
Keith Brown (Ping)
Ian McEuen (Pang)
Joseph Gaines (Pong)
John McGuire (Emperor)
Andrew Paulson (Mandarin)
Lillian Groag, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$19-$114
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org
March 31 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
SHIFT: a Festival of American Orchestras:
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Robert Spano conducting
Christopher Theofanidis: “Creation/Creator”
Jessica Rivera, soprano
Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano
Thomas Cooley, tenor
Nmon Ford, baritone
Evan Boyer, bass
Atlanta Symphony Chorus
Stephen Cole & Shannon Eubanks, narrators
$25
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org
March 31 (8:15 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting & speaking
“Off the Cuff: Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Scheherazade’ ”
$35-$99
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
http://www.strathmore.org