'White Nights' in Richmond

James Wilson’s Richmond Festival of Music returns this week with “White Nights,” three evenings plus an afternoon of chamber music from Scandinavia and Russia.

Three ticketed performances are scheduled: May 13 and 16 at First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1000 Blanton Ave. at the Carillon, May 14 at the Wilton House Museum, 215 S. Wilton Road, all at 7:30 p.m. The festival also will present a free performance of Tchaikovsky’s “The Seasons” with readings from Russian literature at noon May 14 in the Gellman Room of the Richmond Public Library’s main branch, First and Franklin streets.

The festival, staged each spring (with previews and supplementary concerts in the winter), seeks “to present [works] one doesn’t normally hear in chamber music concerts,” as Wilson comments in an online note to patrons. So, while many of this season’s featured composers – Grieg, Nielsen, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius – are familiar names, few pieces on the programs are staples of the chamber repertory.

Perhaps the rarest selections will be performed in the May 14 Wilton House concert, a sampler of baroque works from Sweden and Denmark, including several by Johan Helmich Roman, known as “the Swedish Handel,” played alongside contemporary pieces by the Russian composers Valentin Silvestrov and Alfred Schnittke.

Joining cellist Wilson will be several veterans of past seasons of the festival, such as violinist Carmit Zori, flutist Mary Boodell and pianist-harpsichordist Carsten Schmidt, as well as several new faces: baroque violinist Fiona Hughes, pianist Rieko Aizawa, violinist Jesse Mills and cellist Philip Borter.

Tickets are $25 per concert, $20 for seniors, $5 for students.

For ticket reservations, call (804) 519-2098. For more information on the artists and programs, visit the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia website: http://www.cmscva.org/

Choir auditions

The Greater Richmond Children’s Choir, directed by Hope Armstrong Erb, will hold information sessions and auditions on May 14, June 4 and June 7 at Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 8 N. Laurel St., next door to the Landmark Theater.

The choir’s ensembles are open to boys and girls ages 8-18. The entry-level Treble Choir is open without audition.

GRCC’s annual summer camp, scheduled for Aug. 15-19 at Westover Hills United Methodist Church, will feature Paul Kwami, director of the Fisk University Jubilee Singers, as its resident artist. Kwami will work with all the GRCC choirs during his residency.

To schedule an audition and place at an information session, call (804) 201-1894, or visit www.grcchoir.org/news/

Falletta to Belfast

JoAnn Falletta, music director of the Virginia Symphony and Buffalo Philharmonic, has been named principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra. Alf McCreary reports in the Belfast Telegraph:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music/news/joann-falletta-becomes-orchestrarsquos-first-female-conductor-15153130.html

Falletta, who will be the first female conductor of the principal orchestra of Northern Ireland, has signed up for three years, beginning in September, Gramophone reports:

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/joann-falletta-to-head-ulster-orchestra

The conductor also has renewed her contract with the Virginia Symphony for three more seasons, with an option for two further years, Teresa Annas of The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk) reports:

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/05/falletta-signs-lead-orchestra-3-more-years

The ultimate record collection

Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times tours the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation in Culpeper, VA, repository of some 6 million recordings and films of music, and quizzes its staffers on the prospect of this treasure trove being made available on the Internet:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-library-congress-packard-20110508,0,4929059,full.story

Here's a link to the LOC’s National Jukebox of recordings made before 1925:

http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/

'Inconsistency of personnel'

Karen Lynne Deal, the Richmond-bred conductor, is wrapping up her 11-year tenure as music director of the Illinois Symphony, which performs in the state’s capital, Springfield, and several nearby communities.

In a valedictory interview with Dan Craft of The Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL) . . .

http://www.pantagraph.com/entertainment/go/article_27d79c16-768c-11e0-b1e4-001cc4c03286.html

. . . Deal observes that for a musician trying to make ends meet, a gig with a sub-major symphony orchestra may not make economic sense:

“If I’m a musician from Chicago, and I can stay in Chicago and make more money playing a wedding than spending five days in Springfield, that’s what I’d do; it’s what any reasonable person would do.”

Deal goes on to say that “inconsistency of personnel makes it especially hard to plan a concert season a year in advance, based on who you’re supposed to have, since by the time the concert rolls around, you may have only 10 percent of [those musicians].”

That’s a critical problem for orchestras that depend on part-time and freelance musicians to fill out their rosters. (That includes every professional orchestra in Virginia.) Leaders of those orchestras rarely acknowledge this problem in public. They’re even less likely to acknowledge its effect on concert programming specifically and artistic scope generally.

Orchestras that chronically recycle warhorse repertory may lack ambition or vision. Or they may figure that playing the tried-and-true is the safest way to fill seats at their concerts. Or they may be anticipating “inconsistency of personnel” and avoiding music that could prove to be beyond the capacity of the ensemble that winds up playing it.

Landon Bilyeu memorial

A memorial service celebrating the life and work of Landon Bilyeu, the pianist and longtime music professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, will be held at 3 p.m. May 7 in VCU’s Black Music Center, Grove Avenue at Harrison Street in Richmond.

Bilyeu, who performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician, died on April 27.

The family suggests memorial contributions to Spectrum Transformation Group for Autism Treatment, 1111506 Allecingie Parkway, Suite 2A, Richmond, VA 23235, or the VCU Department of Music Friends of Music, 922 Park Avenue, Box 842004, Richmond, VA 23284-2004.

Randy Hallman’s obituary of Landon Bilyeu in the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/lifestyles/2011/may/05/TDMET04-pianist-vcu-professor-landon-a-bilyeu-dies-ar-1017773/

May calendar

Classical performances in and around Richmond, with selected events elsewhere in Virginia and the Washington area. Program information, provided by presenters, is updated as details become available. Adult single-ticket prices are listed; senior, student/youth, group and other discounts may be offered.

SCOUTING REPORT

* In and around Richmond: The Richmond Symphony wraps up its subscription season, and celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Richmond Symphony Chorus, with Erin R. Freeman conducting Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis,” May 21-22 at Richmond CenterStage. . . . James Wilson’s Richmond Festival of Music presents “White Nights,” a sampler of Scandinavian and Russian chamber music from the baroque to the modern, May 13-16 at several local venues. . . . The Richmond Philharmonic and its conductor, Robert Mirakian, explore Mahler’s First Symphony, May 8 at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Singleton Arts Center.

* Star turns: The Virginia Arts Festival continues its 2011 season in Hampton Roads with performances by Chanticleer, May 5 and 8; the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio on May 21; and several recitals by pianist André-Michel Schub and women of the Virginia Symphony in late May. . . . Plácido Domingo takes his leave of the Washington National Opera, singing in Gluck’s “Iphigénie en Tauride,” May 6-28, and conducting some performances of Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale,” May 13-27, at the Kennedy Center Opera House. . . . Conductor Neeme Järvi and pianist Yefim Bronfman join the National Symphony for a Russian program, May 5-7 at the Kennedy Center. . . . Charles Dutoit and the Philadelphia Orchestra are joined by violinist Gil Shaham in a May 20 concert at the Kennedy Center.


May 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Arts Festival:
“From the Top,” NPR broadcast, with Christopher O’Riley and young musicians TBA
$22-$47
(757) 282-2822
http://www.virginiaartsfest.com/

May 5 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 500 Court St., Portsmouth
May 8 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Arts Festival:
Chanticleer
program TBA
$30 (Portsmouth)
$25-$35 (Virginia Beach)
(757) 282-2822
http://www.virginiaartsfest.com/

May 5 (7 p.m.)
May 6 (8 p.m.)
May 7 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Järvi conducting
Glazunov: “Concert Waltz” No. 1 in D major, Op. 47
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto in B flat minor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6
$20-$85
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

May 5 (8 p.m.)
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, Washington
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
Wagner: Sonata in A flat major (“Für das Album von Frau MW”)
Berg: Sonata No. 1
Scriabin: Sonata No. 9 (“Black Mass”)
Liszt: “La Lugubre Gondola”
Liszt: “Nuages gris”
Liszt: “Unstern! Sinistre, disastro”
Liszt: Sonata in B minor
$40
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
http://www.wpas.org/

May 6 (8 p.m.)
Christ and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 560 W. Olney Road, Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Helga Schauerte, organ
program TBA
$25
(757) 282-2822
http://www.virginiaartsfest.com/

May 6 (7 p.m.)
May 9 (7 p.m.)
May 12 (7:30 p.m.)
May 15 (2 p.m.)
May 17 (7:30 p.m.)
May 20 (7:30 p.m.)
May 25 (7:30 p.m.)
May 28 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
William Lacey conducting
Gluck: “Iphigénie en Tauride”
Patricia Racette (Iphigénie)
Plácido Domingo (Oreste)
Shawn Mathey (Pylade)
Simone Alberghini (Thoas)
Jennifer Lynn Waters (Diana)
Emilio Sagi, stage director
in French, English captions
$65-$300
(800) 876-7372
http://www.dc-opera.org/

May 7 (11 a.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony LolliPops
Erin R. Freeman conducting
Saint-Saëns: “Carnival of the Animals”
$17
(800) 982-2787 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.richmondsymphony.com/

May 7 (4 p.m.)
Williamsburg Baptist Church, 227 Richmond Road
Virginia Virtuosi
works by Beethoven, Bizet, Gottschalk, others
Free
(757) 229-1217
http://www.virginiavirtuosi.com/

May 7 (7 p.m.)
Military Aviation Museum, 1341 Princess Anne Road, Virginia Beach
Virginia Arts Festival:
Virginia Symphony
Benjamin Rous conducting
“Flying Proms,” symphonic air show
program TBA
$35-$45
(757) 282-2822
http://www.virginiaartsfest.com/

May 8 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Richmond Philharmonic
Robert Mirakian, speaker & conductor
“The Mahler Project,” lecture on and performance of Symphony No. 1
$8 in advance, $10 at door
(804) 673-7400
http://www.richmondphilharmonic.org/

May 11 (10:30 a.m.)
Hixon Theater, Barr Education Center, 440 Bank St., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Anna Petrova, piano
Beethoven: Sonata in F major, Op. 10, No. 2
Ravel: Sonatine
Fafchamps: “Back to the Sound”
Chopin: Polonaise in B flat major, Op. posth.
Chopin: Sonata in B minor
$20
(757) 282-2822
http://www.virginiaartsfest.com/

May 13 (7:30 p.m.)
First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1000 Blanton Ave. at the Carillon, Richmond
Richmond Festival of Music:
Carmit Zori & Jesse Mills, violins
Fiona Hughes, baroque violin
Hsin-Yung Hwang, viola
Philip Borter & James Wilson, cellos
Mary Boodell, flute
Rieko Aizawa, piano
Carsten Schmidt, piano & harpsichord
Arensky: String Quartet in A major
Arvo Pärt: “Da Pacem Domine” for string quartet
Prokofiev: Flute Sonata in D major
Halvorsen: “Norwegian Songs and Dances” for violin and piano
Nielsen: String Quartet in G minor
$25
(804) 519-2098
http://www.cmscva.org/

May 13 (7 p.m.)
May 16 (7 p.m.)
May 18 (7:30 p.m.)
May 21 (7 p.m.)
May 22 (2 p.m.)
May 24 (7:30 p.m.)
May 26 (7:30 p.m.)
May 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Plácido Domingo/Israel Gursky conducting
Donizetti: “Don Pasquale”
James Morris (Don Pasquale)
Ekaterina Siurina/Julia Novikova (Norina)
Antonio Gandia/Alexei Kudrya (Ernesto)
Dwayne Croft (Dr. Malatesta)
Jeffrey Tarr (Notary)
Leon Major, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$65-$300
(800) 876-7372
http://www.dc-opera.org/

May 14 (noon)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Richmond Festival of Music:
Rieko Aizawa & Carsten Schmidt, pianos
“Tchaikovsky in Words and Music”
Tchaikovsky: “The Seasons,” with readings from Russian authors
Free
(804) 519-2098
http://www.cmscva.org/

May 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Wilton House Museum, 215 S. Wilton Road, Richmond
Richmond Festival of Music:
Fiona Hughes, baroque violin
James Wilson, baroque cello
Mary Boodell, transverse flute
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
Roman: Trio Sonata in G minor
Roman: Flute Sonata in G minor
Silvestrov: “Juli 1750”
Johan Agrell: Violin Sonata
Buxtehude: Trio Sonata in D major
Alfred Schnittke: Madrigal
$25
(804) 519-2098
http://www.cmscva.org/

May 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Henricus Historical Park, 251 Henricus Park Road, Chester
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting
George Quincy: “Pocahontas” (opening)
Hopkinson: “The Toast”
Mozart: “The Marriage of Figaro” Overture
Robert Wendel: “The Pit and the Pendulum”
Harris: “Shenandoah” from “Americana”
Copland: “Variations on a Shaker Melody” (“Simple Gifts”) from “Appalachian Spring”
Wendel: “An Old Fashioned Summer”
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 (“New World”) (first movement)
Ellington-Custer: “Duke Ellington!”
Adolphus Hailsork: “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes”
Sousa: “The Stars and Stripes Forever”
Free ($5 per vehicle parking)
Rain date: May 15
(800) 982-2787 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.richmondsymphony.com/

May 14 (8 p.m.)
First Presbyterian Church, 500 Park St., Charlottesville
Oratorio Society of Virginia
L. Thomas Vining directing
David Norfrey, organ
Karl Jenkins: “The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace”
$20
(434) 295-4385
http://www.oratoriosociety.org/

May 14 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
May 15 (3 p.m.)
Hylton Performing Arts Center, 10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas
Fairfax Symphony
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”)
Jeanine Thames, soprano
Janine Hawley, mezzo-soprano
Fairfax Choral Society
Reston Chorale
$25-$55
(703) 563-1990
http://www.fairfaxsymphony.org/

May 16 (7:30 p.m.)
First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1000 Blanton Ave. at the Carillon, Richmond
Richmond Festival of Music:
Carmit Zori & Jesse Mills, violins
Fiona Hughes, baroque violin
Hsin-Yung Hwang, viola
Philip Borter & James Wilson, cellos
Mary Boodell, flute
Rieko Aizawa, piano
Carsten Schmidt, piano & harpsichord
Sibelius: “Valse triste”
Grieg: “Morning Mood” from “Peer Gynt” for piano four-hands
Sibelius: “Drops of Rain” for violin and cello
Gubaidulina: “”Forest Sounds” for flute and piano
Rachmaninoff: Piano Trio in G minor (“Elegaic”)
Saariaho: “NoaNoa” for flute and electronics
Grieg: Violin Sonata in C minor
$25
(804) 519-2098
http://www.cmscva.org/

May 15 (4 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Second Sunday South of the James:
Washington Camerata
“A Tour of 18th-century Europe (on a shoestring budget)”
J.S. Bach: Trio Sonata in G major, BWV 1039
Michel Blavet: Sonata in G minor, Op. 2, No. 4 (“La Lumagne”)
Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in A major, K. 208
Locatelli: Duo Sonata in D minor, Op. 4, No. 4
J.F. Kleinknect: Trio Sonata No. 1 in G major
Donation requested
(804) 272-7514


May 19 (7 p.m.)
May 20 (1:30 p.m.)
May 21 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Dausgaard conducting
Sibelius: “En Saga”
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
Nikolai Lugansky, piano
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 (“Inextinguishable”)
$20-$85
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

May 20 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Philadelphia Orchestra
Charles Dutoit conducting
Mendelssohn: “Hebrides” Overture
Walton: Violin Concerto
Gil Shaham, violin
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5
$42-$97
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
http://www.wpas.org/

May 21 (8 p.m.)
May 22 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony
Erin R. Freeman conducting
Beethoven: “Missa Solemnis”
Lori Hultgren, soprano
Marietta Simpson, mezzo-soprano
John McVeigh, tenor
Michael Dean, bass
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Erin R. Freeman directing
$17-$72
(800) 982-2787 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.richmondsymphony.com/

May 21 (8 p.m.)
American Theater, 125 E. Mellen St., Hampton
Virginia Arts Festival:
Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio
Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 2 in G major, Op. 1, No. 2
Danielpour: “Inventions on a Marriage” (premiere)
Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50
$30
(757) 282-2822
http://www.virginiaartsfest.com/

May 22 (3 p.m.)
Cobble Hill Farm, 101 Woodlee Road, Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Baroque and Jazz Bash”
$45 (includes food and beverages)
(540) 569-0267
http://www.stauntonmusicfestival.com/

May 22 (7 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony Youth Concert Orchestra
Camerata Strings
String Sinfonietta
conductors TBA
program TBA
Free
(800) 982-2787 (Ticketmaster)
http://www.richmondsymphony.com/

May 22 (5 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Choral Arts Society of Washington
Norman Scribner directing
Children’s Chorus of Washington
Joan Gregoryk directing
“Northern Lights: Choral Illuminations from Scandinavia and Beyond”
program TBA
$15-$65
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

May 23 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Ravi Shankar, sitar
other artists TBA
Indian classical ragas TBA
$35-$80
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
http://www.wpas.org/

May 24 (7:30 p.m.)
Hixon Theater, Barr Education Center, 440 Bank St., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
André-Michel Schub, piano
women of Virginia Symphony
Poulenc: Flute Sonata
Debussy: Trio for flute, viola and harp
Chopin: Ballade No. 3
Chopin: Scherzo No. 3
Beethoven: Quintet, Op. 16, for piano and winds
$30
(757) 282-2822
http://www.virginiaartsfest.com/

May 25 (10:30 a.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Virginia Arts Festival:
André-Michel Schub, piano
women of Virginia Symphony
Debussy: Trio for flute, viola and harp
Chopin: Ballade No. 3
Chopin: two waltzes
Chopin: Scherzo No. 3
Saint-Saëns: “Caprice on Danish and Russian Airs”
$20
(757) 282-2822
http://www.virginiaartsfest.com/

May 26 (10:30 a.m.)
Williamsburg Winery, Lake Powell Road, James City County
Virginia Arts Festival:
André-Michel Schub, piano
women of Virginia Symphony
Beethoven: Quintet, Op. 16, for piano and winds
Beethoven: Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 (“Appassionata”)
$20
(757) 282-2822
http://www.virginiaartsfest.com/

May 29 (8 p.m.)
West Lawn of U.S. Capitol, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
conductor TBA
Memorial Day pops concert
program TBA
Free
(800) 444-1324
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

May 30 (6 p.m.)
Town Point Park, Waterside Drive, Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Virginia Symphony
JoAnn Falletta conducting
“Symphony in the Park”
program TBA
Free
(757) 282-2822
http://www.virginiaartsfest.com/

May 31 (7 p.m.)
Virginia Holocaust Museum, 2000 E. Cary St., Richmond
Jocelyn Adelman, violin
David Fisk, piano
“And Their Music Lives On...a Recital of Music by Composers Suppressed by the Nazis”
Zemlinsky: Serenade in A major
Ernst Krenek: Sonata in F major, Op. 3
Messiaen: “Louange a l’Immortilaté de Jesus” from “Quartet for the End of Time”
Donation requested; proceeds benefit Virginia Holocaust Museum and Richmond Symphony
(804) 788-4717
http://www.richmondsymphony.com/