Letter V

Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia
Oct. 14, First Unitarian Universalist Church

The artistically venturesome and behaviorally libertine culture of Weimar Germany lasted barely 10 years before it was suppressed by the Nazis, but has had a long afterlife. Its music spread well beyond its home turf of Berlin cabarets and theaters in the 1920s and early ’30s, initially thanks to exiles such as composer Kurt Weill and his spouse, singer Lotte Lenya, and later revivalists such as singers Ute Lemper and Max Raabe; and its rise and fall is frequently evoked by artists who fear crackdowns on free expression.

The Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia’s latest offering, “Swept Away,” recalled the Weimar era’s musical heyday in songs and chamber works by Hanns Eisler, Friedrich Hollander, Franz Schreker and Arnold Schoenberg, and its tragic aftermath in “For a Look or a Touch” by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer.

Heggie’s chamber opera for actor, baritone and small instrumental ensemble, premiered in 2007, staged by the Chamber Music Society in 2016, now reprised for its 20th anniversary season, imagines the encounter between an elderly Holocaust survivor and the ghost of his lover, one of many homosexuals who died in the Nazi death camps. Scheer’s text and narrative drew inspiration from the journal of Manfred Lewin, a gay Jewish man who was murdered with the rest of his family at Auschwitz, and the testimonies of several survivors in “Paragraph 175,” a documentary by Robert Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.

In this performance, actor Doug Schneider and baritone Paul Max Tipton were side by side, the actor seated, the singer standing; but their characters’ distance, both in time and in the survivor’s resistance to remembering their love affair and its tragic ending, was made clear by lack of physical interaction. Schneider spoke rather softly in a pained, world-weary manner; Tipton sang with a combination of dreaminess and passion.

The accompanying band – flutist Mary Boodell, clarinetist Ian Tyson, violinist Grant Houston, cellist James Wilson and pianist Carsten Schmidt – was audibly tuned to Heggie’s stylistic wavelength, a hybrid of Weimar-adjacent modernism and operatic lyricism.

Imbalances between voices and instruments were at times precarious in “For a Look or a Touch,” but less troublesome than they had been in the first half of the program, when glaring piano tone obscured the voices of Tipton and soprano Sheila Dietrich in four songs by Eisler and Hollander. Dietrich projected best, in Hollander’s cabaret standard “Ich bin von Kopf bis Fluss auf Lieben Eingestellt” (“From Head to Toe I Am Prepared for Love”), better-known in English as “Falling in Love Again (I Can’t Help It).”

The volume of the instrumental ensemble made Dietrich’s delivery of six numbers from Schoenberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire” barely comprehensible. (Its German Sprechstimme, or speech-song, is tough to follow in the best of aural circumstances.) Actress-dancer Gwen Grastorf, in commedia dell’arte costume, physically complemented the words that listeners struggled to hear.

“Pierrot Lunaire,” introduced in 1912, and Schreker’s miniature tone poem “Wind,” dating from 1908-09, were pre-echoes in style and spirit to the sounds of the post-World War I Weimar musical culture – and a template for Heggie’s score, for a “Pierrot” ensemble of strings, winds and piano. Shrecker slightly altered the instrumentation, subtracting flute and adding French horn, played here by Devin Gossett.

The ensemble emphasized the angular impressionism of the Schoenberg, and realized the stylistic interplay of romanticism and modernism in Shrecker’s score.

Over the weekend, Germany’s Dresden Sinfoniker presented a concert in which the orchestra’s musicians were conducted by a robot.

The highlight of this “Robotersinfonie” program was Andreas Gundlach’s “aptly named ‘Semiconductor’s Masterpiece’ for 16 brass musicians and four percussionists playing wildly diverging time signatures,” The Guardian’s Deborah Cole reports.

The orchestra’s artistic director, Markus Rindt, “said the intention was ‘not to replace human beings’ but to perform complex music that human conductors would find impossible,” Cole writes:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/13/three-armed-robot-maira-pro-s-conductor-makes-debut-dresden

The Dresden concert, also featuring another robot-conducted work, Wieland Reissmann’s “#kreuzknoten,” can be seen and heard here:

Meanwhile in Britain, the London Standard (digital successor of the Evening Standard) is planning to run an artificial intelligence-generated “experimental review” credited to the newspaper’s longtime art critic, Brian Sewell, who died in 2015. “The London Standard is a bold and disruptive new publication,” its interim CEO, Paul Kanareck, told The Guardian’s Dan Milmo. Sewell’s “estate is delighted,” Kanareck added:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/sep/25/london-standard-art-critic-brian-sewell-journalism-artificial-intelligence

Some sort of AI capacity was added to my computer in its most recent update. I haven’t gone for it, but, who knows, it may be coming for me. I’m not dead yet, as a friend used to say (before he died), and everything you read on Letter V is produced by a human being. So far.

7-9 p.m. EDT
2300-0100 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Hamish MacCunn: “The Land of the Mountain and the Flood”
Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Alexander Gibson
(Warner Classics)

Amy Beach: Piano Concerto in C sharp minor
Danny Driver, piano
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Rebecca Miller
(Hyperion)

David Matthews: “Dark Pastoral” (after Vaughan Williams)
Guy Johnston, cello
Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Martin Yates
(Dutton)

Barber: “Knoxville, Summer of 1915”
Dawn Upshaw, soprano
Orchestra of St. Luke’s/David Zinman
(Nonesuch)

Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major
Frank Peter Zimmermann, violin
Staatskapelle Dresden/Bernard Haitink
(Hänssler)

Leif Segerstam, the Finnish conductor and composer, and one of the most colorful characters in classical music, has died at 80.

Best-known outside Scandinavia for his interpretations of his fellow Finns Jean Sibelius and Einojuhani Rautavaara, Segerstam was the longtime conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic and the Royal Opera in Stockholm, and a conducting teacher at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy. He also held posts with the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and RSO Wien (Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra), and guest conducted throughout Europe and North America.

He composed 371 symphonies, 30 string quartets and 13 concertos for violin (his principal instrument), among other works.

Segerstam, whose physical bulk, flowing mane of hair and bushy white beard led inevitably to comparisons with Santa Claus, was famed for his energetic, at times explosive, conducting style and expansive personality.

He was “completely overwhelming in all ways – weighed almost 35 stones [nearly 500 pounds] at some stage, could eat one each of the whole menu in one sitting (I saw that in Salzburg),” BIS Records chief Robert von Bahr recalls in a note to Norman Lebrecht’s Slipped Disc website. “Perfect pitch down to 1 Hz . . . . Could read any score like today’s newspaper.”

More reminiscences of a singular musical figure:

Musicians share memories of the one-and-only Leif Segerstam

Here’s one of Segerstam’s most famous/notorious music videos, of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” – who knew the last-movement shipwreck had vocal parts? (45 minutes into the video) – with Spain’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia:

The New York Times’ Javier C. Hernández surveys New York Philharmonic musicians, guest soloists and composers to find out whether the $550 million renovation of the orchestra’s concert hall in Lincoln Center, touted at its 2022 reopening as “our 2,200-seat crown jewel,” really shines.

The venue, known as Philharmonic Hall when it opened in 1962, then as Avery Fisher Hall after a renovation in 1976, and following the latest renovation as David Geffen Hall, had been notorious for its poor acoustics.

“The hall, a drab shoe-box auditorium, was cavernous and impersonal, with nearly a third of the audience more than 100 feet from the stage,” Hernández writes. “The pianist Emanuel Ax said ‘everything felt distant’ in the old hall.”

In the Geffen refit, 500 seats were removed, the stage was extended into the hall, adjustable sound-reflective acoustical panels were installed, and public spaces around the auditorium were made more inviting.

Initial reviews were mixed – The New Yorker’s Alex Ross likened hearing music in the space to “listening to a world-class stereo system in a dry room” – and the project’s acousticians continued tinkering.

Paul Scarbrough, one of the project’s lead acousticians, told Hernández that “the [sonic] balances that we end up striking . . . are not necessarily the balances that everybody will adhere to or like.”

With the departure of Jaap van Zweden as music director in the spring and his successor, Gustavo Dudamel, not taking over the post until the 2026-27 season, further significant acoustical adjustments are largely on hold until the new conductor weighs in on placement of musicians and development of his desired ensemble sound:

All musicians play at least two instruments: the one in their hands, and the room in which they perform. The sound of one can be affected radically by the sound of the other. If orchestral musicians can’t hear one another, or if the hall’s acoustics favor some sound frequencies and obscure others, producing the proper corporate tone may be difficult to impossible.

Ever since the renovation of the Richmond Symphony’s home hall, the Carpenter Theatre at Dominion Energy Center, which reopened in 2009, the orchestra’s conductors and players have tried various seating configurations on the stage, seeking to beef up lower-string sound, improve balances among instrumental sections, and deal with the acoustical “sweet spot” under the proscenium arch above the stage, which amplifies the sound of instruments placed there.

It took quite some time to balance piano with orchestra in concertos. Balancing orchestral sound with the voices of the Richmond Symphony Chorus remains a work in progress.

Learning to “play” a hall is an ongoing, years-long endeavor. It may be the toughest instrument to master.

William Ferguson, tenor
Martin Katz, piano
Oct. 5, Perkinson Recital Hall, University of Richmond

William Ferguson may be Richmond’s favorite classical singer. Having been born to a prominent family, and being an alumnus of St. Christopher’s School, no doubt gives him a local leg up; but what really attracts listeners, here or elsewhere, is his versatility.

Opera singers, especially in the US, like to mix European art-song with American folk songs, show tunes, cabaret and vintage popular songs in their recitals; but few can maneuver persuasively through all those styles. Ferguson is one of the few – an operatic tenor who can reincarnate Noël Coward or Donald O’Connor when that’s called for.

In a recital presented by the Belvedere Series, Ferguson is joined by Martin Katz, piano accompanist to generations of great singers, most notably mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, who also taught and mentored Ferguson. Katz, in turn, was a teacher of and formative influence on pianist Ingrid Keller, the Belvedere’s artistic director. Multiple legacies behind this show.

Ferguson and Katz titled their program “My Beloved,” after “My Beloved Is Mine,” the canticle by Benjamin Britten with which they launched the recital. The piece is an urgently passionate declaration of love for Britten’s musical and life partner, tenor Peter Pears, its urgency italicized by a propulsive, rather gnarly piano part. A bang-out-of-the-gate opener, which in the first of two weekend dates sounded borderline-strident in the bright acoustic of the University of Richmond’s Perkinson Recital Hall.

The main course of the program is Robert Schumann’s “Dichterliebe” (“Poet’s Love”), a cycle of 16 mostly brief settings of poems by Heinrich Heine. Many of them are closer to soliloquy or dramatized narrative than to conventional song, giving the singer and pianist more to work with expressively. When Schumann turns to more familiar song form, the tone is generally declarative and the tunes often reflect German folk and vernacular traditions.

Ferguson’s theatrical background paid high dividends in Schumann’s mini-dramas, and Katz’s playing in these numbers was a master class in scene- and mood-painting. In the “straight” songs, their performances were straightforward – convincingly love-struck, lusty or nostalgic, but without excess. (Except at highest volume, when stridency threatened again.)

The second half of the program is devoted to lighter fare – lighter in spirit than lightweight in content – ranging from Aaron Copland’s setting of the old American hymn tune “Shall We Gather at the River,” Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer” and Roger Quilter’s “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes” to Porter’s “You Don’t Know Paree” and other novelties from the popular songbook. The singer and pianist sounded consistently in character in these varied song styles.

Their treatments of comic numbers – Foster’s “If You’ve Only Got a Mustache,” a mating asset for the mid-19th century American man (so that’s why they all grew ’em); Leonard Bernstein’s “Rabbit at Top Speed,” a rabbit stew recipe-in-song (in English and French); Donald Swann’s “The Gnu,” a catalog of the gmany species that critter is gnot; John Duke’s “Penguin Geometry,” a jocular reminder that at the bottom of the Earth all directions are north – were packed with personality, and lyrics were remarkably comprehensible considering their quantity of speedy patter.

The duo’s first-night encore was “Blackberry Winter” by Alec Wilder and Loonis McGlohon, a miniature masterpiece of music and poetry that likens memories of lost love to the brief cold spell in May during which blackberries ripen.

The program repeats at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 6 in Perkinson Recital Hall, North Court, University of Richmond. Tickets: $45. Details: (804) 833-1481; http://belvedereseries.org

7-9 p.m. EDT
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WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Schumann: Konzertstück in F major, Op. 86, for 4 horns & orchestra
Markus Maskuniitty, Martin Schöpfer, Kristofer Öberg & Monica Berenguer Caro, French horns
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic/Sakari Oramo
(Ondine)

Schumann: “Carnaval” – “Marche des Davidsbündler contre les Philistins”
(Maurice Ravel orchestration)
Royal Philharmonic/Dirk Joeres

Rossini: “William Tell” – Pas de deux
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi/Riccardo Chailly
(Decca)

Respighi: “La Boutique fantasque” (after Rossini)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Vasily Petrenko
(Onyx)

Rossini: “William Tell” – Final du Divertissement
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi/Riccardo Chailly
(Decca)

Wagner: “Lohengrin” – Act 3 Prelude
Orchestre du Théâtre national de l’Opéra/André Cluytens
(Erato)

Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D minor
Cleveland Orchestra/George Szell
(Sony Classical)

Violinist Johnny Gandelsman, a frequent guest of the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia, has been awarded a MacArthur Foundation fellowship – aka “genius grant.”

The MacArthur judges cited his work forging “connections among diverse musical cultures and global artistic threads. He uniquely synthesizes past and present, making the experience of listening to music wholly new and fresh for audiences.”

Gandelsman is the only classical musician among 21 artists, cultural historians and scientific researchers to be named a 2024 MacArthur fellow. Each will receive $800,000 over the next five years.

Born in Russia, the 46-year-old Gandelsman studied at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music. He is a founding member of Brooklyn Rider, a string quartet specializing in contemporary music, and performed for 18 years in the Silk Road Ensemble, known for its explorations of non-Western art-music.

As a soloist, Gandelsman has performed and recorded the violin sonatas and partitas of J.S. Bach and his arrangements of Bach’s solo cello suites, as well as works by living composers, notably “This Is America,” a set of 28 pieces that he commissioned during the pandemic lockdown.

He also is a record producer, founder of the label In a Circle, and provided music for the Ken Burns documentaries “The Vietnam War” and “The U.S. and the Holocaust.”

Gandelsman and cellist James Wilson, artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia, will perform in “Bach by Candlelight,” a sampler of the composer’s solo string works, on Dec. 16 at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter. Details: (804) 304-6312; http://cmscva.org

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. Ticket prices may not include service fees.

Oct. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Viano Quartet
Astor Piazzolla: “Introduccione al Angel”
Florence Price: “5 Folksongs in Counterpoint”
Beethoven: Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2 (“Razumovsky”)
$12-$45
(434) 924-3376
http://tecs.org

Oct. 3 (7 p.m.)
Salem Presbyterian Church, 14 E. Main St.
Akemi Takayama, violin
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra string principals
David Stewart Wiley, piano
“Peace, Reflection and Transfiguration”
program TBA
$34-$52
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Oct. 3 (7 p.m.)
Oct. 4 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 5 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Carlos Simon: “Four Black American Dances”
Richard Strauss: “Four Last Songs”
Rachel Willis-Sørensen, soprano
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor
$17-$133
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 4 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Symphonic Wind Ensemble
Terry Austin directing
“Illumination”
Holst: Suite in E flat major
Sam Hazo: “Ride”
other works TBA
$12
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Oct. 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Oct. 6 (2:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Opera
Adam Turner conducting
Mozart: “Don Giovanni”
Ethan Vincent (Don Giovanni)
Wm. Clay Thompson (Leporello)
Symone Harcum (Donna Anna)
Alexandra Loutsion (Donna Elvira)
Jordan Costa (Don Ottavio)
Ricardo Lugo (Commendatore)
Chase Sanders (Zerlina)
Patrick Wilhelm (Masetto)
Kyle Lang, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$21.25-$130
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Oct. 4 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Pops
Stuart Chafetz conducting
Jessica Handy, Kelli Rabke & John Boswell, guest stars
“Blockbuster Broadway”
$38-$99
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Oct. 5 (4 p.m.)
Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 8 N. Laurel St., Richmond
Caroline Whisnat, soprano
Chase Peak, bass
Daniel Stipe, piano
opera arias, Broadway show tunes TBA
free
(804) 359-5628
http://ghtc.org

Oct. 5 (7 p.m.)
Oct. 6 (3:30 p.m.)
Perkinson Recital Hall, North Court, University of Richmond
Belvedere Series:
William Ferguson, tenor
Martin Katz, piano
“My Beloved”
works TBA by Britten, Schumann, Bernstein, others
$45
(804) 833-1481
http://belvedereseries.org

Oct. 5 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Pops
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Miramar, guest stars
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Oct. 6 (3 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Rennolds Chamber Concerts:
Spanish Brass
program TBA
$35
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Oct. 6 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Fei Tong, violin
Canjingjing Cui, soprano
Baoqi Zhu, piano
Chinese works TBA
$34-$58
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 6 (3 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Annapolis Symphony Orchestra
José-Luis Novo conducting
Tania León: “Pasajes”
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488
Brian Ganz, piano
Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D minor – II: Adagio
William Grant Still: Symphony No. 1 (“Afro-American”)
$10-$69
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Oct. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Gamelan Raga Kusuma
Peni Candra Rini, vocals
Javanese, Balinese gamelan works TBA
free
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Oct. 10 (7 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Brandon Eldredge conducting
Cassandra IsFree
Shark City Drum and Dance Corps
other artists TBA
“Evening of Hope”
program TBA
free; registration requested
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Oct. 10 (7 p.m.)
Oct. 11 (11:30 a.m.)
Oct. 12 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major (“Emperor”)
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
Richard Strauss: “Ein Heldenleben”
$17-$119
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Young Concert Artists:
Benett Tsai, cello
HyeJin Kim, piano
Ginastera: “Pampeana” No. 2, Op. 21
Marin Marais: “La Folia”
Barber: Cello Sonata
Beethoven: “7 Variations on ‘Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’ from Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute,’ ” WoO 46
Brahms: Cello Sonata in E minor, Op. 38
$20-$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 10 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Juanjo Mena conducting
Louise Farrenc: Overture No. 2
Mozart: Concerto in F major, K. 242, for 2 pianos
Lucas & Arthur Jussen, pianos
Schumann: Symphony No. 4 in D minor
$38-$99
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Oct. 11 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Symphony
Daniel Myssyk conducting
Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue”
Magda Adamek, piano
other works TBA
$12
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Oct. 12 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First & Franklin streets, Richmond
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
artists TBA
“A Richmond Cabaret”
works TBA by Emily Graham, Zachary Wadsworth, Riley Peters, Betsy Podsiadlo
free; ticket reservation required
(804) 304-6312
http://cmscva.org

Oct. 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Oct. 13 (2:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Virginia Opera
Adam Turner conducting
Mozart: “Don Giovanni”
Ethan Vincent (Don Giovanni)
Wm. Clay Thompson (Leporello)
Symone Harcum (Donna Anna)
Alexandra Loutsion (Donna Elvira)
Jordan Costa (Don Ottavio)
Ricardo Lugo (Commendatore)
Chase Sanders (Zerlina)
Patrick Wilhelm (Masetto)
Kyle Lang, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$15-$130
(866) 672-7282
http://vaopera.org

Oct. 12 (8 p.m.)
Altria Theater, Main & Laurel streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Eric Roth conducting
“Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – Orchestra World Tour”
$45-$150
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Oct. 13 (3:30 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Second Sunday South of the James:
John Bullard, classical banjo
Marcus Compton, piano
“Baroque with Pluck”
program TBA
donation requested
(804) 272-7514
http://bonairpc.org/concert-series

Oct. 13 (7 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Jeffrey Siegel, piano & speaker
“Keyboard Conversations: Franz Schubert, the Soulful and Sublime”
Schubert: “Marche militaire”
Schubert: Sonata in A major, D. 959 – II: Andantino
Schubert: Sonata in A major, D. 664
$29-$50
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Oct. 14 (7 p.m.)
First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1000 Blanton Ave. at the Carillon
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
ensemble artists TBA
“Swept Away!”
Schoenberg: “Pierrot Lunaire” (selections)
Gwen Grastorf, vocals
Franz Schreker: “The Wind”
Jake Heggie: “For a Look or a Touch”
Doug Schneider, actor
Paul Max Tipton, bass-baritone
songs TBA by Hanns Eisler, Friedrich Hollaender, Rudolf Nelson
Paul Max Tipton, bass-baritone
$30
(804) 304-6312
http://cmscva.org

Oct. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Coalition Theater, 8 W. Broad St., Richmond
Classical Revolution RVA:
Coalition Theater comedians TBA
ensemble artists TBA
“artoberVA: Coalition Theater x Classical Revolution”
donation requested
(804) 420-2271
http://classicalrevolutionrva.com/events

Oct. 17 (7 p.m.)
Oct. 18 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 19 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Richard Strauss: “Capriccio” – introduction, “Moonlight Music,” final scene
Renée Fleming, soprano
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
$17-$133
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Oct. 19 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Oct. 20 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
JoAnn Falletta conducting
Lili Boulanger: “Psalm 24”
Virginia Symphony Chorus
Joseph Bologne (Chevalier de Saint-Georges): Violin Concerto in A major, Op. 5, No. 2
Brandon Elliott, violin
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 in C minor (“Organ”)
organist TBA
$15-$119
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Oct. 18 (3:30 & 8 p.m.)
Oct. 19 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Rohan Chandler (Bakudi Scream), electronica
“Technosonics: Immersion”
programs TBA
free
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Oct. 19 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 20 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Debussy: “La Mer”
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major
Clayton Stephenson, piano
Stravinsky: “Le sacre du printemps” (“The Rite of Spring”)
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Oct. 19 (5 p.m.)
Westmoreland Place Estate, Richmond
Belvedere Series:
artists TBA
“First Annual Gala”
program TBA
$125; address & directions provided after ticket purchase
(804) 833-1481
http://belvedereseries.org

Oct. 19 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Bernstein: “Candide” Overture
Elena Kats-Chernin: “Force Majeure”
Lisa Moore, piano
Copland: “Appalachian Spring” Suite
Bernstein: “3 Dance Episodes from ‘On the Town’ ”
$20-$65
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Oct. 19 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Sphinx Virtuosi
Britton-René Collins, percussion
Levi Taylor: “Daydreaming (A Fantasy on Scott Joplin)”
Joplin: “Treemonisha” Overture (Jannina Norpoth & Jessie Montgomery arrangement)
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: “4 Novelletten,” Op. 52
Juantio Becenti: “Hané” for string quartet
Teresa Carreño: Serenade for strings – Tempo di marcia
Serrick Skye: “American Mirror,” Part 1
Curtis Stewart: “Drill”
$40-$69
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 19 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
James Lee III: “Chuphshah! Harriet’s Drive to Canaan”
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor
Hayato Sumino, piano
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 4 in C major
$38-$99
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Oct. 20 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Chamber Music Series:
mixed ensembles
program TBA
$15
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Oct. 22 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Richard Goode, piano
Beethoven: Sonata in E major, Op. 109
Beethoven: Sonata in A flat major, Op. 110
Beethoven: Bagatelles, Op. 119, Nos. 6-11
Beethoven: Sonata in C minor, Op. 111
$12-$45
(434) 924-3376
http://tecs.org

Oct. 22 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Steven Reineke conducting
Aoife O’Donovan & Bonny Light Horseman, guest stars
Bryce Dessner: works TBA
songs TBA
$33-$91
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 24 (6:30 p.m.)
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Overbrook Road at Ownby Lane, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Hae Lee conducting
program TBA
$30-$40
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Oct. 24 (7:30 p.m.)
Perkinson Recital Hall, North Court, University of Richmond
Keith Phares, baritone
pianist TBA
program TBA
free; ticket reservation required
(804) 289-8980 (Modlin Arts Center box office)
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Oct. 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Christoph Wagner, cello
Joanne Kong, piano
Chopin: “Introduction and Polonaise brillante”
Bohuslav Martinů: “Variations on a Slovakian Theme”
Giovanni Sollima: “Il’Bell Antonio” – Tema III
Brahms: Cello Sonata in F major, Op. 99
free; ticket reservation required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Oct. 25 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
University Singers
Virginia Glee Club
Virginia Women’s Chorus
UVa Chamber Singers
“Family Weekend Choral Showcase”
program TBA
$15
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Oct. 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Salem Civic Center, 1001 Roanoke Boulevard
Roanoke Symphony Pops
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Doug LaBrecque & Lisa Vroman, guest stars
“Classic Broadway”
$30-$58
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Oct. 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Oct. 27 (2 p.m.)
Oct. 29 (7:30 p.m.)
Oct. 31 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 2 (7 p.m.)
Nov. 4 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Robert Spano conducting
Beethoven: “Fidelio”
Sinéad Campbell Wallace (Leonore)
Jamez McCorkle (Florestan)
Derek Welton (Pizzaro)
David Leigh (Rocco)
Denyce Graves (Prime Minster)
Francesca Zambello, stage director
in German, English captions
$45-$269
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 25 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 26 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Steven Reineke conducting
Ben Folds, guest star
$33-$91
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 25 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Quatuor Diotima
“Schoenberg at 150”
Schoenberg: Quartet in D major
Schoenberg: Quartet No. 4, Op. 37
free; tickets required via http://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

Oct. 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
conductor TBA
“Tim Burton’s ‘The Nightmare before Christmas,” film with live orchestral accompaniment
$22-$76
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Oct. 26 (2 & 8 p.m.)
Altria Theater, Main & Laurel streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
conductor TBA
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” film with live orchestral accompaniment
$62.50-$124.50
(804) 592-3368
http://www.altriatheater.com/events/detail/harry-potter-5

Oct. 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Oct. 27 (8 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Morihiko Nakahara conducting
“Psycho,” film with live orchestral accompaniment
$15-$119
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Oct. 26 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Robert Spano conducting
Christine Goerke, soprano
Brandon Jovanovich, tenor
Derek Welton, bass-baritone
Soloman Howard, bass
“Gods and Mortals: a Celebration of Wagner”
arias & scenes TBA from “Tannhäuser,” “The Flying Dutchman,” “Lohengrin,” “Parsifal,” “Ring” cycle
$55-$299
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Pan American Symphony Orchestra
Sergio Alessandro Buslje conducting
“From Manhattan to Kyiv”
Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue”
Sean Mahon, piano
Nikolai Kapustin: “Concert Rhapsody”
Ariel Pirotti: “Tango Rhapsody”
Holly Nelson, violin
works TBA by Duke Ellington
$59-$85
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 26 (2 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Quatuor Diotima
“Schoenberg at 150”
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Quartet No. 3, Op. 34
Schoenberg: Quartet No. 3, Op. 30
Schoenberg: Quartet No. 1, Op. 7
free; tickets required via http://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

Oct. 27 (3 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Neave Trio
program TBA
$12
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Oct. 27 (3 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Schola Cantorum & orchestra
Jeffrey Riehl conducting
Fauré: Requiem
Fauré “Cantique de Jean Racine”
free; ticket reservation required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Oct. 27 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Tony Siqi Yun, piano
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde” – “Isoldes Liebestod” (Franz Liszt arrangement)
Schumann: “Symphonic Études,” Op. 13
Beethoven: Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 (“Appassionata”)
Brahms: Theme and Variations in D minor, Op. 18b
$30-$70
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Kaufman Theater, Chrysler Museum of Art, 1 Memorial Place, Norfolk
Feldman Chamber Music Society:
Ensemble 4.1 piano windtet
N.H. Rice: Quintet in E flat major, Op. 2
Gershwin: “An American in Paris”
Mozart: Quintet in E flat major, K. 452, for piano & winds
$40
(757) 552-1630
http://feldmanchambermusic.org

Oct. 29 (7:30 p.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg:
Ensemble 4.1 piano windtet
N.H. Rice: Quintet in E flat major, Op. 2
Gershwin: “An American in Paris”
Mozart: Quintet in E flat major, K. 452, for piano & winds
$30 (waiting list)
(757) 741-3300
http://chambermusicwilliamsburg.org

Oct. 30 (2 & 7 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Olivier Latry, organ
inaugural dedicatory concerts for the cathedral gallery organ
program TBA
sold out; waiting list
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org/concerts

Oct. 30 (6 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Miles Massicotte & Magdalena Adamek, pianos
Witold Lutosławski: “Variations on a Theme by Paganini”
works TBA by Beethoven, Scriabin, Ravel, others
free
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Oct. 30 (7:30 p.m.)
Williamsburg Community Chapel, 3899 John Tyler Highway
Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Debussy: “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”
Richard Scofano: “La Tierra Sin Mal”
Richard Scofano, bandoneon
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
$15-$70
(757) 229-9857
http://williamsburgsymphony.org

Oct. 30 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts:
Isidore String Quartet
Mozart: Quartet in C major, K. 465 (“Dissonance”)
Billy Childs: Quartet No. 3 (“Unrequited”)
Beethoven: Quartet in E flat major, Op. 127
$58
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 30 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, Washington
Emil Ferguson, flute
Ruckus
György Ligeti: “Musica ricercata”
Telemann: fantasias, TWV 40/2-13
free; tickets required via http://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

Oct. 31 (7 p.m.)
Nov. 1 (11:30 a.m.)
Nov. 2 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Prokofiev: “Summer Night” (“Betrothal in a Monastery” Suite)
Alexander Raskatov: Oboe Concerto (“Time’s River”)
Alexei Ogrintchouk, oboe
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique”)
$17-$133
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River & Ridge roads, Richmond
E. Carl Freeman Concert Series:
Daniel Adam Maltz, fortepiano
works TBA by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven
free; tickets required via https://www.eventbrite.com
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org/e-carl-freeman-concert-series/

Nov. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Nov. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Nov. 3 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Wilkins conducting
Ravel: “Le Tombeau de Couperin”
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major
Michelle Cann, piano
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E minor
$15-$119
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Nov. 2 (8 p.m.)
Nov. 3 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Carlos Simon: “Fate Now Conquers”
Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major
James Ehnes, violin
Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G major
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Nov. 2 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Dominic Doutney, piano
Rachmaninoff: preludes, Op. 32
works TBA by Brahms, Liszt
free; ticket reservation required
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 3 (3 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Rennolds Chamber Concerts:
Alexander Malofeev, piano
works TBA by Schubert, Chopin, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff
$35
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Nov. 3 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Baroque and Beyond
Stephanie Vial directing
“Italian à la mode”
works TBA by Vivaldi, Albinoni, Muffat, Camilla di Rossi, Maria Margherita Grimani, J.C.F. Bach, others
free
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Nov. 3 (3 p.m.)
Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Ave., Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
Terrence Wilson, piano
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra
$34-$59
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Nov. 3 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Kennedy Center Chamber Players:
Nurit Bar-Josef & Marissa Regni, violins
Daniel Foster, viola
David Hardy, cello
Leah Arsenault Barrick, flute
Lambert Orkis, piano
Mozart: Flute Quartet in D major, K. 285
Barber: “Dover Beach”
Justin Burgess, baritone
Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 3 (3 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Karen Kamensek conducting
Mary Lou Williams: “Zodiac Suite”
Mikaela Bennett, soprano
Aaron Diehl Trio
Respighi: “Fountains of Rome”
Debussy: “La Mer”
$38-$99
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

7-9 p.m. EDT
2300-0100 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Chopin: “Rondo à la krakowiak” in F major, Op. 14
Jan Lisiecki, piano
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester/Krzysztof Urbański
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Alice Mary Smith: Andante for clarinet & orchestra
Angela Malsbury, clarinet
London Mozart Players/Howard Shelley
(Chandos)

Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Piano Concerto in B minor
Stephen Hough, piano
English Chamber Orchestra/Bryden Thomson
(Chandos)

Rossini: “La scala di seta” (“The Silken Ladder”) Overture
Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Claudio Abbado
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Mendelssohn: Double Concerto in D minor
Isabelle Faust, violin
Kristian Bezuidenhout, fortepiano
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra/Gottfried von der Goltz
(Harmonia Mundi)

Glinka: “Symphony on 2 Russian Themes”
BBC Philharmonic/Vassily Sinaisky
(Chandos)