Author: letterv13

Another veteran US chamber ensemble is calling it quits. The Orion String Quartet, formed in 1987 by the violinist brothers Daniel and Todd Phillips and cellist Timothy Eddy, joined since 1993 by violist Steven Tenenbom, will stage its final concert in the spring of 2024.

As well as playing the standard quartet repertory, the Orion has worked extensively with contemporary composers – Leon Kirchner, John Harbison, Brett Dean, Peter Lieberson and Wynton Marsalis, among others – and has performed in multimedia projects and ventures to introduce new audiences to the string quartet and its music.

The four players plan to continue teaching at several New York conservatories.

The first installment of a series promoting unjustly neglected music – this time, symphonies, concertos and other orchestral works. Each selection is linked to a recording, with record label(s) in parentheses.

– Ralph Vaughan Williams: “Job: a Masque for Dancing.” Many Vaughan Williams aficionados consider this to be his greatest orchestral composition; but it’s rarely performed outside Britain, and even more rarely as a dance production. Inspired by William Blake’s engravings on the biblical tale of faith, woe and restoration, introduced in 1931, “Job” is masterful storytelling in sound. It’s also best-of-both-worlds Vaughan Williams, echoing his earlier English-pastoral style, pre-echoing his more turbulent and challenging later music.

Adrian Boult conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (EMI/Warner Classics):

– Bohuslav Martinů: Symphony No. 3. Czech-born but spending most of his adult life in France and the US, Martinů composed prolifically and was known for writing at speed. While living in New York during World War II, he produced five hefty symphonies in four years. The Third, from 1944, is the most tightly built among them, and the one that most vividly contrasts the anxiety of a wartime refugee with the energetic, can-do vibe of mid-20th century America. It’s a fine display of Martinů’s distinctive orchestral sound, full of shimmering colors, percolating harmonic asides and surging dynamism. His best-known and most sophisticated symphony is the Sixth (“Fantaisies symphoniques”) from 1953; but the Third is a more accessible and viscerally exciting introduction to Martinů the symphonist.

Jiří Bělohlávek conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Onyx):

– Amy Beach: Piano Concerto in C sharp minor. One of the first American female composers to win belated recognition, Beach wrote few works for orchestra without singers; this concerto and her “Gaelic” Symphony are the only major ones. She wrote the concerto for herself, performing as the soloist in its premiere in 1900 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Requiring a pianist with advanced technique and the stamina to negotiate a concerto as big as one of Rachmaninoff’s, this is one of the few American orchestral works from the romantic era worth hearing regularly.

Pianist Alan Feinberg, with Kenneth Schermerhorn conducting the Nashville Symphony (Naxos):

– Max Bruch: Serenade in A minor for violin & orchestra. A canonic composer for violinists, who play his Concerto No. 1 in G minor incessantly and his “Scottish Fantasy” a lot, Bruch produced this serenade, his last work for violin and orchestra, in 1899. The piece has been recorded in surveys of his concerted violin music, but is hardly ever played in concert. Its length, 35-40 minutes, may be one reason for its neglect. Violinists of romantic inclination, and fans of same, will find much to savor in this tuneful, atmospheric and richly sonorous music.

Violinist Salvatore Accardo, with Kurt Masur conducting the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig (Philips/Decca):

– William Grant Still: Symphony No. 2 (“Song of a New Race”). On the now more frequent occasions when we hear orchestral music by Still, the dean of Black American classical composition, it’s most often the First (“Afro-American”) Symphony, introduced in 1930. His Second Symphony, from 1937, is more interesting, thanks to its freer form and stylistic range. The First looks back to the spirituals and other Black folk music; the Second is less retrospective in its themes and rhythmic sensibility, and boasts a more colorful, eventful orchestration. Still’s experience in jazz – he played in the bands of W.C. Handy and Fletcher Henderson – and his association with Langston Hughes and other figures in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and ’30s, resonate in “Song of a New Race.”

Neeme Järvi conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (Chandos):

– Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky: “Festival Overture on the Danish National Hymn.” Acknowledging the inevitable comparison with the “1812 Overture” as both works were built on national anthems, Tchaikovsky considered the Danish overture to be “far better as music.” (Mind you, he disliked some of his best music.) Like “1812,” this piece is celebratory, but without the same degree of martial triumphalism. It was written for an event introducing Russians to the Danish fiancé of the future Tsar Alexander III. One of Tchaikovsky’s earliest orchestral efforts, dating from 1866, the “Festival Overture” is skillfully constructed and no less rhapsodic and dramatically paced than his later music. The Danish royal anthem, “King Christian stood by the lofty mast,” is as majestic as, and a bit livelier than, Russia’s “God save the Tsar,” quoted here as in “1812,” but less bombastically.

Geoffrey Simon conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (Chandos):

– Bernhard Molique: Concertino in G minor for oboe & orchestra. Post-baroque oboe concertos, other than those by Mozart and Richard Strauss, are the (barely) living embodiments of obscure classical music. Here’s one that warrants some love. Molique, a German violinist, conductor and composer, introduced this miniature concerto in 1829. Cut from the same stylistic cloth as works by Mendelssohn and Weber, the Molique concertino is an early musical example of the romantic era’s fascination with the lonely but resolute protagonist (here, unnamed).

Oboist Heinz Holliger, with Eliahu Inbal conducting the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (Philips/Pentatone/Brilliant Classics):

– Florence Beatrice Price: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major. Price has been a major discovery in the overdue exploration of music by Black American composers, with widespread programming of her symphonies (especially the Third) and Piano Concerto. The first of her two violin concertos, dating from 1939 and not performed in her lifetime, may be her least-known major work. Conventionally classical in structure and development of themes, the concerto is busily “violinistic” in its solo writing and late-romantic in its expressive language. The Black folk songs and dances that inform all of Price’s music are more subtle influences here.

Violinist Er-Gene Kahng, with Ryan Cockerham conducting the Janáček Philharmonic (Albany):

– Mieczysław Weinberg: Fantasy for cello & orchestra. A Polish Jewish pianist and composer who fled Nazi genocide, which claimed his family, and settled in the Soviet Union in 1941, Weinberg was a friend and confidant of Dmitri Shostakovich, whose music audibly influenced Weinberg’s. This fantasy, completed in 1953, sounds somewhat like the slow movement of a Shostakovich symphony, but is less stark in orchestration and more bittersweet than bleak in tone. The oratorical yet singing quality of its cello solo reminds me of the instrument’s role in Ernest Bloch’s “Schelomo;” the two would make a compelling concert pairing (Weinberg preceding Bloch, preferably).

Cellist Pieter Wispelwey, with Raphaël Feye conducting Les Métamorphoses (Evil Penguin):

Hamish MacCunn: “The Land of the Mountain and the Flood.” When we hear Scottish-accented classical music, it’s almost always by outlanders. Here’s Scottish music by a Scot. A contemporary of Edward Elgar, MacCunn wrote in a similarly expansive, high-romantic style. This concert overture won high praise when it was premiered in 1887, and got a second wind in the 1970s as theme music for the UK television drama “Sutherland’s Law.” As a curtain-raiser, and a showcase for horns and brass, it’s hard to beat.

Alexander Gibson conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (EMI/Warner Classics):

Jennifer Koh, the violinist who performed in October with the Richmond Symphony, has been appointed artistic director of the Fortas Chamber Music Concerts at Washington’s Kennedy Center. The position had been vacant since the series’ longtime director, pianist Joseph Kalichstein, died in March.

Koh will begin her Fortas tenure immediately, according to a news release from the Kennedy Center. Her first full season will be in 2024-25, and her engagement initially extends to spring 2026.

“[S]teeped in the traditional canon, while active in contemporary classical music as well,” Koh will bring a “unique curatorial eye” to the series, Kevin Struthers, the Kennedy Center’s director of programming for jazz, chamber, and classical new music, said in a statement accompanying the announcement of her appointment.

The 46-year-old violinist, born in Illinois to Korean parents, is a graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory and studied at the Curtis Institute of Music. She was silver medalist in the 1994 Tchaikovsky Competition, recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1995, and was named Musical America’s instrumentalist of the year in 2016. She performs as a soloist with major orchestras throughout the world, and as a recitalist with pianist Shai Wosner as a regular partner.

A leading advocate for contemporary music, Koh has commissioned dozens of pieces for her “Bach and Beyond,” “Alone Together” and “New American Concerto” projects. Her “Alone Together” recording won a 2022 Grammy Award for best instrumental solo. Koh is the founder and artistic director of the ARCO Collective, which supports educational activities and promotes new music by women and composers of color.

Oleksandr Tkachenko, Ukraine’s minister of culture, in a commentary published by The Guardian, advocates “pausing performances” of music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky “until Russia ceases its bloody invasion.”

In calling for a Tchaikovsky boycott, the minister cites a decree by Vladimir Putin that Russian culture is to be (in Tkachenko’s words) “a tool and even a weapon in the hands of the government,” to be used in “all the opportunities available to it . . . in order to advance its interests.”

Ukrainian culture, meanwhile, is being “liquidated,” Tkachenko writes. His ministry has “recorded more than 800 cases of destruction: monuments and works of art, museums, valuable historical buildings.”

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/07/ukraine-culture-minister-boycott-tchaikovsky-war-russia-kremlin

Tkachenko is not the first Ukrainian official to call for a cultural boycott of Russia during this war. It’s not hard to sympathize, given the evidently systematic campaign of the invaders to destroy or denude Ukrainian cultural institutions. (The minister did not, but could have, noted reports that the collections of his country’s museums have been looted and taken to Russia.)

Tchaikovsky is an odd target, though: This Russian composer was of partly Ukrainian ancestry (also French and German – the tsarist empire was a stew of ethnicities and nationalities), and he showed no antipathy towards Ukrainian culture. His Second Symphony quotes three Ukrainian folk tunes. (Its nickname, “Little Russian,” a then-common, belittling term for Ukrainian, was coined by a Moscow music critic.) Melodies of Ukrainian origin or inflection can be heard elsewhere in Tchaikovsky’s music.

Although he became an official icon of Russian culture – Tsar Alexander III was an admirer and bestower of honors – Tchaikovsky was apolitical, both personally and artistically. He had an uneasy relationship with the Russian-nationalist composers of “The Five” (Mily Balakirev, César Cui, Alexander Borodin, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov), and he sometimes was attacked for writing music that was insufficiently Russian. (The Five’s role model was Mikhail Glinka; Tchaikovsky’s were Mozart and Robert Schumann. Enough said.)

Certainly, performances of the “1812 Overture,” celebrating Russian military victory, would be an insensitive choice for civilized performers during Putin’s war on Ukraine. But “The Nutcracker?” “Eugene Onegin?” The “Capriccio Italien?” The Violin Concerto? The Fifth Symphony?

Given the agonies endured in this war, one day there may be a Ukrainian symphony that has the emotional power and ubiquity in performance of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth (“Pathétique”); but for now this music surely must resonate on both sides. I saw and heard that happen, in the rapturous and tearful ovation of refugees from Russia’s 1956 invasion of Hungary, following a Richmond performance of the “Pathétique” by George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Speaking of ubiquity: Minister Tkachenko, apropos of Christmas, points to the most widely (if seasonally) heard piece of Ukrainian music: “Carol of the Bells,” Mykola Leontovych’s 1914 adaptation of “Shchedryk,” a traditional Ukrainian New Year’s song. It’s one of the loveliest of carols, with a quality, both wistful and hopeful, that rings especially true this year:

Ukrainian classical music is well worth exploring, and Valentyn Silvestrov, the 85-year-old composer, currently a refugee in Berlin, is perhaps the best figure with whom to begin that exploration.

Rather like Poland’s Krzysztof Penderecki was, Silvestrov is conscious of his role as a cultural representative of his nation, but is not parochially “nationalist.” Much of his orchestral and chamber music dates from years of professional isolation, when he was estranged from both Soviet cultural officialdom and academic Western expectations of composers. This largely tonal music has been characterized as “neo-classical” and “post-modern.”

In more recent compositions, Silvestrov has addressed Ukraine’s ongoing struggle for independence – most poignantly, perhaps, in the choral work “Maidan 2014: Cycle of Cycles.” From an ECM recording by the Kyiv Chamber Choir, here’s his “Prayer for Ukraine:”

I’ve written previously about my ambivalence, or tempered selectivity, regarding treatment of the arts, artists and larger culture of an enemy in wartime. Earlier thoughts are here: https://letterv.blog/2022/03/29/russophobia-symptoms-and-treatment/ and here: https://letterv.blog/2022/03/06/the-latest-front-in-the-cancel-culture-war/ and here: https://letterv.blog/2022/03/01/exit-gergiev-for-now/

Boycotts are an old habit – recall cancellations of German art and language during the First and Second World Wars. Cultural appropriation, however, can be a more potent tactic – think of the WWII “V for Victory” motif that the Allied powers and resistance movements lifted from that most German of musical artifacts, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

Supporting Ukraine’s struggle by boycotting Russian culture is misguided. Especially in classical music, because so many Russian works speak so directly and soulfully of wartime agony, officially sanctioned terror and oppression. Dmitri Shostakovich, in his Eighth String Quartet and Tenth Symphony, is as formidable an antagonist of what devolved into Putinism as any contemporary Ukrainian composer could be.

Whether your motives are political, aesthetic, emotional or some mixture, they can be well-served by speaking to the adversary in his own language.

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 Covid-19 safety protocols.

Dec. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Zeiders American Dream Theater, 4509 Commerce St., Virginia Beach
Dec. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Perkinson Arts & Education Center, 11810 Centre St., Chester
Will Liverman, baritone
Adam Turner, piano
songs TBA by Florence Price, Damien Geter, H. Leslie Adams, Harry T. Burleigh, Damien Sneed
$30
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Dec. 1 (noon)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First and East Capitol streets, Washington
Benjamin Alard, clavichord
Heinrich Scheidemann: “Lachrymae Pavan” (after John Dowland)
Johan Jakob Froberger: Toccata II in D minor
J.S. Bach: Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828
C.P.E. Bach: “12 Variations on ‘Folies d’Espagne’ ”
free; reservations required via http://blackbaud.com
(202) 707-5502
http://loc.gov/concerts

Dec. 1 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 2 (11:30 a.m.)
Dec. 3 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
David Robertson conducting
Steven Mackey: “Mnemosyne’s Pool”
Barber: “Knoxville, Summer of 1915”
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, soprano
Bernstein: “West Side Story” Symphonic Dances
$19-$109
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River and Ridge roads, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Anthony Blake Clark conducting
Handel: “Messiah”
Keely Bosworth Borland, soprano
Brenda Patterson, mezzo-soprano
William Ferguson, tenor
James McClure, baritone
Richmond Symphony Chorus
sold out (waiting list)
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

Dec. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 301 Sheppard Court, Waynesboro
Dec. 3 (4 p.m.)
Grace Episcopal Church, 5607 Gordonsville Road, Keswick
Three Notch’d Road: the Virginia Baroque Ensemble:
Sheila Dietrich, soprano
Fiona Hughes, baroque violin
Jeremy Ward, baroque cello
Anne Timberlake, recorders
Cameron Welke, lute/theorbo
Jennifer Streeter, harpsichord
“Western Noël”
folk songs, dance suites TBA
works TBA by Purcell, Dowland, Rameau, Josquin des Prez, Robert de Visée
$25
(434) 409-3424
http://tnrbaroque.org/concerts

Dec. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Salem Civic Center, 1001 Roanoke Boulevard
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra
Roanoke Symphony Chorus
Roanoke Valley Children’s Choir
David Stewart Wiley conducting
“Holiday Pops Spectacular”
$32-$65
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Dec. 2 (3 & 8 p.m.)
Dec. 3 (3 & 8 p.m.)
Hylton Arts Center, George Mason University, Manassas
Mason Opera
Joseph Walsh conducting
Menotti: “Amahl and the Night Visitors”
cast TBA
Gene Galvin stage director
in English
$24
(703) 993-7550
http://hylton.calendar.gmu.edu

Dec. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Opera Lafayette
Jacob Ashworth directing
Emmanuelle de Negri, soprano
Justin Taylor, harpsichord
works TBA by Mozart, Jean-Joseph de Mondonville, others
$30-$95
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 711 St. Christopher Road, Richmond
Dec. 4 (3 p.m.)
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland
Richmond Symphony Brass Ensemble
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
“Holiday Brass”
$25
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Dec. 3 (2:30 & 4 p.m.)
Dec. 4 (2:30 & 4 p.m.)
Williamsburg Presbyterian Church, 215 Richmond Road
Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra
Michael Butterman conducting
Sarah Jane McMahon, guest star
“Holiday Pops”
$30
(757) 229-9857
http://williamsburgsymphony.org

Dec. 3 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 4 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia
UVa University Singers
Michael Slon conducting
“Family Holiday Concerts”
$11-$47
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Dec. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Academy Center for the Arts, 600 Main St., Lynchburg
Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra
David Glover conducting
“Happy Holidays with the LSO”
$30-$100
(434) 846-8499
http://lynchburgsymphony.org

Dec. 3 (4 p.m.)
Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra
Roanoke Symphony Chorus
Roanoke Valley Children’s Choir
David Stewart Wiley conducting
“Holiday Pops Spectacular”
$40-$75
(540) 231-5300
http://artscenter.vt.edu

Dec. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Hylton Arts Center, George Mason University, Manassas
Manassas Chorale
Rebecca Verner directing
“Everywhere, Christmas Tonight”
$23-$25
(703) 993-7759
http://hyltoncenter.org

Dec. 3 (2 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First and E. Capitol streets, Washington
Thomas Dunford, lute
works TBA by John Dowland, Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger, Joan Ambrosio Dalza, J.S. Bach
free; reservations required via http://blackbaud.com
(202) 707-5502
http://loc.gov/concerts

Dec. 4 (4 p.m.)
Trinity Lutheran Church, 2315 N. Parham Road, Richmond
Richmond Choral Society
Markus Compton directing
Keith Tan, piano
Christopher Martin, organ
“Christmas with the Richmond Choral Society”
works TBA by Poulenc, Eric Whitacre, others
$15 in advance, $18 at door
(804) 353-9582
http://richmondchoralsociety.org

Dec. 4 (5 & 8 p.m.)
Cannon Memorial Chapel, University of Richmond
UR Schola Cantorum & Women’s Chorale
Jeffrey Riehl directing
Christmas Festival of Lessons and Carols
free
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Dec. 4 (7 p.m.)
St. Benedict Catholic Church, 300 N. Sheppard St., Richmond
Dec. 5 (11 a.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Three Notch’d Road: the Virginia Baroque Ensemble:
Sheila Dietrich, soprano
Fiona Hughes, baroque violin
Jeremy Ward, baroque cello
Anne Timberlake, recorders
Cameron Welke, lute/theorbo
Jennifer Streeter, harpsichord
“Western Noël”
folk songs, dance suites TBA
works TBA by Purcell, Dowland, Rameau, Josquin des Prez, Robert de Visée
free; registrations required via http://ticketbud.com (St. Benedict), http://eventbrite.com (Cathedral)
(434) 409-3424
http://tnrbaroque.org/concerts

Dec. 5 (7 p.m.)
Virginia Museum of History and Biography, Arthur Ashe Boulevard at Kensington Avenue, Richmond
Richmond Philharmonic
Peter Wilson conducting
“Holiday Pops”
free
(804) 556-1039
http://richmondphilharmonic.org

Dec. 6 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa University Singers, UVa Chamber Singers, Virginia Glee Club & Virginia Women’s Chorus members
Michael Slon directing
“Messiah Sing-In” with audience sing-along in choruses
scores provided
$10
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Dec. 6 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Young Concert Artists:
Daniel McGrew, tenor
pianist TBA
songs TBA by Brahms, Debussy, Britten, Sally Beamish, others
$20-$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 8 (7 p.m.)
Ginter Park Presbyterian Church, Seminary and Walton avenues, Richmond
Dec. 11 (4 p.m.)
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Ninth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Allied Voices
Holiday concert
donation requested
(804) 537-0094
http://alliedrva.org

Dec. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Dec. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Dec. 11 (7 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Pops
conductor TBA
guest artists TBA
“Holiday Pops”
$25-$114
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Dec. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Vocal Arts DC:
Rihab Chaieb, mezzo-soprano
Brian Zeger, piano
Ravel: “Shéhérazade”
works TBA by Brahms
Arabic songs TBA
$50
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 9 (7 p.m.)
St. James’s Episcopal Church, 1205 W. Franklin St., Richmond
Richmond chapter, American Guild of Organists’ Repertoire Recital Series:
Scott Detra, organ
Franck: “Pièce héroïque”
Franck: Pastorale
Franck: “Prière”
Franck: Choral I in E major
Franck: Cantabile
Franck: “Grande Pièce symphonique”
reception follows
donation requested
(804) 355-1779
http://richmondago.org/organ-repertoire-recital-series

Dec. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Holy Comforter Episcopal Church, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road, Richmond
Dec. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
All Saints Episcopal Church, 8787 River Road, Richmond
James River Singers
David Pedersen directing
“The Glory of the Season”
works TBA by Mendelssohn, Hans Leo Hassler, Heinrich Schütz, Moses Hogan, others
$25
(757) 814-5446
http://thejamesriversingers.org/concerts

Dec. 9 (8 p.m.)
Hylton Arts Center, George Mason University, Manassas
American Pops Festival Orchestra
Peter Wilson conducting
“Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season”
$36-$60
(703) 993-7550
http://hyltoncenter.org

Dec. 9 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Vienna Boys Choir
Gerald Wirth directing
“Christmas in Vienna”
$33-$55
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Dec. 9 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 10 (2 & 8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Steven Reineke conducting
Laura Benati, guest star
“A Holiday Pops!”
$29-$99
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 9 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
National Philharmonic
Piotr Gajewski conducting
Tchaikovsky: “Romeo and Juliet” Fantasy-Overture
Bernstein: “West Side Story” Suite (David Newman arrangement)
Sarah Chang, violin
Prokofiev: “Romeo and Juliet” (excerpts)
$29-$79
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Dec. 10 (2 p.m.)
St. James’s Episcopal Church, 1205 W. Franklin St., Richmond
Richmond chapter, American Guild of Organists’ Repertoire Recital Series:
Scott Detra, organ
Franck: Choral III in A minor
Franck: Fantaisie in C major
Franck: Choral II in B minor
Franck: Fantaisie in A major
Franck: Prélude, Fugue & Variation
Franck: Final
donation requested
(804) 355-1779
http://richmondago.org/organ-repertoire-recital-series

Dec. 10 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
American Pops Festival Orchestra
Peter Wilson conducting
“Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season”
$36-$60
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Dec. 11 (3:30 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Second Sunday South of the James:
“Messiah Sing-along”
instrumental ensemble
Anne Carr Regan conducting
Zarah Brock, soprano
Caroline Whisnant, mezzo-soprano
DeVonté Saunders, tenor
Chase Peak, bass
audience sing-along in choruses
warmup at 2:30 p.m.
donation requested
(804) 272-7514
http://bonairpc.org/wp/ministries-block/music-ministry-2/concert-series/

Dec. 11 (7 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River and Ridge roads, Richmond
River Road Chancel Choir
Robert Gallagher directing
Anastasia Jellison, harp
Britten: “A Ceremony of Carols”
Franz Biebl: “Ave Maria”
Maurice Duruflé: “Messe cum jubilo” – Gloria
carols TBA by Philip Hancock, June Nixon, Harold Darke, Elizabeth Poston
free; reservations required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org/e-carl-freeman-concert-series/

Dec. 11 (7:30 p.m.)
First Baptist Church, Monument Avenue at Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Richmond
Virginia Arts Festival:
Vienna Boys Choir
Gerald Wirth directing
“Christmas in Vienna”
$55
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org/events

Dec. 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Vienna Boys Choir
Gerald Wirth directing
“Christmas in Vienna”
$21-$85
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org/events

Dec. 14 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Bede Catholic Church, 3686 Ironbound Road, Williamsburg
Dec. 15 (7 p.m.)
Chesapeake Conference Center, 700 Conference Center Drive
Dec. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Historic Palace Theatre, 305 Mason Ave., Cape Charles
Virginia Symphony Brass Ensemble
“Holiday Brass”
$37-$79 (Williamsburg); $25 (Cape Charles); free (Chesapeake)
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Dec. 15 (7:30 p.m.)
Regent University Theater, Virginia Beach
Dec. 16 (7:30 p.m.)
First Baptist Church, 12716 Warwick Boulevard, Newport News
Dec. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Christine Brandes conducting
Handel: “Messiah”
Dominique Labelle, soprano
Sarah Coit, mezzo-soprano
Edward Graves, tenor
Michael Parham, baritone
Virginia Symphony Chorus
$25-$114
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Dec. 15 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 16 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 17 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 18 (1 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Fabio Biondi conducting
Handel: “Messiah”
Liv Redpath, soprano
Hannah Ludwig, mezzo-soprano
John Matthew Myers, tenor
Neal Davies, bass
Choral Arts Society of Washington
$15-$99
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue,Richmond
Cathedral Choir
Daniel Sañez directing
Advent Lessons and Carols
prelude by Daniel Stipe, organ, at 7 p.m.
free; registration required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org/concerts

Dec. 17 (1 & 4 p.m.)
Dec. 18 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
The Washington Chorus
Eugene Rogers directing
“A Candlelight Christmas!”
$19-$109
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 17 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 18 (3 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Dec. 23 (6:30 p.m.)
Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road, Tysons
National Philharmonic
Stan Engebretson conducting
Handel: “Messiah”
Kearstin Pipe Brown, soprano
Lucia Bradford, mezzo-soprano
Norman Shankle, tenor
Jorell Williams, baritone
National Philharmonic Chorale
$19-$102
(301) 493-9283
http://nationalphilharmonic.org

Dec. 18 (2 p.m.)
First Presbyterian Church, 4602 Cary Street Road, Richmond
First Presbyterian Chancel Choir & adult ensembles
Jason N. Brown directing
string quartet
Daniel Stipe, organ
Christmas concert
free
(804) 358-2383
http://fprichmond.org

Dec. 18 (5 p.m.)
All Saints Episcopal Church, 8787 River Road, Richmond
All Saints Choir of Men, Boys & Girls
Scott G. Hayes directing
Festival of Lessons and Carols
free
(804) 28-7811
http://allsaintsrichmond.org

Dec. 18 (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

Dec. 19 (7 p.m.)
Holy Comforter Episcopal Church, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road, Richmond
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Julie Bosworth, soprano
Natalie Rose Kress & Nicholas DiEugenio, violins
James Wilson, cello
Mary Boodell, flute
Cameron Welke, lute
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
“An Evening at Versailles”
works TBA by François Couperin, Élisabeth Claude Jacquet de La Guerre, Marin Marais, Michel Pignolet de Montéclair
$30
(804) 304-6312
http://cmscva.org

Dec. 19 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 24 (2 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Choral Arts Society of Washington
Choral Arts Youth Choir
Choral Arts Orchestra
Jace Kaholokula Saplan & Brandon Straub conducting
“O Night Divine – Christmas with Choral Arts”
$15-$71
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 21 (7 p.m.)
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Grove Avenue at Three Chopt Road, Richmond
Sanctuary, the Compline Choir
Brent te Velde directing
Peter Graydanus, cello
Antastasia Jellison, harp
Winter solstice concert
works TBA by Josef Rheinberger, Eleanor Daley, Jake Runestad, Toby Hession, Kim André Arnesen, Dan Forrest, Annabel Rooney, Gabriel Jackson, Joanna Gill, Kerensa Briggs, Pierre Villette
$20
(804) 288-2867
http://ststephensrva.org

Dec. 24 (11 a.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Choral Arts Society of Washington
Choral Arts Symphonic Chorus
Choral Arts Brass Ensemble
Jace Kaholokula Saplan & Brandon Straub conducting
“A Family Christmas”
$20-$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jennifer Gersten, writing for VAN magazine, explores the clothing that classical musicians wear in performance, the physical and psychic challenges of playing in long-standard black formal wear, and interesting recent innovations by fashion designers such as Jenny Lai, the focus of Gersten’s article.

“There’s a part of me that respects the restraints and likes the formality and the expectations” of classical-music performance, says Lai, who was a violist before she became a designer. “I’m always trying to find a balance between something that’s recognizable and something that allows the unrecognizable to happen.”

Clothing the Future

Playing instruments that require significant, sometimes awkward, physical movement – strings, trombone, harp, percussion – in formal dress is constricting. Try sawing wood or raking leaves in a tuxedo. So why do musicians dress that way?

Tradition: European classical music was born in the courts of kings, dukes and princes of the church. Musicians were servants, wearing uniforms that denoted their roles in a hierarchy typically organized like a military unit. (Some, indeed, doubled as military bandsmen.) Ease of movement was outweighed by appearance, especially for servants working in the presence of lords and ladies, and musicians were expected to be as formally and uniformly outfitted as footmen or carriage drivers.

The tradition has lingered long after musicales in the ducal court gave way to public performances. Like black-tied waiters in high-end restaurants, orchestra musicians are formally uniformed in concert. (For the Richmond Symphony’s mainstage programs, the men wear white tie and tails.)

Uniform appearance is a visual cue that the musicians are an ensemble, engaged in collective rather than individual activity. And as the uniforms are black – the absence of color – their look presents less visual distraction from the music.

Dressing individualistically is not a taboo for solo performers. The combination of “look at me” and “listen to me” was established by operatic divas singing in concerts and recitals, and female instrumental soloists have followed that lead, typically wearing something like a ball gown. (There’s a downside: How many times have you heard a fellow concertgoer comment on her gown rather than her musicianship?) More recently, male soloists and conductors have ditched tuxedos in favor of less elaborate attire that’s more compatible with physical activity.

I’ve long thought that orchestra musicians should dress like fashionable Italians, looking good without quite dressing up, wearing reasonably loose-fitting but still-shapely shirts and trousers, in black or another dark, neutral shade. Such a look makes an impression while also accommodating the physicality of music-making, especially for musicians whose playing involves a lot of arm and shoulder work.

Those who have to work in formal dress, if they’re smart and can afford it, have good tailors to alter garments for comfort and ease of movement. When I buy a shirt that I’ll wear with a necktie, I choose one that’s a half-size too large in the collar; I’ll bet a lot of male musicians do the same with their tuxedo shirts.

Jenny Lai and other designers making bespoke outfits are too pricey for artists whose incomes haven’t reached six figures. Even prominent soloists earning generous fees have to balance spending on clothing with buying and maintaining their instruments, most of which cost a lot more than even the most exclusive designer’s garb, and managing the cost of living in the typically expensive places that are centers of high culture.

Some orchestras and ensembles have made the move into semi-formal concert attire. Early music groups are rarely seen in formal dress (let alone frilly shirts and periwigs, lest period-authenticity cross the line into distraction and unintended comedy). Chamber groups and ensembles that focus on modern and contemporary music increasingly go for an informally dressy look. Hardcore avant-gardists perform in jeans, T-shirts and hoodies.

Most symphony orchestras, however, continue to be dressed for a gentrified night out in 1890. Visually complementary to Brahms or Tchaikovsky, I suppose, but increasingly dissonant to the eye as they play more recent repertory. In newer music, much of which is more technically demanding and physically strenuous, antique garb makes it still more difficult to play.

Orchestras are now putting a lot of effort into making their art form relevant in the 21st century. One of the easiest and least expensive updates would be a change of dress code.

Long-time concertgoers might complain; but they should look around them on symphony night. How many men still wear suits and ties? How many women still wear dresses? Oh, and how many of those coveted younger patrons, told they should dress up to go the symphony, look (and undoubtedly feel) out of their element, for no good reason?

For better or worse, we live in a time of comfortable clothing. (Better because it’s comfortable; worse because a lot of it isn’t fit to be worn in public, at least as it’s worn by much of the public.) Most employers no longer expect their workforce to wear clothes that impede physically active work. Not many houses of worship still expect congregants to dress up. Even the most uniformed in society, in the military and law enforcement, have different uniforms for parade and work.

While there’s something to be said for performers looking better than or different from their audiences, they needn’t be stuck in clothing from a distant past.

For the first time in the New York Philharmonic’s 180-year history, its roster of musicians is majority-female: 45 are women, 44 are men.

“It’s a sea change,” Cynthia Phelps, the orchestra’s principal violist, told The New York Times’ Javier C. Hernández. “This has been a hard-won, long battle, and it continues to be.” In 1976, the philharmonic had five female players; in 1992, there were 29.

Currently, there are 16 vacancies on the roster, so the orchestra’s gender parity may change; but 10 of the last 12 musicians it hired are women, who are “winning these positions fair and square,” said Deborah Borda, the philharmonic’s president and chief executive:

Although “still substantially outnumbered by men in most elite ensembles, including in Boston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles,” Hernández notes, “[w]omen now make up roughly half of orchestra players nationwide.”

That was reflected in the ensemble onstage at the Richmond Symphony’s most recent mainstage concerts. Among 76 players, there were 37 women and 39 men, according to the roster listed in the program booklet.

Of the 22 violinists, three were male: the concertmaster, associate concertmaster and one section player. (The orchestra’s violin and viola sections have been predominantly female for years.) One woman played in the long-all-male percussion section. The flutists and the harpist – historically, the gender barrier-breakers in orchestras – were all women. The brass players, timpanist, pianist and saxophonist were all men.

For many of its performances, the symphony hires substitute players and musicians needed for extra parts, so the proportions change from one program to the next.

The orchestra’s music director, associate conductor and executive director are women. Among its 17 currently designated section principals and single chairs (timpani, piano, tuba, harp), five are women, leading the second-violin, viola, flute and oboe sections, plus the harpist.

However this factoid may figure in the near-future of US orchestras: At Miami’s New World Symphony, the elite post-graduate “orchestral academy,” many of whose musicians move on to their first full-time gigs at orchestras the size and caliber of Richmond’s, 45 male and 38 female “fellows” (a terminological lagging indicator of academic gender-sensitivity) are pictured this season on its website (http://www.nws.edu/about/fellows/).

Ned Rorem, the composer and writer who was one of the most prolific and provocative figures in American classical music, has died at 99.

As a composer, Rorem was best-known for his hundreds of art-songs, but he attracted wider notoriety for a series of candid and revealing diaries.

His vocal music, in addition to songs, includes a dozen operas and dozens of choral works. Rorem also produced three symphonies and numerous chamber works and pieces for piano and organ. His “Air Music: Ten Etudes for Orchestra” was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1976.

An Indiana native initially trained as a pianist, Rorem was a graduate of Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Gian-Carlo Menotti, and the Juilliard School in New York. He also counted Virgil Thomson and Aaron Copland among his teachers and mentors.

Rorem, who was gay, filled his diaries with explicit accounts of his sexual encounters and gossip about prominent acquaintances, as well as his opinions on composers and musicians. He also wrote several books of more substantive music criticism.

A longtime teacher at Curtis Institute, Rorem served as president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters from 2000 to 2003.

An obituary by Tim Page for The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/11/18/ned-rorem-dead-composer-diarist/

Updated

Slipped Disc’s Norman Lebrecht reports that Harry Brünjes, chairman of the English National Opera, said the company will shut down in April rather than move from London to Manchester, a condition that Arts Council England set for continued support.

“There is a lot of discussion around relocation to Manchester, and we have got to flatten that immediately,” Brünjes told British parliamentarians. “There is no relocation. This is closing ENO down. This is losing 600 jobs from London of talented and devoted and able people across all departments.”

ENO latest: Chairman says company will close in April

Arts Council England, whose grants budget comes from government appropriations and proceeds from the Britain’s National Lottery, followed government guidance to redirect money from London to locations elsewhere in the country. The ENO stands to lose £12.6 million (about $14.2 million) if it stays in London.

UPDATE (Nov. 19): From an editorial on the arts council’s funding decisions in The Guardian: “The task of keeping culture alive in embattled times rests on a delicate balancing act: [I]t needs to enrich lives and entertain, but also to contribute to the economy by creating jobs, attracting tourists and generating money for other businesses. Laudable though the new priorities may be in many ways, there is a danger that, in solving one problem, they will create others – the emasculation of institutions, the dispersal of creative communities – that will become irreparable, and not just in London.”

More on this subject in a Nov. 5 post: https://letterv.blog/2022/11/05/leveling-up-uk-arts-grants-hit-london/

Jonathan Cohen has been named the next artistic director of the Handel & Haydn Society of Boston.

Cohen, who will begin his Boston tenure next season, is a 44-year-old British cellist, harpsichordist and conductor. He also directs the Canadian ensemble Les Violons du Roy and Britain’s Arcangelo, and is an artistic partner of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

The Handel & Haydn Society, an orchestra and chorus that nowadays goes by the nickname H+H, is this country’s oldest permanent musical ensemble; it gave its first performance on Christmas Day in 1815. It presented the US premieres of Handel’s “Messiah” in 1818, Haydn’s “The Creation” in 1819 and Verdi’s Requiem in 1878.

Since the 1960s, H+H has been a leading exponent of historically informed performance in the US.

Cohen, who will be the ensemble’s 15th artistic director, continues a 36-year run of British conductors on its podium, following Harry Christophers (2009-22), Grant Llewellyn (2001-06) and Christopher Hogwood (1986-2001).