Author: letterv13

Menahem Pressler, the pianist and longtime leader of the Beaux Arts Trio, has died at 99.

Born in Magdeburg, Germany, Pressler began playing the piano at the age of 6. In 1938, following Kristallnacht, in which the Nazis beat and killed Germany’s Jews, ransacked their homes and businesses and burned their synagogues, Pressler, his parents and sister fled the country and made their way to Haifa, the port city in what was then the British mandate of Palestine.

After he won a competition in 1946, Pressler moved to New York and began a solo career. In 1955, he joined the faculty of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and formed the Beaux Arts Trio with violinist Daniel Guilet and cellist Bernard Greenhouse. The ensemble recorded extensively; its discs of the standard piano-trio repertory are rated widely as definitive.

Pressler continued to lead the trio, with a succession of string players, until it disbanded in 2008, after which he continued to perform as a soloist and with various chamber groups. He remained active as a pianist and teacher well into his 90s.

An obituary by The New York Times’ Robert D. McFadden:

Major works by Vivaldi, Haydn, Dvořák, Elgar and Ravel, a chamber arrangement of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” and new works by Kenyon Duncan and the Richmond-born composer Zachary Wadsworth highlight five ticketed programs in the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia’s coming season.

Ensembles, assembled by the Chamber Music Society’s artistic director, cellist James Wilson, will perform in four Richmond area church venues.

Four free programs also are planned during the season. Details will be announced later.

Subscription ticket packages for the five concerts are $129.89 for adults, $23.18 for students. Subscription sales begin on May 12.

For more information, call (804) 304-6312 or visit http://cmscva.org/index.php/events/cmscva-2023-24-season/

Dates, locations and programs for the society’s 2023-24 ticketed concerts:

Oct. 2 (7 p.m.)
First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1000 Blanton Ave. at the Carillon
“Pictures at an Exhibition”
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition” (arrangement for 10 instruments)
quintets TBA by Dvořák, Jessie Montgomery, Óscar Navarro

Oct. 29 (4 p.m.)
Holy Comforter Episcopal Church, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
“French Dynasty”
works TBA by Louis, François & Armand-Louis Couperin

Dec. 18 (7 p.m.)
Holy Comforter Episcopal Church, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road
“Fifth Season”
Vivaldi: “The Four Seasons,” other concertos TBA
Kenyon Duncan: new work TBA

March 3 (4 p.m.)
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 12291 River Road
“Illumination”
Haydn: Quartet in B flat major, Op. 76, No. 4 (“Sunrise”)
Ravel: Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet & strings
Gilad Cohen: “Firefly Elegy”
Zachary Wadsworth: new work TBA

April 21 (4 p.m.
Second Presbyterian Church, 5 N. Fifth St.
“Britannia”
Elgar: Piano Quintet in A minor
works TBA by Purcell, Hannah Kendall

Over the past few days, highbrow media (we’re not dead yet) have been abuzz over an episode during a recent Los Angles Philharmonic performance of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. During the slow movement, a woman in the audience very audibly experienced, or maybe faked, an orgasm.

Details, if you can’t resist, from the Los Angeles Times’ Christi Carras: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2023-04-30/la-phil-concert-orgasm-twitter-tchaikovsky

The “orgasm-twitter-tchaikovsky” case is the latest upending of classical concert decorum. (We’re way beyond applauding between movements.) Refreshingly, this one doesn’t involve somebody’s phone going off. This concertgoer’s more organic going-off conceivably was a genuine heart-and-points-south-felt response to the music – Tchaikovsky has been known to provoke physical manifestations of listeners’ emotions. It was certainly a more human disruption, arguably less obnoxious than random electronic bleats.

And it was cartoonishly sexy, which is irresistible. (You’re clicking on that link, aren’t you?)

Music and sex have cohabited from the beginning, and Western classical music is not an exception: The chants and songs of the 12th-century German nun Hildegard of Bingen take the “bride of Christ” concept pretty literally, cloaking Christian mysticism with palpable, sometimes intoxicating, sensuality. . . . Liturgical works by Palestrina and other Renaissance masters often ran afoul of church authorities for sounding too “worldly” (i.e., sexy). . . . Great opera runs on sexual tension (c.f., “Don Giovanni,” “Tristan und Isolde,” “Carmen,” “Porgy and Bess”). . . . Great ballet music enhances the moves of physically attractive and revealingly clad (increasingly, less and less clad) dancers in stylized foreplay (lately, rounding third base, dashing for home). . . . Symphonic and chamber music from the mid-19th century onward are awash in love themes of varying degrees of explicitness and intentionally sensual sound textures. (The French, naturally, got there first; but before long everyone else got in the mood.)

Ejaculations from concert crowds are also old news. Accounts of audiences’ responses to Franz Liszt, Jenny Lind and other 19th-century virtuosos and divas suggest that orgasms (real or feigned) may well have been part of the proceedings, and critics of the time harrumphed about the sensual/exhibitionist qualities of the latest compositions.

Never pass up the chance for an orgasm – that’s hard-wired in the brain and body chemistry of every animal. Social norms attempt to govern when, where and how humans act on that imperative. Norms change over time. Western and Western-influenced societies now live in a time of sexual liberation (or promiscuity), when, thanks to social media and other factors and vibes, the once-private, sexual and otherwise, is now public.

We also live in a time in which outrage seems to be as essential as a morning jolt of caffeine. If you get your outrage fix over orgasm-twitter-tchaikovsky, at least you’ve avoided many more toxic ways to vent (c.f., today’s real news).

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.

May 2 (7:30 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River & Ridge roads, Richmond
E. Carl Freeman Concert Series:
Virginia Baptist Male Chorale
Michael Hawn directing
program TBA
free; tickets required via http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-virginia-baptist-male-chorale-river-road-church-tickets-541775002617
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org/e-carl-freeman-concert-series/

May 2 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Digitalis ’23 Electronic Music Festival:
artists & program TBA
free
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

May 2 (7 p.m.)
Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, 1050 Independence Ave. SW, Washington
Del Sol Quartet
U.S. Air Force Band’s Singing Sergeants
Col. Don Schofield conducting
Huang Ruo: “Angel Island”
free
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts)
http://washingtonperformingarts.org

May 2 (7:30 p.m.)
May 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Opera Lafayette
Avi Stein, harpsichord & direction
Rameau: “Io”
Pierre de la Garde: “Léandre et Héro”
Emmanuelle de Negri, soprano
Maxime Melnik, tenor
Gwendoline Blondeel, soprano
Patrick Kilbride, tenor
Doug Williams, bass-baritone
New York Baroque Dance Company
Sean Curran Company
Nick Olcott, stage direction
in French
$30-$105
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 3 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church, 2700 Dolfield Road, North Chesterfield
Richmond Symphony
Daniel Myssyk conducting
Mendelssohn: “Hebrides” Overture
Adolphus Hailstork: “Sonata di Chisea”
Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B minor (“Unfinished”)
free
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Perry Pavilion, 451 Bank St., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Béla Fleck, banjo
Zakir Hussein, tabla
Edgar Meyer, double-bass
Rakesh Chaurasia, bansuri (bamboo flute)
“As We Speak”
program TBA
$25-$59
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

May 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Virginia Symphony Orchestra Pops
Anthony Parnther conducting
“The Music of ‘Star Wars’ ”
$25-$114
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

May 4 (7 p.m.)
May 5 (8 p.m.)
May 6 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Steven Reinecke conducting
Cirque de la Symphonie, guest stars
$29-$99
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 4 (8 p.m.)
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 301 A St. SE, Washington
Library of Congress Concerts:
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Danny Elfman: new work TBA
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
Chad Hoopes, violin
Mussorgsky: “Pictures at an Exhibition” (Jannina Norpoth orchestration)
free; reservation required via http://blackbaud.com
(202) 707-5502
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

May 4 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Jonathon Heyward conducting
Tania León: “Pasajes”
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor
Khatia Buniatishvili, piano
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
$35-$90
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

May 5 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Music & Medicine Orchestra
Will Pattie conducting
Alan Saucedo, cello
One Voice Chorus
“Orchestral Travels”
program TBA
free; tickets required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org/concerts

May 5 (8 p.m.)
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 401 Alderman Road, Charlottesville
Oratorio Society of Virginia
Michael Slon directing
Rossini: “Petite Messe solennelle”
Arvo Pärt: “Missa Syllabica”
$27-$37
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

May 5 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
May 6 (7:30 p.m.)
All Saints Episcopal Church, 8787 River Road, Richmond
May 7 (4 p.m.)
Grace Episcopal Church, 5607 Gordonsville Road, Keswick
Three Notch’d Road: the Virginia Baroque Ensemble:
Addy Sterrett, soprano
Christa Patton, harp
Anne Timberlake, recorders
Fiona Hughes, baroque violin
Benjamin Wyatt, baroque cello
Todd Fickley, organ
“Southern Warmth: Spanish, Croation, Portuguese & Italian”
works TBA by Monteverdi, Ivan Mane Jarnović, Ivan Lukačić, Tomás Luis de Victoria, King John IV of Portugal
$25
(434) 409-3424
http://tnrbaroque.org

May 6 (2 & 8 p.m.)
Altria Theater, Main & Laurel streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
“Star Wars: the Return of the Jedi,” film with live orchestral accompaniment
$44-$88
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 7 (7 p.m.)
Carpenter Theater, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra
Daniel Myssyk conducting
Tchaikovsky: “Variations on a Rococo Theme” (selections)
Christopher Gilley, cello
Mahler: “Blumine”
Roberto Sierra Ficciones: Concerto for electric violin & orchestra
Tracy Silverman, electric violin
$10
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 7 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Arts Festival:
Olga Kern, piano
Rachmaninoff: “Variations on a Theme by Corelli,” Op. 42
Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 36
Rachmaninoff: “Polka de W.R.”
other Rachmaninoff works TBA
$10-$59
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

May 7 (3 p.m.)
Berglund Performing Arts Theatre, Orange Avenue at Williamson Road, Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Beethoven: “Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage”
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
Beethoven: Fantasia in C minor, Op. 90 (“Choral Fantasy”)
Norman Krieger, piano
Roanoke Symphony Chorus
guest choruses TBA
$34-$56
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

May 8 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Helsinki Philharmonic
Susanna Mälkki conducting
Sibelius: “Lemminkäinen’s Return”
Kaija Saariaho: Flute Concerto (“L’Aile du songe”)
Claire Chase, flute
Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D major
$30-$110
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts)
http://kennedy-center.org

May 10 (10:30 a.m.)
Hixon Theater, Barr Education Center, 440 Bank St., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Dalí Quartet
Olga Kern, piano
Rachmaninoff: Quartet No. 2 in G minor
Taneyev: Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 30
$25
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

May 10 (7 p.m.)
Seacobeck Hall, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg Chamber Music Festival:
artists TBA
Dohnányi: Serenade in C major, Op. 10, for string trio
Mozart: Flute Quartet in D major, K. 285
Brahms: Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114
pre-concert performance by community students
$30-$35
(540) 310-0817
http://artsliveva.org

May 10 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts:
Renée Fleming, soprano
Evgeny Kissin, piano
Schubert: “Suleika 1,” D. 720; “Die Vögel,” D. 961; “Lied der Mignon – nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt,” D. 877; “Rastlose Liebe,” D. 138
Liszt: “Sposalizio,” S. 161, No. 1; “Valse oubliée” No. 1; “Freudvoll und Leidvoll,” S. 280/1; “Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh,” S. 306/2; “Im Rhein, im schöenen Strome,” S. 272/1
Rachmaninoff: “Lilacs,” Op. 21, No. 5; “A Dream,” Op. 38, No. 5; “Morceaux de Fantaisie” – Mélodie, Sérénade
Liszt: “S’il est un charmant gazon,” S. 284/1; “Oh! quand je dors,” S. 282/1
Henri Duparc: “Extase;” “Le Manoir de Rosdemonde”
$40-$130
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Norfolk Academy, 1585 Wesleyan Drive
Virginia Arts Festival:
Dalí Quartet
Olga Kern, piano
Rachmaninoff: Quartet No. 2 in G minor
Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11
Taneyev: Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 30
$35
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

May 11 (7 p.m.)
Seacobeck Hall, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg Chamber Music Festival:
artists TBA
Beethoven: “Duo for 2 Eyeglasses Obligato”
Khachaturian: Clarinet Trio in G minor
J.S. Bach: Sonata in E minor, BWV 1034, for flute & piano
Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 47
pre-concert performance by community students
$30-$35
(540) 310-0817
http://artsliveva.org

May 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road, McLean
May 13 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
National Philharmonic
Piotr Gajewski conducting
Henry Dehlinger: “Cosmic Cycles” (premiere)
$19-$99
(301) 493-9283
http://nationalphilharmonic.org

May 11 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Pops
Byron Stripling conducting & trumpet
Carmen Bradford, vocalist
Leo Manzari, tap dancer
“Uptown Nights”
$35-$90
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

May 12 (7 p.m.)
May 13 (7 p.m.)
Marburg House, 3102 Bute Lane, Richmond
Belvedere Series:
Jessica Xylina Osborne, piano
“So She Wants to Write a Fugue?”
J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in B minor, WTC I
Clara Wieck Schumann: 3 preludes and fugues, Op. 16
Lera Auerbach: Chorale, Fugue, and Postlude
Shostakovich: Prelude and Fugue No. 15 in D flat major
Beethoven: Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, op. 110
Irene Britton-Smith: Passacaglia
Grazyna Bacewicz: Sonata II
$30 (seating limited)
(804) 833-1481
http://belvedereseries.org

May 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Joel Kumro, organ
Nicolaus Bruhns: Praeludium in G major
Pierre du Mage: “Premier Livre d’Orgue” (selections)
J.S. Bach: “Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig,” BWV 768 (selections)
Josef Rheinberger: Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 98
free; tickets required via http://www.eventbrite.com/e/organ-recital-joel-kumro-tickets-367765746247
(804) 359-5691
http://richmondcathedral.org/concerts

May 12 (10:30 a.m.)
St. John’s Episcopal Church, 424 Washington St., Portsmouth
Virginia Arts Festival:
Dalí Quartet
Schubert: Quartet in E flat major, D. 87
Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11
$25
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

May 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
May 13 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
May 14 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Eric Jacobsen conducting
Fauré: “Pie Jesu”
Kayhan Kalhor: “Blue as the Turquoise Night of Neyshabur”
Kayhan Kalhor, kamancheh (Iranian fiddle)
Sandeep Das, tabla
Karen Ouzounian, cello
Holst: “The Planets”
women of Virginia Symphony Chorus
$25-$114
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

May 12 (8 p.m.)
May 13 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F major
George Walker: Sinfonia No. 5 (“Visions”)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major
$15-$109
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 13 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First & Franklin streets
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
artists TBA
“Our Pictures, Portfolio 2”
works TBA by Chloe Biggs, Krystal Folkestad, Benjamin Broening, Anthony Smith
free
(804) 646-7223
http://cmscva.org

May 13 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theater, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Pops
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
N’Kenge, guest star
“Legends”
$15-$85
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 13 (3 p.m.)
Seacobeck Hall, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg Chamber Music Festival:
artists TBA
Family concert
Joplin: arrangements for string quartet
J.S. Bach: Sonata in E minor, BWV 1034, for flute & piano
Villa-Lobos: “Jet Whistle”
Klezmer works TBA
pre-concert performance by community students
$5-$40
(540) 310-0817
http://artsliveva.org

May 13 (3 p.m.)
Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Jennifer Curtis, violin
Jeannette Fang, piano
Debussy: Violin Sonata in G minor
Amy Beach: Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 34
$27.37
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

May 13 (7 p.m.)
May 14 (2 p.m.)
May 15 (7 p.m.)
May 19 (7:30 p.m.)
May 21 (2 p.m.)
May 24 (7:30 p.m.)
May 26 (7:30 p.m.)
May 27 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Alevtina Ioffe conducting
Puccini: “La bohème”
Gabriella Reyes/Amber Monroe (Mimi)
Jacqueline Echols/Teresa Perrotta (Musetta)
Kang Wang/Kevin Punnackal (Rodolfo)
Gihoon Kim/Jonathan Patton (Marcello)
Blake Denson/Justin Burgess (Schaunard)
Peixen Chen/Christian Simmons (Colline)
Samuel Weiser (Benoit/Alcindoro)
Peter Kazaras, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$45-$299
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 14 (3 p.m.)
Perkinson Arts Center, 11810 Centre St., Chester
Richmond Symphony
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Mozart: “The Marriage of Figaro” Overture
Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major
cellist TBA
Dvořák: “Songs My Mother Taught Me”
Anna Clyne: “Restless Oceans”
William Grant Still: “Mother and Child”
Ravel: “Mother Goose” Suite
$25
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 14 (4 p.m.)
Christ & St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 560 W. Olney Road, Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Colin MacKnight, organ
program TBA
$18.75-$25
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

May 14 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Geneva Lewis, violin
Evren Ozel, piano
Fazil Say: Violin Sonata, Op. 7
Beethoven: Violin Sonata in G major, Op. 96
Douglas Lilburn: Violin Sonata
Bartók: Violin Sonata No. 1, Sz. 75
$30-$75
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts)
http://washingtonperformingarts.org

May 15 (7 p.m.)
Carpenter Theater, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program:
Youth Concert Orchestra
Camerata Strings
String Sinfonietta
conductors TBA
program TBA
free
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 15 (7:30 p.m.)
Hixon Theater, Barr Education Center, 440 Bank St., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Emerson String Quartet
Beethoven: Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2
Beethoven: Quartet in B flat major, Op. 130
Beethoven: “Grosse Fuge,” Op. 133
sold out (waiting list)
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

May 16 (8 p.m.)
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 301 A St. SE, Washington
Library of Congress Concerts:
Signum Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in D major, Op. 20, No. 4
Matthijs van Dijk: “(rage) rage against the”
Priaulx Rainier: Quartet
Schubert: Quartet in D minor, D. 810 (“Death and the Maiden”)
free; tickets required via http://blackbaud.com
(202) 707-5502
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

May 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts:
Juilliard String Quartet
Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
Tyson Davis: Quartet No. 2 (“Amorphous Figures”)
Dvořák: Quartet in A flat major, Op. 105
$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 19 (7:30 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River & Ridge roads, Richmond
E. Carl Freeman Concert Series:
Jaylin Brown, mezzo-soprano
pianist TBA
program TBA
free; tickets required via http://www.eventbrite.com/e/mezzo-soprano-voice-recital-jaylin-brown-river-road-church-tickets-479518752497
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org/e-carl-freeman-concert-series/

May 19 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
May 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
May 21 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Arts Festival:
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Eric Jacobsen conducting
Chris Thile, mandolin
Thile: new work TBA
$25-$114
(757) 892-6366
http://vafest.org

May 19 (11:30 a.m.)
May 20 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
William Grant Still: Symphony No. 2 (“Song of a New Race”)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major (“Pastoral”)
$15-$109
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 20 (8 p.m.)
May 21 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theater, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Lidiya Yankovskaya conducting
John Adams: “Short Ride in a Fast Machine”
Florence Price: “Ethiopia’s Shadow in America”
James Lee III: “Amer’ican”
Mussorgsky: “Pictures at an Exhibition” (Maurice Ravel orchestration)
$10-$85
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Historic Academy Theatre, 600 Main St., Lynchburg
Lynchburg Symphony Pops
David Glover conducting
Hugh Panaro & Scarlett Strallen, vocalists
“Broadway Comes to the ’Burg”
$30-$100
(434) 846-8499 (Academy Theatre)
http://lynchburgsymphony.org

May 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Pan American Symphony Orchestra
Sergio Alessandro Buslje conducting
Javier Sanchez & Heyni Solera, bandoneons
Ariel Pirotti, piano
dancers TBA
“Tango without Borders”
$55-$85
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 20 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Jonathon Heyward conducting
Grace-Evangeline Mason: “The Imagined Forest”
Xavier Foley: Double-bass Concerto
Xavier Foley, double-bass
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique”)
$35-$90
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

May 21 (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

May 21 (4 p.m.)
Augusta Stone Presbyterian Church, 28 Old Stone Church Lane, Fort Defiance
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
J.S. Bach: “English Suite” in G minor, BWV 808
J.S. Bach: “English Suite” in F major, BWV 809
J.S. Bach: “French Suite” in E flat major, BWV 815
J.S. Bach: Fantasia and Fugue in G major, BWV 804
J.S. Bach: Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E flat major, BWV 998
$24
(540) 800-6012
http://stauntonmusicfestival.org

May 23 (7:30 p.m.)
Hixon Theater, Barr Education Center, 440 Bank St., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Tianwa Yang, violin
Sterling Elliott, cello
Debra Wendells Cross, flute
Darrin C. Milling, bass trombone
Olga Kern, piano
Rachmaninoff: “2 Morceaux de salon,” Op. 6
Rachmaninoff: Vocalise (Darrin C. Milling arrangement)
Rachmaninoff: Romances, Op. 14, No. 8; Op. 21, No. 1
Rachmaninoff: “Daisies” (Jascha Heifetz arrangement)
Rachmaninoff: “Lilacs”
Rachmaninoff: “Trio elegiaque” No. 2 in D minor, Op. 9
works TBA by Gershwin, Grieg
$35
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

May 24 (5 p.m.)
patio, River Hills Wealth Management Group, 3019 W. Moore St., Richmond
Richmond Symphony Brass Quintet
“Music and Spirits”
program TBA
$50
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 24 (7 p.m.)
May 25 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Beethoven: “Egmont” Overture
George Walker: Sinfonia No. 2
Beethoven: “Coriolan” Overture
Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 in D major
$15-$98
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Second Baptist Church, River & Gaskins roads, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Anthony Blake Clark directing
Daniel Stipe, organ
Ernani Aguiar: “Salmo 150”
Chiara Margarita Cozzolani: “Dixit Dominus”
Handel: “As Pants the Hart”
Mendelssohn: “Wie der Hirsch Schreit”
Bernstein: “Chichester Psalms”
Howard Goodall: Psalm 23
William Bradley Roberts: “This Little Light of Mine”
$25
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Williamsburg Community Chapel, 3899 John Tyler Highway
Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra
Michael Butterman conducting
Ginastera: “Four Dances from ‘Estancia’ ”
Copland: “Four Dances from ‘Rodeo’ ”
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major
Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue”
Jon Nakamatsu, piano
$60
(757) 229-9857
http://williamsburgsymphony.org

May 25 (10:30 a.m.)
Ohef Sholom Temple, 530 Raleigh Ave., Norfolk
May 26 (10:30 a.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
Virginia Arts Festival:
Tianwa Yang, violin
Sterling Elliott, cello
Debra Wendells Cross, flute
Olga Kern, piano
Rachmaninoff: “2 Morceaux de salon,” Op. 6
Rachmaninoff: “Daisies” (Jascha Heifetz arrangement)
Rachmaninoff: Vocalise
Rachmaninoff: “Trio elegiaque” No. 2 in D minor, Op. 9
works TBA by Kreisler, Gershwin, Heifetz, Grieg
$18.75-$25
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

May 25 (7 p.m.)
Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, 130 Keating Drive, Winchester
University of Virginia University Singers
Michael Slon directing
Rachmaninoff: Vespers (excerpts)
Craig Hella Johnson: “Considering Matthew Shepard” (excerpts)
works TBA by Abbie Betinis, Rosephanye Powell, Alice Parker, Jake Runestad, J.A.C. Redford, The Beatles; folk & traditional songs
donation requested
(540) 662-5858
http://sacredheartwinchester.org

May 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Cathedral Schola Cantorum
Forgotten Clefs
Daniel Sañez directing
“Salve Regina: the Music of Renaissance Iberia”
“Salve Regina” (Gregorian chant)
Tomás Luis de Victoria: “Salve Regina á 8”
Victoria: “Missa Salve Regina”
Francisco Guerrero: “Regina Caeli, á 8”
Cristóbal de Morales: “O Sacrum Convivium”
Vicente Lusitano: “Regina Caeli, á 5”
free; tickets required via http://www.eventbrite.com/e/salve-regina-the-music-of-renaissance-iberia-tickets-396721774507
(804) 359-5691
http://richmondcathedral.org/concerts

May 26 (5 p.m.)
Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet members
Beethoven: String Trio in C minor, Op. 9, No. 3
Beethoven: Piano Trio in E flat major, Op. 70, No. 2
$27.37 (concert), $104.62 (concert & dinner)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

May 27 (7 p.m.)
Abner Clay Park, Clay Street at Brook Road, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
classical & pops program TBA
free
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 27 (5 p.m.)
Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Mahler: Piano Quartet in A minor
Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26
$27.37 (concert), $104.62 (concert & dinner)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

May 28 (3 p.m.)
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Arthur Ashe Boulevard at Grove Avenue, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
“Music in the Galleries 3”
program TBA
free
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 28 (2 p.m.)
Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Teresa Ling, violin
Isaac Melamed, cello
Jeannette Fang, piano
Steven Whiting, speaker
Beethoven: Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 97 (“Archduke”)
$27.37 (concert), $73.55 (concert & lunch)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

May 30 (8 p.m.)
Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, 232 Chapel St., Norfolk
University of Virginia University Singers
Michael Slon directing
Rachmaninoff: Vespers (excerpts)
Craig Hella Johnson: “Considering Matthew Shepard” (excerpts)
works TBA by Abbie Betinis, Rosephanye Powell, Alice Parker, Jake Runestad, J.A.C. Redford, The Beatles; folk & traditional songs
donation requested
(757) 662-4487
http://basilicaofsaintmary.org

June 1 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Pops
Enrico Lopez-Yañez conducting
Josè Sibaja, trumpet
Mónica Abrego, soprano
“Latin Fire”
$35-$90
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

June 4 (2 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna
Véronique Filloux, soprano
Mary Beth Nelson, mezzo-soprano
Daniel Rich, baritone
William Clay Thompson, bass
Marco Rizzello, piano
Steven Blier directing
“Night and Day USA”
program TBA
$50
(703) 255-1868
http://wolftrap.org

June 4 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
National Philharmonic
Piotr Gajewski conducting
Adolphus Hailstork: Symphony No. 5 (premiere)
Orff: “Carmina burana”
Marlisa Hudson, soprano
Robert Baker, tenor
Brandon Hendrickson, baritone
National Philharmonic Chorale
$19-$99
(301) 493-9283
http://nationalphilharmonic.org

June 7 (7 p.m.)
St. James’s Episcopal Church, 1205 W. Franklin St., Richmond
Welcome Summer Recital Series:
Charles Humphries, countertenor
accompanist TBA
program TBA
free
(804) 355-1779
http://doers.org/st-jamess-music-schedule/

June 7 (10:30 a.m.)
Hennage Auditorium, 301 S. Nassau St., Williamsburg
Virginia Arts Festival:
Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players
C.P.E. Bach: “Hamburg” Sonata in G major
Mozart: Divertimento in B flat major, K. 270
Carl Reinecke: Wind Sextet in B flat major, Op. 271
$18.75-$25
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

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

Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges:
Violin Concerto in A major, Op. 5, No. 2
Rachel Barton Pine, violin
Encore Chamber Orchestra/Daniel Hege
(Çedille)

Haydn: Symphony No. 82 in C major (“The Bear”)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Colin Davis
(Philips)

Schumann: Konzertstück in F major, Op. 86
Roger Montgomery, Gavin Edwards, Susan Dent & Robert Maskell, horns
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique/John Eliot Gardiner
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Dvořák: Serenade in E major, Op. 22, for strings
Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Candida Thompson
(Channel Classics)

Brahms: “Academic Festival” Overture
London Philharmonic/Eugen Jochum
(Warner Classics)

I am medically advised to avoid crowded public events, and so cannot attend concerts. The Richmond Symphony is making video streams of its mainstage concerts available to ticket-holders. The stream of this program became accessible on April 26.

Tito Muñoz conducting
with Michelle Cann, piano
April 22-23, Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center

Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, introduced in 1830 by the then-20-year-old pianist-composer, reflects the instrumental vogue of early 19th-century Europe, the busy-fingered, note-heavy style of virtuosos such as pianist Johann Nepomuk Hummel and violinist Nicólo Paganini. Amid all those notes, the concerto also pre-echoes the masterful melodist and mood-setter that Chopin would become.

Michelle Cann, recent winner of a Grammy Award for her recording of Florence Price’s Piano Concerto with the New York Youth Symphony, negotiated Chopin’s abundant pianistic filagree with finesse and persuasively coaxed his tunes out of the arpeggiated undergrowth in performances with the Richmond Symphony.

Cann played with flexible tempos and well-graded dynamics in the big first movement, with more consistent animation and rhythmic punch in the finale, and pulled off one of most challenging tricks in the concerto – setting a discernable pace for the central slow movement as it opens with quizzical two-note motifs separated by pregnant pauses. Here, as elsewhere, Cann sustained the sensation of music going somewhere, however many decorative accoutrements it wears on the journey.

Guest-conductor Tito Muñoz underlined the melodic qualities of the concerto’s orchestration and, impressively, managed to make it sound less tubby and feel less perfunctory than usual.

Cann’s encore was an arrangement that runs Sergei Rachmaninoff’s iconic Prelude in C sharp minor through the filter of 1920s stride-piano style. If that seems outrageous, remember that Rachmaninoff attended the premiere of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and quite likely heard New York stride masters such as James P. Johnson. Rachmaninoff might have chuckled appreciatively at this take on his prelude, as Cann did before she played it.

The collective string tone obtained in the Chopin by Muñoz, music director of the Phoenix Symphony, bloomed more lushly in Edward Elgar’s “Variations on an Original Theme” (“Enigma”). The orchestra’s string sections sounded larger and more richly sonorous than their relatively modest numbers might have promised.

Muñoz’s conception of Elgar’s best-known work was not standard-issue. He treated the piece as domestic music – a gathering of friends (which it literally is: Each variation is a sound-portrait of a person close to the composer), their contrasting personalites interacting sociably. (Nimrod, for once, doesn’t entirely lord it over the party.)

The interactions proceeded at a fairly leisurely pace (about 32 minutes in all), which enhanced the work’s songfulness and gave its numerous wind and string soloists ample time both to sing and to dab tone color onto the orchestral soundscape.

The symphony’s musicians gave the conductor lush yet well-defined string tone, subtly inflected wind solos and ensembles, expansive brass choirs and punchy but not intrusive percussion.

It was, altogether, a companionable “Enigma.”

The program opened with “D’un matin de printemps” (“From a Spring Morning”) by Lili Boulanger, younger sister of the great French pedagogue Nadia Boulanger and, before her death at 24, the composer of perhaps the greatest promise in continuing the French impressionist style of Maurice Ravel. This piece, in its various chamber and orchestral guises, could easily be mistaken for a work by Ravel – say, an extra movement of “Miroirs.”

Muñoz and the orchestra delivered a reading that nicely balanced atmospheric tone color and lyricism, and made the listener crave more of Boulanger. Sadly, there’s all too little.

The stream of this program remains accessible until June 30. Access: $30. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); http://richmondsymphony.com

Keitaro Harada, a former associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony, has won first prize in this year’s Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. He will receive $30,000.

Harada, who was on the Richmond Symphony roster in the 2014-15 season, is currently music director of the Savannah Philharmonic in Georgia and associate conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. He also was associate conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Arizona Opera, and was among the young conductors mentored by the late Lorin Maazel in the music festival that Maazel staged at Castleton, his estate in Virginia’s Rappahannock County.

The Solti competition, based in Frankfurt, Germany, was launched in 2002 to recognize and promote the careers of conductors aged 38 or younger. (Harada, 38, just made the age cutoff.) Past prizewinners include Tomáš Netopil, James Gaffigan and Tito Muñoz, who guest-conducted the Richmond Symphony over the weekend.

C major – what’s not to like?

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

J.S. Bach: Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564
Michel Chapuis, organ
(United Archives)

Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major
Martha Argerich, piano
Berlin Philharmonic/Claudio Abbado
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Vivaldi: Mandolin Concerto in C major, RV 425
Rolf Lislevand, mandolin
Ensemble Kapsberger
(Naïve)

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503
Francesco Piemontesi, piano
Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Andrew Manze
(Linn)

Stravinsky: Symphony in C
London Symphony Orchestra/Michael Tilson Thomas
(Sony Classical)

The symphonies and song cycles of Gustav Mahler largely disappeared from the repertory after the composer’s death in 1911, and waited half a century until Leonard Bernstein reintroduced them to a wider public. That has been the conventional view since the 1960s.

An erroneous view, according to Sybille Werner, a conductor who worked with the authoritative Mahler biographer Henry-Louis de la Grange. During her research, Werner “collected information on about 4,000 instances of a Mahler orchestral work performed by around 300 conductors between 1911 and 1961.”

In addition to well-known examples such as Willem Mengelberg’s Mahler cycles with the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, beginning in 1920, and frequent performances by Mahler protégés Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer and Oskar Fried, Werner found that Mahler symphony cycles were staged in a number of Central European music centers before World War II, and that “Das Lied von der Erde” was performed 67 times in Vienna before the Nazi takeover of Austria in 1938.

“It was due to the emergence of recordings that Mahler’s music eventually became generally well known,” Werner writes for Norman Lebrecht’s Slipped Disc blog:

Comment of the week: The secret life of Mahler symphonies

The Washington Post’s Sydney Page reports on two good Samaritans’ efforts to provide an Afghan refugee with a replacement for the violin he left behind.

The good Samaritans are Jeremy Bloom, a sound designer in Brooklyn, and Latif Nassar, a Los Angeles-based science journalist. The refugee is Ali Esmahilzada, who left Afghanistan with the clothes on his back, fearful of being branded a criminal by the Taliban regime because he makes music.

Bloom owned a violin, a German instrument made 110 years ago, unplayed for years. Getting it to Esmahilzada, however, was a problem. “You do not want to ship an antique violin in the mail,” Bloom said. Nassar, himself the son of refugees, agreed to carry it to LA. Putting it into Esmahilzada’s hands turned out not to be quick or easy, but a handover eventually was arranged.

“The more I heard his story and how deeply alone he was, I decided I could be that person for him,” Nasser told the Post’s Page. “I could cosmically repay the people who did that for my parents, by doing it for him.” The instrument was like “a gulp of water to a thirsty guy.”

Esmahilzada, who lived hand-to-mouth in menial jobs for some time after arriving in the US, now has a green card and better employment prospects. And a violin:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/04/20/violin-afghan-immigrant-esmahilzada-taliban/