Letter V Classical Radio this week

In the second hour of the program, a sampling of the recorded legacy of the great Czech pianist Ivan Moravec, who died earlier this week.

July 30
11 a.m.-2 p.m. EDT
1500-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

François-Adrien Boieldieu: “The Caliph of Baghdad” Overture
New Philharmonia Orchestra/Richard Bonynge (Decca)

Rameau: “Naïs” Suite
Orchestra of the 18th Century/Frans Brüggen (Glossa)

Chausson: Poème
Nicola Benedetti, violin
London Symphony Orchestra/Daniel Harding (Deutsche Grammophon)

Chopin: Scherzo in B flat minor, Op. 31
Chopin: Nocturne in B major, Op. 62, No. 1
Ivan Moravec, piano (Philips)

Beethoven: Sonata in D major, Op. 28 (“Pastoral”)
Ivan Moravec, piano (Supraphon)

Smetana: “Czech Dances,” Book 2 – “Hulán” (“The Lancer”), “Obkročák,” Furiant
Ivan Moravec, piano (Supraphon)

Past Masters:
Mozart: Symphony No. 34 in C major, K. 338
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam/
George Szell
(Philips)
(recorded 1966)

Brahms: Symphony
No. 3 in F major
Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig/
Riccardo Chailly (Decca)

Ivan Moravec (1930-2015)

Ivan Moravec, the eminent Czech pianist fondly remembered in Richmond for his performances in 1994 and 2001 at Virginia Commonwealth University, has died at the age of 84. He had been in semi-retirement from concert activities in recent years.

A onetime protégé of Arturo Benedetti Michaelangelo, Moravec was as well-known for his performances of Chopin and French repertory as he was for Czech music. After his US debut in the 1960s and first recordings in the ’70s, Moravec became known on this side of the Atlantic as “the poet of the piano.”

An obituary in the Prague Post:

http://www.praguepost.com/czech-news/49028-monday-news-briefing-july-27-2015

A more extensive obituary, in The Telegraph (UK):

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11768306/Ivan-Moravec-concert-pianist-obituary.html

And an obituary by Sam Roberts for The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/arts/music/ivan-moravec-pianist-specialized-in-chopin-dies-at-84.html

Review: Summer at CenterStage

Stephen Schmidt, viola
John Walter, piano
July 23, Richmond CenterStage

Five years ago, violist Stephen Schmidt and pianist John Walter played the Viola Sonata (1919) of the English composer Rebecca Clarke in a Richmond Chamber Players program. The two musicians reprised the piece, even more successfully, in the most recent Summer at CenterStage recital.

In one of several enthusiastic and informative spoken introductions in this program, Schmidt said the Clarke is his favorite viola sonata. That soon became audible in an expressively engaged performance, in the animated first and second movements and the lyrical finale. The violist characterized Clarke’s style as impressionistic – which indeed it is, notably in the central vivace, whose rhythmic and gestural language strongly resembles Claude Debussy’s; but Clarke also echoed the English pastoral school in the closing adagio.

Schmidt sounded less fluent in Franz Liszt’s transcription of “Harold in the Mountains,” the first movement of Berlioz’s “Harold in Italy.” The original work is a symphony with solo viola as its frequent but not constant protagonist, and Liszt’s reduction of the orchestration to a virtuoso-piano showcase tends to overshadow if not diminish the viola’s role further. Here, the violist strove to maintain parity with the piano, played with extroverted brilliance by Walter, and taxed both tone and technique in the process.

Between the two viola pieces, Walter played Debussy’s “Estampes,” a set of three sonic pictures evoking Indonesian pagodas, evening in the Spanish city of Granada and the less place-specific “Gardens in the Rain.” The pianist played with great tonal clarity, especially in the shimmering effects that this composer so favors, as well as effective contrasts of dynamics and an unerring sense of the significance of the spaces between notes in Debussy’s piano music.

Summer at CenterStage continues with cellist Jason McComb and pianist Joanne Kong in a program of Debussy, Fauré, Dutilleux and Franck at 6:30 p.m. July 30 in the Gottwald Playhouse of Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets. Tickets: $20. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); www.richmondsymphony.com

Letter V Classical Radio this week

July 23
11 a.m.-2 p.m. EDT
1500-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Johann Joseph Fux: “Processional Suite”
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra/
Gottfried von der Goltz (Carus)

Nico Muhly: Cello Concerto
Zuill Bailey, cello
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra/Jun Märkl
(Steinway & Sons)

Past Masters:
Beethoven: Sonata in C major, Op. 53 (“Waldstein”)
Walter Gieseking, piano (VAI Audio)
(recorded 1938)

Jón Leifs: “Geysir”
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/
Esa-Pekka Salonen (Sony Classical)

Philip Lasser: “The Circle and the Child”
Simone Dinnerstein, piano
MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra/
Kristjan Järvi
(Sony Classical)

Schubert: Sonata in A minor, D. 821 (“Arpeggione”)
John Williams, guitar
Australian Chamber Orchestra (Sony Classical)

Bartók: “Dance Suite”
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Boulez (Deutsche Grammophon)

Dvořák: Quintet in B flat major, Op. 97
Talich Quartet
Tasso Adamopoulous, viola (Calliope)

Past Masters:
Mendelssohn: “The Hebrides” Overture
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner
(RCA Victor)
(recorded 1956)

Letter V Classical Radio this week

Mozart and his orbit: His music alongside that of contemporaries and composers of the subsequent generation in whose work Mozart resonates.  

July 16
11 a.m.-2 p.m. EDT
1500-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Josef Mysliviček: Symphony No. 5 in B flat major
L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra/
Michi Gaigg (cpo)

Haydn: Quartet in D minor, Op. 76, No. 2 (“Fifths”)
Carmina Quartet (Denon)

Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218
Rachel Barton Pine, violin
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/
Neville Marriner (Avie)

Schubert: Fantasie in F minor, D. 940
Katja & Ines Lunkenheimer,
piano four-hands
(Telos Music)

Beethoven: Variations on “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, Op. 66
Matt Haimovitz, cello
Christopher O’Riley, fortepiano (Pentatone)

Mozart: Divertimento in E flat major, K. 289
Octophorus (Accent)

Rossini: “La scala di seta” Overture
Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon)

Boccherini: “La Musica notturna della Strade di Madrid”
Le Concert des Nations/
Jordi Savall (AliaVox)

Past Masters:
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503
Leon Fleisher, piano
Cleveland Orchestra/
George Szell
(Sony Classical)
(recorded 1959)

Mendelssohn: String Symphony No. 6 in E flat major
Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam/Lev Markis (BIS)

Newspapering again

I have resumed contributing reviews of classical concerts to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The first one, of the opening program of the Summer at CenterStage series, with James Ferree, principal French horn player of the Richmond Symphony, and pianist Richard Becker of the University of Richmond, is posted here:

http://www.richmond.com/entertainment/music/article_7242ef42-ebd2-5160-9717-a37f2710c066.html

I will continue to post on Letter V reviews of Virginia Opera productions and concerts that I do not review for the RTD, as well as the monthly events calendar, news items, commentaries and the weekly programs for Letter V Classical Radio.

When one of my reviews is published by the newspaper, a link to the piece on its website – www.richmond.com – will be posted here.

Letter V Classical Radio this week

A summer sampler of new and recent classical recordings, including a splendid new collection of Anglo-Celtic-Appalachian ballads and dances from Apollo’s Fire, Yolanda Kondonassis and Jason Vieaux playing music for harp and guitar, pianist Jonathan Biss playing Beethoven, and violinist Jennifer Koh playing Bartók.

July 9
11 a.m.-2 p.m. EDT
1500-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Peter Warlock: “Capriol” Suite
Royal Philharmonic/Barry Wordsworth
(Royal Philharmonic Masterworks)

traditional:
“The Cruel Sister”
“The Cause of All My Sorrow”/“The Butterfly”/
“Barney Brallaghan”
“Nottamun Town”
“Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair”
“I Wonder As I Wander”/
“The Gravel Walk”/“Over the Isles to America”
Apollo’s Fire (Avie)

Vaughan Williams:
“Ten Blake Songs”
Mark Padmore, tenor
Nicholas Daniel, oboe (Harmonia Mundi)

Beethoven: Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 (“Appassionata”)
Jonathan Biss, piano (JB Recordings)

Bartók: Sonata for solo violin
Jennifer Koh, violin (Cedille)

Vivaldi: “The Four Seasons” – “Summer”
Midori Seiler, violin
Akademie für alte Musik Berlin
(Harmonia Mundi)

Xavier Montsalvatge: Fantasia
Yolanda Kondonassis, harp
Jason Vieaux, guitar (Azica)

Terry Riley: “Etude from the Old Country”
ZOFO (Sono Luminus)

Jean-Féry Rebel: “Les Elements”
Tempesta di Mare (Chaconne)