Author: letterv13

Effective Aug. 27, Letter V Classical Radio will air from 7 to 9 p.m. Sundays on WDCE, the University of Richmond radio station (90.1 FM, steaming via http://wdce.org)

Each week’s program will be posted here on Saturdays.

Updated Aug. 25

Some unrepentant but respectable highbrow had to say it eventually.

Writing about the demise of the Mostly Mozart festival at New York’s Lincoln Center, The New Yorker’s Alex Ross pushes back on the center management’s new emphasis on non-classical summer programming, such as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop and “the world’s first LGBTQIA+ mariachi group.”

“Although the traditional performing arts have abiding issues with élitism and exclusivity,” Ross writes, “a swerve toward pop hardly compensates for the profound societal inequalities that are embedded in our celebrity-driven culture.”

While welcoming Jonathan Heyward, the music director of the Baltimore Symphony, “a serious musician with a broad repertory” who will lead the series replacing Mostly Mozart, Ross worries that “Lincoln Center now radiates disdain for those who wish simply to listen to music they love in a comfortable hall.”

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/28/requiem-for-mostly-mozart

(via http://www.artsjournal.com)

As Ross observes, venues such as Lincoln Center were built for opera, ballet, symphonic and chamber music, not for pop and other amplified music and “alternative” performance. “Unless all [its] buildings are torn down and replaced by a stadium,” he writes, “Lincoln Center will always be best suited to events of the sit-down-and-listen variety.”

Sit-down-and-listen art forms extend well beyond the Western classical canon, to include jazz, modern dance, folk/ethnic and “world” music and dance, non-Western classical forms from India, China and elsewhere, and a wide range of avant-garde and multimedia performances. A room built for Beethoven piano sonatas is just as suitable for piano music of Thelonious Monk.

Force-fitting genres better experienced in other venues doesn’t serve the artists, their audiences or, ultimately, the places that feel obliged to do the force-fitting.

If that’s an “elitist” sentiment, so be it.

UPDATE: David Niethamer, the retired University of Richmond professor and former principal clarinetist of the Richmond Symphony, offers his take on the demise of Mostly Mozart and increasing musical diversity:

“I started going to Mostly Mozart in the early/mid 1970s, in the infancy of the festival. It was informal, and inexpensive, so that even a poor NYC grad student could afford it. In the intervening 50+ years, it has morphed into more of a ‘normal’ music series for NYC, with serious ticket prices, etc. So it doesn’t surprise me that the festival has come to the end of its useful life. It’s sad, because the original idea was to make classical music accessible to ordinary people, who couldn’t afford Metropolitan Opera prices. I’d guess that the current ticket prices mean that the original idea is no longer the current MO. And after all, the musicians should be paid for their efforts.

“I don’t listen to hip-hop as a regular part of my musical diet. Over the years, I’ve heard it a few times, but it doesn’t speak to me, at least not enough to cause me to purchase any recordings. But at 50 years, making a parallel to jazz, hip-hop seems to be becoming a historical art form, with all of the tension between the historical past and the creative present that affected the jazz world after WWII. (Think Wynton Marsalis vs. Free Jazz.) So maybe hip-hop is slowly becoming ‘sit-down-and-listen’ music. Jazz wasn’t ‘sit-down-and-listen’ music until Norman Granz started promoting ‘Jazz at the Philharmonic’ in the late 1940s, and that was somewhat controversial among the players who had spent their lives playing jazz in clubs, brothels, and the ‘second line’ at New Orleans funerals.

“Whatever its name, I hope that classical programming, appealing to ordinary people, will continue to be a part of summer programming at Lincoln Center. Inclusion doesn’t mean kicking out the ‘old guys’ – it just means making room for everyone who has something interesting to say.”

Updated Aug. 25

Although we now live in a digital world of downloaded and streamed music and video, the lure of what the entertainment industry calls “physical product” seems to be remarkably enduring.

The Washington Post’s Zoe Glasser reports that Gen Z consumers – people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s – are newly drawn to compact discs, while The Post’s Herb Scribner reports that Netflix will send customers a grab-bag of DVDs for old times’ sake before exiting the the video disc-rental market this fall.

One Taylor Swift fan profiled by Glasser collects the CDs not to play – she listens to the singer’s streams – but as objects “more akin to merchandise than a functional tool for consuming music.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2023/08/19/gen-z-collectors-love-the-cd/

Netflix’s DVD swan-song comes with a catch, Scribner writes. “[T]he company told subscribers this week that they can opt into receiving up to 10 extra DVDs chosen by the company (and slightly based on the customer’s queue of desired movies);” but, because Netflix could be sued for giving away film-makers’ property, the discs must be returned:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/08/21/netflix-dvds-free-giveaway

While the DVD (sort of) giveaway is a nostalgic gesture, the CD boomlet isn’t – the Taylor Swift fan is 23, far too young to remember when discs were the dominant medium for recorded music. “CDs make up a tiny percentage of the music industry’s earnings: about 3 percent as of 2022, down from 96 percent in 2002,” Glasser reports. “Digital streaming services have dominated for more than a decade, with vinyl ticking upward year over year” since the early 2000s.

Both articles point to a continuing desire by consumers to possess a physical, as opposed to a purely digital, version of their favorite music or video. That desire contributed to the renaissance of vinyl records, which began about 20 years ago, and to a more recent (albeit much smaller) renewal of interest in cassette tapes.

Collectors of classical recordings, an older cohort of the music market, have held onto CDs longer than younger fry, partly out of habit and to continue using playback equipment that sounds better than earbuds or devices’ speakers, partly because downloads are often chopped into musical segments that don’t reassemble properly on playback. (Try to find a download of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony that doesn’t “stutter” sonically between the third movement and the finale.)

The “merchandise” aspect is a significant draw, too: Physical discs may not be as enticing or functional as, say, T-shirts; but they have cover art, essentially miniature posters for the artist, the music or the film. Some people collect LPs for their covers, not as recordings to play. The marketers of downloads, aware of the visual attraction, commonly include a digital file of the album cover that can be printed.

Then there’s durability: If all your music is stored digitally, and the device on which it’s stored crashes or is misplaced, your collection is gone. That’s why I make a digital copy or burn a CD of every download I purchase. (I usually skip printing the album art, which lost much of its creative potential when the frame shrank from the LP’s 12-by-12 inches to the CD’s 5-by-5.)

Bottom line: The point of owning a recording is to play it repeatedly. The most desirable medium is one that lasts on repeated playback. That at least partially explains why LPs made a comeback, and why CDs haven’t been obliterated by downloads or streaming.

UPDATE: The New York Times’ Reggie Ugwu reports that Netflix will allow recipients of DVDs to keep them. “[T]hey could also request up to 10 more movies by mail as part of an everything-must-go deal.”

Renata Scotto, long a reigning voice in roles such as Cio-Cio San in Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly” and Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata,” has died at 89.

Over a career of 50 years, Scotto sang in most of the world’s major houses, including more than 300 performances at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, one of her principal venues in the 1970s and ’80s. She usually was cast in Italian repertory, from the bel canto operas of Bellini and Donizetti to most of the major soprano roles of Verdi to verismo operas of Puccini and Catalani.

Born in the Italian fishing village of Savona, the daughter of a policeman and a seamstress, Scotto first attracted notice outside of Italy in 1957 at the Edinburgh Festival, when she took over the role of Amina from Maria Callas. A rivalry between the two singers followed, continuing after Callas’ retirement, Jonathan Kandell writes in an obituary for The New York Times. Scotto also had long-running feuds with the managers of the Met and La Scala in Milan, and sometimes contentious relationships with conductors and fellow singers.

After her retirement from performing in 2002, Scotto worked as a teacher and directed several productions.

Kandell’s obituary:

The Metropolitan Opera Guild, the nonprofit organization that since 1935 has provided financial and other support for the New York opera company, will cease to exist as an independent entity and will shut down its monthly magazine, Opera News. The guild’s leaders said that “it is no longer economically viable for us to continue in our current form.”

The guild, which, like the Met itself, has seen a drop in fundraising proceeds since the onset of the Covid pandemic, “will be reclassified as a supporting organization under the Met; it will no longer operate as an independent nonprofit. The guild said that it would provide severance to its 20 employees, and that it expects the Met to hire some of them. Its board members will be offered positions on the Met’s board,” while Opera News’ US coverage will be absorbed by the British magazine Opera, The New York Times’ Javier C. Hernández reports:

Writing for The Guardian, Emily MacGregor of King’s College, London, celebrates the symphony, a musical form with “a tricksy ability to tread a line between repelling meaning – i.e., it’s pure music, not about anything except music – and attracting meaning like iron filings to a magnet. Not just any old meaning, though. Big and important meanings with philosophical grandeur, about self and society. . . .

“[A]t their best,” MacGregor writes, “symphonies might also remind us that we’re all in it together, and that democracy isn’t dead – what it means to ‘sound together’ but also to listen with hope for something unknown and beautiful.”

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/10/come-together-the-democracy-of-the-symphony-musics-greatest-form-emily-macregor

1-3 p.m. EDT
1700-1900 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Dvořák: “Scherzo capriccioso”
London Symphony Orchestra/István Kertész
(Decca)

Beethoven: Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2 (“Razumovsky”)
Juilliard String Quartet
(Sony Classical)

Glinka: “Valse-Fantaisie” in B minor
BBC Philharmonic/Vassily Sinaisky
(Chandos)

Chopin: Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49
Ivan Moravec, piano
(Vox)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor
London Symphony Orchestra/Igor Markevitch
(Decca)

The (delayed) third sampler of the season’s new classical recordings, with solo showpieces by Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Eugène Ysaÿe; Florence Price’s First Symphony; a cello concerto for Pablo Casals by his brother, Enrique; a sinfonietta by the Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra; and, for a finale, the debut disc by Virginia’s Garth Newel Piano Quartet.

1-3 p.m. EDT
1700-1900 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Louis Moreau Gottschalk: “Grande tarantelle,” Op. 67
Cecile Licad, piano
(Danacord)

Enrique Casals: Cello Concerto in F major
Jan Vogler, cello
Moritzburg Festival Orchestra/Josep Caballé-Domenech
(Sony Classical)

Roberto Sierra: Sinfonietta for string orchestra
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Domingo Hindoyan
(Onyx)

Eugène Ysaÿe: Sonata in D minor, Op. 27, No. 3 (“Ballade”)
Hilary Hahn, violin
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Florence Price: Symphony No. 1 in E minor
Chineke! Orchestra/Roderick Cox
(Decca)

David Biedenbender: “Red Vesper”
Mingzhe Wang, clarinet
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
(Blue Griffin Recording)

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 ticket prices are listed; senior, student/youth, military, group and other discounts may be offered. Service fees may be added.

Contact presenters or venues for health and safety protocols.

Aug. 2 (7 p.m.)
Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1627 Monument Ave., Richmond
August Musicales:
Lisa Edwards-Burrs & Margaret Taylor Woods, sopranos
Jessica Harika, mezzo-soprano
Joel Kumro, tenor
John Tyndall, baritone
Chase Peak, bass
Charles Lindsey, piano
opera & operetta arias & ensembles, Broadway show tunes TBA
donation requested
(804) 359-2463
http://grace-covenant.org

Aug. 4 (8 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna
National Symphony Orchestra
Alpesh Chauhan conducting
Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major
Hilary Hahn, violin
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F minor
$25-$96
(703) 255-1868
http://wolftrap.org

Aug. 5 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Judith Ingolfsson, violin
Garth Newel Emerging Artists fellows
Beethoven: Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70, No. 1 (“Ghost”)
Jessie Montgomery: “Strum”
Javier Martínez Campos: “Serenata para cuerdas”
$25 (concert), $95 (concert & dinner)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

Aug. 5 (8 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
conductor TBA
Lyle Lovett, guest star
$43-$153
(703) 255-1868
http://wolftrap.org

Aug. 6 (3 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Richmond Chamber Players
Kirke Mechem: “Wedding Madrigal” for flute & piano
Alfred Schnittke: “Suite im alten Stile” for violin & piano
Mechem: Divertimento for flute & strings
Mahler: Piano Quartet in A minor (Schnittke completion)
$30
(804) 272-7514
http://richmondchamberplayers.org

Aug. 6 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Judith Ingolfsson, violin
Garth Newel Emerging Artists fellows
Frank Bridge: “Phantasy” Piano Quartet
Ernő Dohnányi: Piano Quintet No. 2, Op. 26
George Enescu: Octet in C major, Op. 7
$25 (concert); $55 (concert & picnic)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

Aug. 6 (5 p.m.)
River Pavilion, Kennedy Center, Washington
Emily Tsai, oboe
Najin Kim & Ko Sugiyama, violins
Elizabeth Pulju-Owen, viola
Kristen Wojcik, cello
program TBA
free
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Aug. 9 (7 p.m.)
Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1627 Monument Ave., Richmond
August Musicales:
Daniel Stipe, organ
program TBA
donation requested
(804) 359-2463
http://grace-covenant.org

Aug. 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Handel: “Orlando”
Carsten Schmidt conducting
Daniel Moody (Orlando)
Peter Walker (Zoroastre)
Molly Quinn (Angelica)
Sheila Dietrich (Dorinda)
Angela Young Smucker (Medoro)
Timothy Nelson, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$22-$35
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 11 (8 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna
Wolf Trap Opera
Stephanie Rhodes Russell conducting
Mozart: “Don Giovanni”
Cory McGee (Don Giovanni)
Eric Lindsey (Commendatore)
Renée Richardson (Donna Anna)
Lunga Eric Hallam (Don Ottavio)
Tiffany Townsend (Donna Elvira)
Andrew Gilstrap (Leporello)
Daniel Rich (Masetto)
Denis Vélez (Zerlina)
John de los Santos, stage director & choreographer
in Italian, English captions
$27-$77
(703) 255-1868
http://wolftrap.org

Aug. 12 (noon)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Paris 1907: Proust at the Ritz”
Fauré: Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 13 – I: Allegro molto
Chopin: Prelude in D flat major, Op. 28, No. 15 (harp arrangement)
Schumann: “Des Abends” for piano
Wagner: “Die Meistersinger” Prelude (piano quintet arrangement)
Chabrier: Idylle for violin & piano
Beethoven: Quartet in F major, Op. 135 – III: Lento assai
François Couperin: “Les Barricades mysterieuses” (harp arrangement)
Wagner-Liszt: “Tristan und Isolde” – “Liebestod” for piano
Fauré: Berceuse for violin & harp
free
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 12 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Francis Yun, harpsichord
Gaspard Le Roux: Suite No. 1 in D minor
François Couperin: Ordre No. 6 in B flat major
Handel: Suite No. 2 in F major, HWV 427
J.S. Bach: “Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo,” BWV 992
$25 (concert), $95 (concert & dinner)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

Aug. 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Paris 1922: Night at the Majestic”
Ravel: “Pavane pour une infante défunte” (chamber-ensemble arrangment)
Luciano Berio: “Thema (Ommagio a Joyce)” for electronic tape
Barber: “Three Joyce Songs” for voice & piano
Satie: “Parade”
Stravinsky: “Petrouchka” for 2 pianos & percussion (Peter White & Brian Smith arrangement) (premiere)
$22-$35
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 13 (3 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Richmond Chamber Players
Shostakovich: Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110
Bartók: Piano Quintet, Op. 1 – I: Andante – allegro
Radiohead: “Creep” for cello & piano quintet
$30
(804) 272-7514
http://richmondchamberplayers.org

Aug. 13 (7 p.m.)
Great Lawn, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Aug. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
31st Street Stage, King Neptune’s Park, Atlantic Avenue at 31st Street, Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Brandon Eldredge conducting
Tiffany Hass & Colin Ruffer, vocalists
“Broadway Celebration”
program TBA
free
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Aug. 13 (10:30 a.m.)
Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Summer Sounds”
John Wilbye & Thomas Weelkes: English madrigals
Anders Hillborg: “Six Pieces for Wind Quintet”
Richard Strauss: “Capriccio” – String Sextet
Paganini-Tiksola (Antti Tikkanen & Minna Pensola): “The Reader’s Digest to the 24 Caprices”
$16-$22
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 13 (4 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“La Bella Italia”
Adriano Banchieri: 3 madrigals
Chopin: Barcarolle in F sharp minor, Op. 60
Giacinto Scelsi: “Okanagon” for harp, double bass & percussion
Pergolesi: “Stabat Mater”
Tarquinio Merula: Ciaccona, Op. 12, No. 20, for recorder & violin
Dario Castello: Sonata No. 10 for recorder & continuo
Berio: “Opus Number Zoo” for wind quintet & narrators
Rossini: “The Barber of Seville” Overture
$22-$35
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 13 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Jeannette Fang, piano
David del Tredici: “Virtuoso Alice”
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: “Das Jahr” (“The Year”)
Mussorgsky: “Pictures at an Exhibition”
$25 (concert), $55 (concert & picnic)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

Aug. 14 (noon)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Collegium Musicum”
J.S. Bach: Clavier Concerto in A major, BWV 1055
Hindemith: Octet
Telemann: Concerto in D major, TWV 53:D5, for violin, cello, trumpet, strings & continuo
free
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Happenstance Theater
“Barococo”
$16-$22
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 15 (noon)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Nordic Light and Darkness”
Sibelius: “Malinconia” for cello & piano
Johan Helmich Roman: Trio sonata TBA
Anders Hillborg: “Kongsgaard Variations” for string quartet
Grieg: songs Op. 48, for voice & chamber ensemble (Zachary Wadsworth arrangement)
free
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 15 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Early Keyboard Extravaganza”
Jean-Henri D’Anglebert: Suite in C major for 3 harpsichords
J.S. Bach: Concerto in A minor, BWV 1065, for 4 harpsichords & strings (after Vivaldi)
Buxtehude: Motet, “Jubilate Domino”
Schubert: Adagio and Allegro for piano quartet
Schubert: Allegro in A minor (“Lebensstürme”) for piano 4-hands
Handel: Organ Concerto in F major, Op. 4, No. 5
$22-$35
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 15 (10 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Nightcap: from Camerata to Broadway”
cabaret concert
$20
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 16 (7 p.m.)
Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1627 Monument Ave., Richmond
August Musicales:
Richmond Chamber Players:
Susy Yim & Catherine Cary, violins
Stephen Schmidt, viola
Neal Cary, cello
John Walter, piano
Shostakovich: Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110
Mahler: Piano Quartet in A minor (Alfred Schnittke completion)
Bartók: Piano Quintet, Op. 1 – I: Andante – allegro molto
donation requested
(804) 359-2463
http://grace-covenant.org

Aug. 16 (noon)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Serenades at Noon”
Scarlatti: 3 sonatas for fortepiano
Rosita Piritore: String Quartet
Debussy: Sonata for flute, viola & harp
free
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 16 (3 p.m.)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Anders Hillborg, composer & speaker
Hillborg: Duet for clarinet & violin
free
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“The Breathing of the World”
Gottlob Benedict Bierey: Kyrie in C minor for chorus & orchestra (after Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata)
Zachary Wadsworth: “Eclipse” for harp & chamber ensemble
Anders Hillborg: “The Breathing of the World” for chorus
Milhaud: “La création du monde” for piano quintet
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B flat major
$22-$35
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 17 (noon)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Song Fest”
Britten: folksong arrangements TBA
Judith Shatin: “Vayter un vayter” for bass, clarinet, cello & piano
J.S. Bach: Cantata, “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen,” BWV 51
free
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
Mozart: “The Marriage of Figaro” Overture
Clara & Robert Schumann: “Romanzen” for oboe & fortepiano
Anders Hillborg: “O dessa ögon” for voice & string quintet
Tchaikovsky: “Romeo and Juliet” Fantasy-Overture for piano sextet (Vladimir Mendelssohn arrangement)
Thomas Beecham: “The Great Elopement, or Love in Bath” (after Handel), with pantomime by Happenstance Theater
$22-$35
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 18 (noon)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Bach Materia”
J. S. Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047
Anders Hillborg: “Bach Materia” for violin & strings
J.S. Bach: “Ich ruf zu dir” for oboe & strings (Hillborg arrangement)
free
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Baroque Inside-Out: The Brandenburgs”
J.S. Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046
J.S. Bach: Motet, “Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf,” BWV 226
J.S. Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050
J.S. Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048
J.S. Bach: Cantata, “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort,” BWV 20 – “O Menschenkind”
J.S. Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049
$22-$35
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 18 (10 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Nightcap: Baroque Bach”
J.S. Bach: vocal & instrumental works TBA
$20
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 19 (noon)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Fin de siècle”
Ravel: Introduction and Allegro for harp & chamber ensemble
Enescu: Octet in C major, Op. 7
free
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 19 (3 p.m.)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Baroque Lovers’ Afternoon”
John Blow: “Ode on the Death of Henry Purcell”
J.S. Bach: Fugue in C major, BWV 846, for 2 violins (Davids arrangement)
André Campra: “Silène et Bacchus” for voice, flute & continuo
J.S. Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 6 in B flat major, BWV 1051
free
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 19 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“España”
Albéniz: “Triana” for 2 pianos
Victoria: “Ave Maria” for 8 voices
George Crumb: “Night of the Four Moons” for voice & chamber ensemble
Boccherini: “Night Music in the Streets of Madrid,” G. 324, for string quintet
De Falla: “Master Peter’s Puppet Show,” with pantomime & puppetry by Happenstance Theater
$22-$35
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 19 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Nicholas Danielson, Joel Fuller, Juliette Kang & Teresa Ling, violins
Fitz Gary & Evelyn Grau, violas
Thomas Kraines & Isaac Melamed, cellos
Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36
Shostakovich: “2 Pieces for String Octet,” Op. 11
$25 (concert), $95 (concert & dinner)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

Aug. 20 (7 p.m.)
Gallery5, 200 W. Marshall St., Richmond
Classical Revolution RVA:
artists TBA
program TBA
donation requested
(804) 678-8863 (Gallery5)
http://classicalrevolutionrva.com/events

Aug. 20 (10:30 a.m.)
Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Mozart’s Math and Magic”
Mozart: “The Magic Flute” Suite for Harmonie (wind octet)
Zachary Wadsworth: “A Musical Dice Game” (after Mozart) for actor & chamber ensemble
Mozart: String Quintet in C major, K. 515
$16-$22
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 20 (4 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
artists TBA
“Finale: Mozart Extravaganza”
Mozart: “The Magic Flute” – 2 quintets
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453 – II: Andante
Mozart: “Abendempfindung” for voice & piano
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
Mozart: “Eine kleine Freimaurer-Kantate”
Mozart: Mass in C minor, K. 427 – Gloria
$22-$35
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

Aug. 20 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Nicholas Danielson, Joel Fuller, Juliette Kang & Teresa Ling, violins
Fitz Gary & Evelyn Grau, violas
Thomas Kraines & Isaac Melamed, cellos
Mozart: String Quintet in G minor, K. 516
Mendelssohn: Octet in E flat major, Op. 20
$25 (concert), $55 (concert & picnic)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

Aug. 20 (5 p.m.)
River Pavilion, Kennedy Center, Washington
Susan Robinson, harp
Adria Foster, flute
works TBA by Debussy, Piazzolla, Vincent Persichetti, Stella Sung
free
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Aug. 26 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Jeannette Fang, Genevieve Fei-wen Lee, Paul Nitsch & Jeremy Thompson, pianos
Schubert: Fantasie in F minor, D. 940
Messiaen: “Visions de l’Amen” (“Visions of the Amen”)
Liszt: “Les Préludes”
$25 (concert), $95 (concert & dinner)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

Aug. 27 (5 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River & Ridge roads, Richmond
E. Carl Freeman Concert Series:
National Cathedral Choir
Michael McCarthy directing
“Camino di Santiago – The Road Home”
anon.: “Ave Maria”
Francisco Guerrero: “Ave Maria”
Gabriela Lena Frank: “Ccollanan María”
Vicente Lusitano: “Regina caeli”
anon: “Hodie Christus Natus”
Tomás Luis de Victoria: “O magnum mysterium”
Reena Esmail: “The Unexpected Early Hour”
Linda Kachelmeier: “We Toast the Days”
anon.: “Ecce lignum x 3”
Alonso Lobo: “Versa est in luctum”
Pablo Casals: “O vos omnes”
anon.: “Haec Dies”
Melissa Dunphy: “Alpha and Omega”
free; tickets required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org/e-carl-freeman-concert-series

Aug. 27 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Jeannette Fang, Genevieve Fei-wen Lee, Paul Nitsch & Jeremy Thompson, pianos
Saint-Saëns: “Carnival of the Animals”
Percy Grainger: “Fantasy on Gershwin’s ‘Porgy and Bess’ ”
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
Gounod: “Faust” – Waltz
$25 (concert), $55 (concert & picnic)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

Aug. 27 (5 p.m.)
River Pavilion, Kennedy Center, Washington
Adria Foster, flute
Emily Tsai, oboe
David Jones, clarinet
Chris Jewell, bassoon
Christy Klenke, horn
works TBA by Bernstein, Mozart, Bizet, Grieg, Gershwin, Verdi, Marc Mellits
free
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Aug. 30 (8 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna
Richmond Ballet
City Choir of Washington
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Richmond Symphony
Erin Freeman conducting
Orff: “Carmina Burana”
Esther Tonea, soprano
Lunga Eric Hallam, tenor
Daniel Rich, baritone
Ma Cong: “Thrive”
$33-$88
(703) 255-1868
http://wolftrap.org

Sept. 2 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Aaron Berofsky, violin
Haydn: Quartet in D major, Op. 20, No. 2
Schumann: Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44
$25 (concert), $95 (concert & dinner)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

Sept. 3 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Aaron Berofsky, violin
Franck: Piano Quintet in F minor
Dvořák: Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81
$25 (concert), $55 (concert & picnic)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

Sept. 3 (5 p.m.)
River Pavilion, Kennedy Center, Washington
Sandra Del Cid-Davies, flute & piccolo
Kayla Moffett & Martha Kaufman, violins
Elizabeth Pulju-Owen, viola
Kristen Wojcik, cello
program TBA
free
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Sept. 5 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
James Buckley conducting
Jacob Collier, guest star
“The Orchestral DJESSE Show”
$39-$109
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

The New Yorker’s Alex Ross picks his way through the sonic landfill that most music-streaming services make of classical music, frustrating and/or confounding both classical mavens and listeners beginning to explore this art form.

Ross is not impressed by the new Apple Classical service (see headline quote). He has no use for Spotify (“obnoxious chaos”), not much for Qobuz (“a bit of a mess”). He likes the search and selection capacities of Idagio and the new streaming service of the British retailer Presto Classical.

He is impressed by the sometimes vast number of choices – Apple Classical, he finds, offers more than 500 Beethoven Fifths; less so by the hoops that users must jump through before arriving at those options. He misses printed opera librettos and notes, although some services offer PDF-format virtual booklets.

He notes that streaming services tend to be geared to playback from smartphones and other hand-held devices rather than computers, a significant drawback for him (and for me – a sign, I suspect, of our ages).

Ross’ bottom line: “[W]ith myriad possibilities accessible at the flick of a finger, it becomes harder to concentrate on a single album or on a single work. Gluttony takes hold, indigestion sets in. For that reason, I still prefer CDs or LPs: [T]he experience is finite and complete, with silence on both ends.”

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/apple-again-fails-to-save-classical-music

My bottom line: Streaming can wait. I don’t care to choose among 50 Beethoven Fifths, let alone 500. I’m fine with digital downloads in place of physical objects. Most mp3 downloads are much less expensive than a CD; higher-quality downloads are roughly the same price. (Highness of fidelity ultimately depends on the quality of playback equipment.) I don’t need booklets for most recordings and works, as there are plenty of information sources on the Internet. Speaking of which, there’s YouTube, whose praises I sang here:

http://wordpress.com/post/letterv.blog/15459.