Letter V Classical Radio this week

Ludwig van Beethoven and his circle: Beethoven’s music heard alongside compositions by his two principal teachers in Vienna, Antonio Salieri and Joseph Haydn; a royal friend, patron and fellow musician, Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (to whom Beethoven dedicated his Third Piano Concerto); and Beethoven’s students and amanuenses, Carl Czerny, who wrote a great deal besides those technical exercises that have tortured generations of piano students, and Ferdinand Ries, whose Fifth Symphony bears a striking resemblance to you-know-whose.

Nov. 30
10 a.m.-1 p.m. EST
1500-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://www.wdce.org

Beethoven: “Egmont” Overture
Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig/Riccardo Chailly
(Decca)

Antonio Salieri:
Sinfonia in D major
(“La Veneziana”)
London Mozart Players/
Matthias Bamert
(Chandos)

Haydn: Sonata in
E flat major, Hob. XVI:52
Constance Keene, piano
(Protone)

Past Masters:
Beethoven: Sonata in D major, Op. 10, No. 3
Wilhelm Backhaus, piano
(recorded 1953)
(Decca)

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor
Fazil Say, piano
Frankfurt Radio
Symphony Orchestra/
Gianandrea Noseda
(Naïve)

Louis Ferdinand,
Prince of Prussia:
Piano Trio
in E flat major, Op. 10
Göbel Trio
(Thorofon)

Beethoven: “Variations
on ‘La ci darem la mano’
from Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni,’ ” WoO 28
Heinz Holliger & Hans Elhorst, oboes
Maurice Bourgue, English horn
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Carl Czerny: “Fantasia brilliante on Themes of Mozart,” Op. 493
Cyprien Katsaris, piano
(Sony Classical)

Beethoven:
“King Stephen” Overture
Tonhalle Orchestra, Zürich/
David Zinman
(Arte Nova)

Ferdinand Ries: Symphony No. 5 in D minor
Zürich Chamber Orchestra/Howard Griffiths
(cpo)

Letter V Classical Radio this week

Home for Thanksgiving – literally: a sampler of works by composers with Richmond roots. If you hadn’t thought of our town as especially fertile ground for composition, this program may make you think again.

Nov. 23
10 a.m.-1 p.m. EST
1500-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://www.wdce.org

Mason Bates: “The B-Sides”
Mason Bates, electronica
San Francisco
Symphony Orchestra/
Michael Tilson Thomas
(SFS Media)

Dika Newlin: Piano Trio, Op. 2
London Czech Trio
(New World)

Zachary Wadsworth:
“The Far West” –
I: “October”
XI: “Heaven”
Lawrence Wiliford, tenor
Luminous Voices
& orchestra/
Timothy Shantz
(Bridge)

Benjamin Broening: “Arioso/Doubles”
Michael J. Maccaferri,
bass clarinet
Benjamin Broening, electronica
(Bridge)
  
Past Masters:
Mary Howe: Suite for string quartet and piano
Chamber Arts Society
of the Catholic University
of America
(recorded 1951)
(CRI)

Allan Blank: Clarinet Concerto
David Niethamer, clarinet
Silesian Philharmonic/
Jerzy Swoboda
(MMC)

Ben Johnston:
String Quartet No. 4
(“Amazing Grace”)
Kronos Quartet
(Nonesuch)

John Powell:
Symphony in A major
(“Virginia”)
Virginia Symphony/
JoAnn Falletta
(Albany)

'Unsilent Night' in Virginia

“Unsilent Night,” a participatory outdoor music-making event that has become a contemporary Christmas-season tradition, will return to Winchester on Nov. 28, Richmond on Dec. 2 and Norfolk on Dec. 7.

Devised by composer Phil Kline 25 years ago and introduced in New York’s Greenwich Village, “Unsilent Night” invites celebrants to bring boom boxes – or, more recently, portable electronic devices – to load one of four electronic music tracks created by Kline, which they play simultaneously while walking along city streets. The combination of sounds creates what is described as a “mobile sound sculpture.”

Kline prepared 45 minutes of music (the duration of one side of a cassette tape) for use on the first “Unsilent Night,” and the walks are planned to last that long.

The Virginia cities are among more than two dozen (and counting) to stage an “Unsilent Night” this year.

The events are free and open to all ages.

* * *

Participants in the Richmond event, organized by Classical Revolution RVA, will gather at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at Gallery 5, 200 W. Marshall St., and at 7 p.m. will begin walking through the downtown area of the First Fridays Art Walk.

For more information, visit:
http://richmond.unsilentnight.com/

* * *

The Winchester event, staged in conjunction with the city’s annual Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting, is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at Old Town Winchester Walking Mall.

For more information, visit:
http://winchester.unsilentnight.com/

* * *

In Norfolk, “Unsilent Night” participants will gather at 5 p.m. Dec. 7 at The Plot, 776 Granby St., for a walk, beginning at 5:45 p.m., through downtown Norfolk, the NEON district and the Freemason neighborhood.

For more information, visit:
http://norfolk.unsilentnight.com/

Mose Allison (1927-2016)

Mose Allison, the jazz pianist and songwriter, has died at 89. Allison was known for a deeply blues-inflected musical style, informed by his upbringing in the rural Delta region of Mississippi, and for writing unusually literate, often mordantly witty song lyrics.

Many of his songs have been taken up by other artists, from cabaret and jazz to pop and rock. They are overdue for discovery by art-song recitalists.

An obituary by Nate Chinen for The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/arts/music/mose-allison-a-font-of-jazz-and-blues-dies-at-89.html

Letter V Classical Radio this week

Nov. 16
10 a.m.-1 p.m. EST
1500-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://www.wdce.org

Past Masters:
Beethoven: “Coriolan” Overture
Columbia Symphony Orchestra/
Bruno Walter
(recorded 1959)
(Sony Classical)

Peteris Vasks:
Cello Concerto No. 2
(“Presence”)
Sol Gabetta, cello
Amsterdam Sinfonietta/
Candida Thompson
(Sony Classical)

J.S. Bach: Capriccio
in B flat major, BWV 992
(“On the Departure
of a Dear Brother”)
Leon Fleisher, piano
(Vanguard)

Schubert: Impromptu
in A flat major, D. 899, No. 4
Krystian Zimerman, piano
(Deutsche Grammophon)

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

Hindemith: Sonata
in F major, Op. 11, No. 4
Kim Kashkashian, viola
Robert Levin, piano
(ECM)

Vaughan Williams:
“Dona nobis pacem”
Yvonne Kenny, soprano
Bryn Terfel, baritone
London Symphony Chorus
St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir
London Symphony Orchestra/Richard Hickox
(EMI Classics)

The Duchess of DC

US Supreme Court Justice (and longtime opera maven) Ruth Bader Ginsburg portrayed the Duchess of Krakenthorp – for one night only – in the Washington National Opera production of Donizetti’s “The Daughter of the Regiment.” Ginsburg brought down the house, and, according to The Washington Post’s Anne Midgette, earned the cheers:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/ginsburg-opera-debut-brings-relevance-to-wno/2016/11/13/434b26a2-a84f-11e6-9bd6-184ab22d218e_story.html

Leonard Cohen (1934-2016)

Leonard Cohen, the Canadian-born poet who became one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, has died at 82. Cohen’s songs – the best-known were “Suzanne,” “Bird on a Wire” and “Hallelujah” – were taken up by musicians of all genres, from folk, rock and country singers to art-music composers.

An obituary by Larry Rohter for The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/obituaries/leonard-cohen-dies.html