Letter V

Last week’s show marked round-numbered birth years of composers. On this second round of musical anniversaries, we’ll celebrate compositions introduced 100 years ago: 1924 was quite a year in classical music, when its past and future collided with wildly varied and colorful results.

7-9 p.m. EST
2200-0000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue”
(Ferde Grofé jazz-band orchestration)
Kirill Gerstein, piano
Scott Andrews, clarinet
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra/David Robertson
(Myrios Classics)

Janáček: “Mládí” (“Youth”)
Orsino Ensemble
Peter Sparks, bass clarinet
(Chandos)

Bloch: Concerto grosso No. 1
Francis Grier, piano
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/Neville Marriner
(Warner Classics)

Satie: “Relâche: Cinéma”
Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy/Jérôme Kaltenbach
(Naxos)

Copland: Symphony No. 1 (“Organ Symphony”)
Simon Preston, organ
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin
(RCA)

Respighi: “The Pines of Rome”
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner
(RCA)

Harpist Bridget Kibbey, a prizewinner at the Premiere Prix at the Journées de les Harpes Competition in Arles, France, and recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, will replace the Diderot String Quartet in a Jan. 12 program in Richmond’s Belvedere Series.

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Grove Avenue at Three Chopt Road.

The Diderot withdrew because of a Covid infection.

Kibbey, whose repertory ranges from classical to jazz to world music, has performed with such prominent collaborators as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Dover and Callidore quartets, mandolinist Avi Avital and soprano Dawn Upshaw. Vogue magazine dubbed Kibbey “the Yo-Yo Ma of the harp.”

Her Richmond program includes music by J.S. Bach, Britten, Debussy, Albéniz, Fauré, Paquito d’Rivera, José Barros and some her arrangements.

For ticket information, call (804) 833-1481 or visit http://www.belvedereseries.org

Standard repertory and established artists and ensembles still dominate the field, but performances of music by living composers have increased sharply over the past 10 years, according to Bachtrack, the British website that tabulates performances of classical music and dance worldwide.

The site, which promotes itself as “the largest classical events finder online,” listed 16,336 concerts, 9,271 opera performances and 5,702 dance events last year.

Between 2013 and 2023, Bachtrack reports, the share of performances of contemporary music in classical programs rose from 6 percent to 14 percent worldwide, with especially marked increases in the US (from 7.5 percent to 20 percent), Great Britain (from 6 percent to 15 percent) and The Netherlands (from 5 percent to 16 percent).

“The rise in performances of contemporary music has gone hand in hand with a rise in performances of music by women composers,” the site notes. Four of its 10 most-programmed contemporary composers in 2023 were women. (John Williams topped the living-composer list.)

Performances of early and baroque music have decreased sharply in the US and Britain in the past decade, while remaining steady in European countries. J.S. Bach was the only pre-classical composer among Bachtrack’s top 10 in 2023.

Last year marked the 150th anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s birth, and his music topped Bachtrack’s orchestral-performance chart: The Symphonic Dances was the most performed work; the Piano Concerto No. 3 ranked second, and the Piano Concerto No. 2 was fourth. Other top-10 works include Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony (No. 9), Beethoven’s Third, Fifth and Seventh symphonies, Brahms’ Fourth, Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” (No. 6) and Stravinsky’s “Le sacre du printemps” (“The Rite of Spring”).

The most frequently performed piano concertos, other than the two Rachmaninoffs, were Schumann’s and Beethoven’s Fourth. The top violin concertos were Tchaikovsky’s and Mendelssohn’s. The top cello concerto was Dvořák’s.

In Bachtrack’s listings, the world’s most active orchestras were the Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. Most active performers included conductors Andris Nelsons, Klaus Mäkelä and Paavo Järvi; pianists Kirill Gerstein, Daniil Trifonov and Seong-Jin Cho; violinists Augustin Hadelich, Renaud Capuçon and Joshua Bell; and cellists Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Gautier Capuçon and Nicolas Altstaedt.

Verdi, Puccini and Mozart were the most frequently performed opera composers, accounting for nine of the 10 most-programmed titles (Bizet’s “Carmen” was the tenth). Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” “Swan Lake” and “The Sleeping Beauty” were the three most-staged ballets.

Bachtrack’s summary of performances and programming trends is here:

http://bachtrack.com/classical-music-statistics-2023

(via http://artsjournal.com)

Round-numbered anniversaries are to classical music as confetti is to New Year’s Eve: a decorative but somehow necessary part of the proceedings. So, for the first show of the year, (mostly) characteristic works by composers born 150 and 200 years ago.

7-9 p.m. EST
2200-0000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Holst: “The Perfect Fool” – Ballet
BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Richard Hickox
(Chandos)

Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 2 in E flat minor
Orchestre de Chamber de Lausanne/Heinz Holliger
(Zigzag)

Ives: Symphony No. 3 (“The Camp Meeting”)
Los Angeles Philharmonic/Gustavo Dudamel
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Smetana: Quartet No. 1 in E minor (“From My Life”)
Talich Quartet
(La Dolce Volta)

Bruckner: Te Deum
Maria Stader, soprano
Sieglinde Wagner, contralto
Ernst Haefliger, tenor
Peter Lagger, bass
Wolfgang Meyer, organ
Deutsche Oper Berlin Choir
Berlin Philharmonic/Eugen Jochum
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Josef Suk: “Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale ‘Saint Wenceslas’ ”
Prague Philharmonia/Jakub Hrůša
(Supraphon)

Updated Jan. 6

“Die Dreigoschenoper” (“The Threepenny Opera”) by Kurt Weill and Bertholt Brecht entered the public domain on Jan. 1. The score, published in 1928, is now free to perform, record, adapt, manipulate, what you will, without paying royalties.

Instrumentally or in German, anyway. Singing its most famous tune, “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer,” in English, as “Mack the Knife,” will still cost you. The now-standard translation, by Marc Blitzstein, dates from 1954 and remains under copyright protection.

Two other familiar classical compositions from 1928, George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” and Maurice Ravel’s “Boléro,” weren’t published until the following year, and so will not enter the public domain until 2025.

If you’ve been waiting for a revival of sexual euphemism in song, 2024 could be a banner year. Newly royalty-free words and music include Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love),” “Makin’ Whoopee!” by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn, and several other suggestive numbers.

Copyright protection for recorded music lasts longer, so new arrivals in the public domain date from 1923. By then, the phonograph was becoming an affordable home-entertainment device and records were being produced in quantity. Quite a few recordings from 1923, notably James P. Johnson’s “Charleston,” several tunes played by the young Louis Armstrong with King Oliver’s jazz band, and various versions of “Yes, We Have No Bananas” by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn, are now free for all.

(Electrical recording – in which microphones amplify sound – arrived in 1925, and records began to “sound like music,” as a critic of the time put it. So the public domain will begin to sound better in a couple of years.)

Among books and plays whose texts are now in the public domain: D.H. Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando,” Evelyn Waugh’s “Decline and Fall,” Agatha Christie’s “The Mystery of the Blue Train,” “The Front Page” by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, A.A. Milne’s “House at Pooh Corner,” and Erich Maria Remarque’s “Im Westen nichts Neues” – “All Quiet on the Western Front” in the original German. Also, J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan,” which dates from 1911 but wasn’t copyrighted until 1928.

Latter-day adaptations – translations, musical arrangements and orchestrations, film and television scripts “based on” the originals – are still protected. So are post-1928 adaptations of tunes and texts, such as folk songs, fairy tales and Shakespeare plotlines, that have always been in the public domain.

The most widely noticed creation whose copyright has expired this year is the original Mickey Mouse, the stick-figurey, black-and-white character from Walt Disney’s 1928 animation “Steamboat Willie.” Later, more fleshed-out, in-color and fully clothed incarnations of the iconic rodent are still protected.

A roundup of works newly out from under copyright by Jennifer Jenkins of Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain:

http://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2024/

NOTE: All of the above are copyright expirations under US law. Copyright provisions differ in other countries. Like most legal matters involving money, intellectual-property law is complicated.

UPDATE: Another sampler of works whose copyrights have expired in the new year, from the UK’s Public Domain Review:

http://publicdomainreview.org/blog/2024/01/public-domain-day-2024/

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.

Jan. 7 (3 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
James Conlon conducting
Mozart: Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488
Yulianna Avdeeva, piano
Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551 (“Jupiter”)
$35-$95
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Jan. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
PostClassical Ensemble
Angel Gil-Ordóñez conducting
Annie Jacobs-Perkins, cello
Katerina Burton, soprano
CAAPA Chorale
André Leonard, piano
Jeffrey Mumford, composer & curator
“Amazing Grace: In Paradisum”
Mumford: Cello Concerto
works TBA by Mahler, Margaret Bonds, George Walker, Luciano Berio
$45-$55
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 11 (7 p.m.)
Jan. 12 (11:30 a.m.)
Jan. 13 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Wagner: “The Ring without Words” (Lorin Maazel compilation)
$15-$112
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 11 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Pops
Lucas Waldin conducting
Capathia Jenkins, vocalist
“She’s Got Soul”
$35-$95
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Jan. 12 (7 p.m.)
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Grove Avenue at Three Chopt Road, Richmond
Belvedere Series:
Bridget Kibbey, harp
works TBA by J.S. Bach, Britten, Debussy, Albéniz, Fauré, Paquito d’Rivera, José Barros; arrangements by Kibbey
$30
(804) 833-1481
http://belvedereseries.org

Jan. 12 (8 p.m.)
Jan. 13 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Henry Panion III conducting
Desirée Roots, vocalist
gospel choirs TBA
“A Tribute to Richard Smallwood”
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 12 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Goldmund Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in D minor, Op. 76, No. 2 (“Quinten”)
Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D major
Schumann: Quartet in A major, Op. 41, No. 3
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/

Jan. 13 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First & Franklin streets
Thomas Pandolfi, piano
program TBA
free
(804) 646-7223
http://rvalibrary.org/gellman-room-concerts

Jan. 14 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Henry Panion III conducting
“Celebrate MLK”
John Stafford Smith & Francis Scott Key: “The Star Spangled Banner”
J. Rosamund Johnson: “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”
Adolphus Hailstork: “3 Spirituals for Orchestra” – III: “Oh, Freedom”
Panion: “Dreams of Hope” for violin & orchestra
violinist TBA
Panion: “African-American Spirituals Suite”
Panion: “Fanfare & Elegy”
Margaret Bond: “March from Montgomery Variations”
Samuel Ward & Katherine Bates: “America the Beautiful”
trad.: “We Shall Overcome” (Roy Ringwald arrangement)
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 14 (7 p.m.)
Second Calvary Baptist Church, 2940 Corprew Ave., Norfolk
Jan. 21 (4 p.m.)
I.C. Norcom High School, 1801 London Boulevard, Portsmouth
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Everett McCorvey conducting
Summer Littles, violin
Alicia Russell Tagert, soprano
Amandla Quartet, vocals
Patrick Riddick & D’vyne Worship, choir
“A Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.”
program TBA
free; registration recommended
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Jan. 14 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Kennedy Center Chamber Players:
Nurit Bar-Josef, Natasha Bogachek, Ricardo Cyncynates & Jane Bowyer Stewart, violins
Daniel Foster, viola
David Hardy & David Teie, cellos
Richard Barber, double-bass
Paul Cigan, clarinet
Erin Dowrey, percussion
Lambert Orkis, piano
Kodály: Serenade, Op. 12, for 2 violins & viola
Bartók: “Contrasts” for clarinet, violin & piano
Jessica Mays: “Anthem for GO”
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57
$39
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 15 (7 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Alexandru Tomescu, violin
Sînziana Mircea, piano
“Remember Enescu: Musical Jewels”
Massenet: “Thaïs” – “Méditation”
Fritz Kreisler: “Schön Rosmarin”
Kreisler: “Caprice Viennois”
Enescu: Ballade
Enescu: “Lăutarul” (“The Fiddler”)
Enescu: “Hora Unirii” (“Union Dance”)
Constantin Dimitrescu: “Dans țărănesc” (“Romanian Peasant Dance”)
Paganini: “Centone di sonate,” Op. 64 – Sonata No. 1 in A minor for violin & guitar (violin & piano transcription)
Saint-Saëns: “Introduction and Rondo capriccioso”
free; reservation recommended
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 18 (7 p.m.)
Jan. 20 (8 p.m.)
Jan. 21 (3 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Ethel Smyth: “The Wreckers” Overture
Dvořák: Violin Concerto in A minor
Gil Shaham, violin
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C major (“Great”)
$15-$112
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 18 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Jun Märkl conducting
Gabriela Lena Frank: “Concertino Cusqueño”
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622
YaoGuang Zhai, clarinet
Messiaen: “Le Tombeau resplendissant”
Richard Strauss: “Death and Transfiguration”
$35-$95
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Jan. 19 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Jan. 20 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Eric Jacobsen conducting & speaking
“Tchaikovsky 6: the Story Behind the Music”
Curtis Stewart, Andrew Roitstein & Hamilton Berry: “Negro Melodies for Orchestra” (selections)
Curtis Stewart, violin
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique”)
$10-$119
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Jan. 19 (7 & 9 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Washington National Opera Orchestra
David Bloom conducting
American Opera Initiative:
Laura Jobin-Acosta & José Alba Rodríguez: “A Way Forward” (premiere)
Kresley Figueroa (Julia)
Winona Martin (Helena)
Sergio Martínez (Gabriel)
Elizabeth Gartman & Melisa Tien: “Forever” (premiere)
Teresa Perrotta (PFAS 1)
Cecelia McKinley (Tardigrade)
Sahel Salam (PFAS 2)
Joy Redmond & Sam Norman: “Hairpiece” (premiere)
Tiffany Choe (Esther)
Jonathan Pierce Rhodes (Ari)
Justin Burgess (Gale)
Chloe Treat, stage director
in English
$19-$35
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 20 (8 p.m.)
Jan. 21 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Damien Geter: “Sinfonia Americana” (premiere)
Feruccio Busoni: Violin Concerto in D major
Francesca Dego, violin
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 20 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
John Mayhood & Shelby Sender, pianos
Adam Carter, cello
Kelly Sulick, flute
Brandon West & Brian Smith, percussion
“George Crumb – a Celebration”
Crumb: “Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale)”
Crumb: Sonata for solo cello – I: Fantasia
Crumb: “An Idyll for the Misbegotten”
Crumb: “Music for a Summer Evening”
free
(434) 924-3052
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Jan. 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Liz Callaway, vocalist
pianist TBA
“To Steve with Love”
songs TBA by Stephen Sondheim
$59-$109
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 21 (7 p.m.)
Brambly Park Winery, 1708 Belleville St., Richmond
Classical Revolution RVA:
artists TBA
program TBA
donation requested
(804) 406-5611 (Brambly Park Winery)
http://classicalrevolutionrva.com/events

Jan. 24 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Vocal Arts DC:
Raehann Bryce-Davis, mezzo-soprano
Jeanne-Minette Cilliers, piano
works TBA by Wagner, Amy Beach, Melissa Dunphy, Maria Thompson Corley, Peter Ashbourne
$50
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 25 (7 p.m.)
Jan. 26 (8 p.m.)
Jan. 27 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Carlos Simon: “Wake Up!” (Concerto for Orchestra)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major
Seong-Jin Cho, piano
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D minor
$15-$112
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts:
Takács Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in B flat major, Op. 76, No. 4 (“Sunrise”)
Bartók: Quartet No. 3
Schubert: Quartet in G major, D. 887
sold out; waiting list
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Allen Bean, organ
Hermann Schroeder: “Kleine Präludien und Intermezzi,” Op. 9
J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 547
Frank Bridge: “Six Organ Pieces” – I: Allegretto grazioso; V: Andantino
William Mathias: “Processional”
Arvo Pärt: “Pari Intervallo”
Simon Preston: “Alleluyas”
free; tickets required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org/concerts

Jan. 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Perkinson Arts Center, 11810 Centre St., Chester
Jan. 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 6010 Fergusson Road, Richmond
Jan. 28 (3 p.m.)
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Vivaldi: “The Four Seasons” – “Summer,” “Autumn”
Astor Piazzolla: “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” – “Winter,” “Spring”
Keila Wakao, violin
$30-$50
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Jan. 28 (2:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Opera
Everett McCorvey conducting
Paul Moravec & Mark Campbell: “Sanctuary Road”
Damien Geter (William Still)
Laquita Mitchell, soprano
Tesia Kwarteng, mezzo-soprano
Terrence Chin-Loy, tenor
Adam Richardson, baritone
Kimille Howard, stage director
in English, English captions
$15.45-$90.91
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Jan. 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverley St., Staunton
Jan. 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 7599 Rockfish Gap, Greenwood
Jan. 28 (4 p.m.)
Grace Episcopal Church, 5607 Gordonsville Road, Keswick
Three Notch’d Road:
Dominic Giardino, clarinet
Aisslinn Nosky & Fiona Hughes, violins
Natalie Kress, viola
Benjamin Wyatt, cello
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581
Haydn: quartet TBA
$30 (Keswick concert sold out)
(434) 409-3424
http://tnrbaroque.org

Jan. 27 (3 p.m.)
Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 8 N. Laurel St., Richmond
Abigail Stinnett, Sarah Kate Walston, & Caroline Whisnant, sopranos
Daniel Stipe, pianist
program TBA
free
(804) 359-5628
http://ghtc.org

Jan. 27 (4 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Hamid Rahmanian, playwright & puppeteer
Loga Ramin Torkian & Rahmanian: “Song of the North”
$29-$48
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Jan. 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Pops
Anthony Parnther conducting
“Back to the Future,” film with live orchestral accompaniment
$18-$75
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Jan. 28 (2 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Royal Philharmonic
Vasily Petrenko conducting
Debussy: Danse (Maurice Ravel orchestration)
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major
Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano
Rimsky-Korsakov: “Scheherazade”
$55-$90
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Jan. 30 (8 p.m.)
Jan. 31 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Andy Einhorn conducting
Audra McDonald, vocalist
Broadway, contemporary songs TBA
$49-$119 (Jan. 30 sold out; waiting list)
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 31 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Magdalena Adamek, Eri Nakamura & Dimitrije Vasilievic, pianos
works TBA by Chopin, Ravel, others; jazz works TBA
free
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Jan. 31 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Richard Becker, piano
Schubert: “6 Moments musicaux,” D. 780
Brahms: Intermezzo in A minor, Op. 118, No. 1
Brahms: Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118, No. 2
Brahms: Intermezzo in B flat minor, Op. 117, No. 2
Chopin: Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60
Becker: Variations (2024)
free; registration required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Feb. 1 (7 p.m.)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 6010 Fergusson Road, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Richard Robbins directing
Mendelssohn: “How Lovely Are the Messengers”
Randall Thompson: “Choose Something like a Star”
Bruckner: “Locus Iste”
Brittney E. Boykin: “John 3:16”
free
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Williamsburg Community Chapel, 3899 John Tyler Highway
Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra
Michael Butterman conducting
Ravel: “Le Tombeau de Couperin”
Vivaldi: Concerto in C major, RV 537, for 2 trumpets
Brian Strawley & Luis Engelke, trumpets
Viet Cuong: “Extra(ordinarily) Fancy: Concerto for 2 Oboes”
Shawn Welk & Victoria Hamrick, oboes
J.S. Bach: Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043, for 2 violins
Akemi Takayama & Alana Carithers, violins
Bloch: Concerto grosso No. 1
$65
(757) 229-9857
http://williamsburgsymphony.org

Feb. 3 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First & Franklin streets
Virginia State University Concert Choir
Craig L. Robertson directing
program TBA
free
(804) 646-7223
http://rvalibrary.org/gellman-room-concerts

Feb. 3 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Pops
Steve Hackman conducting
Hackman: “Notorious Big x Tupac x Mahler: The Resurrection Mixtape”
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Feb. 4 (2 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Virginia Opera
Everett McCorvey conducting
Paul Moravec & Mark Campbell: “Sanctuary Road”
Damien Geter (William Still)
Laquita Mitchell, soprano
Tesia Kwarteng, mezzo-soprano
Terrence Chin-Loy, tenor
Adam Richardson, baritone
Kimille Howard, stage director
in English, English captions
$45-$115
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Feb. 3 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Wayne Marshall conducting
Copland: “Music for the Theatre”
Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue”
Wayne Marshall, piano
Bernstein: “On the Town: 3 Dance Episodes”
Ellington: “Harlem”
$35-$95
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Feb. 4 (3 p.m.)
Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen, 2880 Mountain Road, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
conductor TBA
Shannon Gibson Brown, vocalist
“The Music of Patsy Cline”
sold out; waiting list
(804) 261-6208
http://richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 4 (3 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Paul Hanson, piano
Schoenberg: piano works (complete), lecture-recital
free; registration required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Feb. 6 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Young Concert Artists:
Joseph Parrish, bass-baritone
Children of the Gospel Choir
Alistair Coleman: new work TBA (premiere)
German Lieder, Russian art-songs, spirituals TBA
$35-$60
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Transplanting a fine old Central European tradition: A New Year’s Eve performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – here, the legendary 1958 recording by the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Ferenc Fricsay – along with another work from Beethoven’s last years, “The Consecration of the House” Overture, and another choral symphony in all but name, Joseph Haydn’s “Nelson Mass,” which in some respects pre-echoes the Ninth.

7-9 p.m. EST
2200-0000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Beethoven: “The Consecration of the House” Overture
Swedish Chamber Orchestra Örebro/Thomas Dausgaard
(Simax Classics)

Haydn: Mass in D minor (“Nelson Mass”)
Susan Gritton, soprano
Pamela Helen Stephen, mezzo-soprano
Mark Padmore, tenor
Stephen Varcoe, baritone
Collegium Musicum 90/Richard Hickox
(Chandos)

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor (“Choral”)
Irmgard Seefried, soprano
Maureen Forrester, mezzo-soprano
Ernst Haefliger, tenor
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
Choir of St. Hedwig Cathedral, Berlin
Berlin Philharmonic/Ferenc Fricsay
(Deutsche Grammophon)

“Give Good Gifts” is Letter V’s traditional Christmas Eve offering. This 19th-century Shaker hymn is not a Christmas carol per se, but a song for all seasons and spiritual inclinations. Its admonition, “peace, joy and comfort, gladly bestow,” is always timely, especially so in times of anxiety and conflict.

The performers are the Pro Arte Singers, led by Paul Hillier. If you’d like to sing along, the lyrics are below the link:

Give good gifts, one to another,
Peace, joy and comfort, gladly bestow;
Harbor no ill ’gainst sister or brother,
Smoothe life’s journey as you onward go.

Broad as the sunshine, free as the showers,
So shed an influence blessing to prove;
Give for the noblest of efforts your powers,
Blest and be blest, is the law of love.

“If someone asks for a recommendation – for the holidays, or for music in New York in general,” writes Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times’ music critic, “my answer is the same as it’s been for years: Trinity’s ‘Messiah.’ ”

Here it is:

On the classical website Slipped Disc, Christopher Morley, longtime music critic of Britain’s Birmingham Post, takes several big bites out of a new mission statement by the management of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, aiming to make the concertgoing experience more inclusive, immersive . . . and other trendy I-words.

The mission will be put into practice with innovations (another I-word!) such as “theatrical and creative techniques including lighting, movement, staging, live video mix and elements of movement, to allow audiences to use their eyes as well as their ears” – i.e., turning a listening experience into a stage show.

This, plus wear-what-you-like, applaud-when-you-choose, and other do-your-own-things that Morley characterizes as “removal of any perceived ‘rules’ of a traditional concert,” are efforts to make the orchestra attractive to those who feel constrained or alienated by hoary symphony-hall decorum, or aren’t into classical music unless it’s in a film soundtrack or otherwise visually enhanced.

Ditching decorum and adding visual stimulation, it’s thought, will entice non-traditional or under-served music consumers – especially younger people.

Regarding the pursuit of younger customers, Morley offers a reality check: “Audiences evolve as their life evolves. We go to concerts as students, then we marry and raise families, and those exigencies prevent us from attending concerts. As we get older, and family and financial responsibilities get easier, then we return to the concert hall. That is how it works.”

Brum’s best critic deconstructs CBSO’s new concept

There is much to be said about updating old standards of classical concert etiquette and rethinking programming. Most of it has been said already, repeatedly, here and elsewhere. Rather than revisiting issues such as the lack of music education, the relegation of music to background sound (“wallpaper”), the fossilization of classical music into Mozart-to-Rachmaninoff amber, etc., let’s do a few more reality checks:

– Classical music is not for everybody. Neither are NASCAR, kimchi, knitting or golf. What stimulates, satisfies or spiritually enriches me may not do it for you. I-be-me, you-be-you is how we thrive in a free, pluralistic society.

– While classical music is considered “elite” entertainment, the economy didn’t get that memo. Symphony and opera tickets are no more expensive – often cheaper – than those for “popular” attractions such as superstar arena shows and professional sports. Compare costs for lodging, food and entertainment in an artsy destination like Santa Fe or Tanglewood vs. a Disney theme park.

– Classical and other instrumental musics are abstract, internalized art forms. The action, atmosphere and emotions exist in our minds and hearts by way of our ears. There is, or should be, not much to see in a performance. Added visual or narrative elements impose someone else’s conception of what the music is about, and make it a garnish instead of a meal. Besides, we already have music-and-more art forms: opera and musicals, ballet, film, TV and video-game soundtracks.

– People who weren’t schooled in classical music, or didn’t connect with it at a formative age, are going to be a hard sell, regardless of what musicians and presenters do to appeal to them. There are ways, usually involving places – parks, brew pubs, art galleries – to make music-as-music attractive without remaking it as theater.

– Young people are sampling classical music, in their own ways. I do a show at a college radio station. I’ve long since gotten over being surprised to hear student broadcasters programming Steve Reich, Arvo Pärt or Hildegard of Bingen (or Indonesian gamelan or Mongolian throat-singing) alongside alt-rock. On YouTube, you can find metalheads and hip-hoppers extolling Bruckner and Stravinsky. The proliferation and accessibility of music media and the range of music that they offer, coupled with youthful craving for the new and different, are addressing classical music’s youth issue, however haphazardly. (Will they all become highbrows? See “classical music is not for everybody.”)

– Forty-somethings who dress like teen-agers invite ridicule. So, usually, do attempts by 40- or 50-something classical musicians to devise programs for the young and hip.

– Endemic diseases and bad habits notwithstanding, people are living longer, and elders are staying mobile and sentient enough to go out at increasingly advanced ages. Before hyperventilating over a statistic showing your audience growing older, consider that patrons in their 50s may still be buying tickets 30 years from now. In classical music, alienating the old in pursuit of the young is a losing proposition.