Letter V

Lovers struggling to prevail over those who would thwart them is a familiar trope of opera. So is the struggle against oppression. Both inform “Loving v. Virginia,” an opera by composer Damien Geter and librettist Jessica Murphy Moo receiving its premiere this weekend by Virginia Opera.

The opera, the finale of the company’s 50th-anniversary season, will be staged at 7:30 p.m. April 25 and 2:30 p.m. April 27 at Harrison Opera House in Norfolk; 7:30 p.m. May 3 and 2 p.m. May 4 at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax; and 7:30 p.m. May 9 and 10 and 2:30 p.m. May 11 at the Carpenter Theatre of Dominion Energy Center in Richmond.

The production, conducted by Adam Turner, is directed by the celebrated mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. For ticket information, call the Virginia Opera box office at (866) 673-7282 or visit http://vaopera.org/events

The opera, commissioned by Virginia Opera and the Richmond Symphony, where Geter has been composer-in-residence since 2022, is based on the trial and eventual triumph of Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple – he was White, she was of mixed race, at times identified as American Indian, at times as Black – who married in 1958, and were soon arrested for violating Virginia’s anti-miscegenation law. Convicted in 1959, they avoided imprisonment by agreeing to leave the state and not return.

The Lovings appealed, and their conviction was overturned by the US Supreme Court in a 1967 ruling that laws against interracial marriage, which had been in force in much of the country, violated the equal protection clause of the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

After the decision, the couple returned to their hometown, Central Point, a rural community in Caroline County between Richmond and Washington. Richard Loving was killed in an auto accident in 1975 that left his wife blinded in one eye.

In 2007, a year before her death, Mildred Loving said: “I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.”

June 12, the day of Supreme Court ruling, is widely known as Loving Day, celebrating interracial marriages.

Geter, a native of Chesterfield County and alumnus of Old Dominion University and Indiana State University, knows opera from both creative and re-creative angles. His compositions include two previous operas, “American Apollo” and “Delta King’s Blues,” as well as a number of other vocal, orchestral and chamber works. As a bass-baritone, he has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre and Portland Opera, where he serves as interim music director and artistic advisor.

Geter’s works draw extensively from African-American music tradition and often address the Black experience. “American Apollo,” introduced in 2023, was based on the life of Thomas Eugene Keller, a Black hotel worker who was a model for the painter John Singer Sargent. “An African American Requiem” (2019) was a setting of the Latin Requiem Mass incorporating Negro spirituals and declarations against violence toward Blacks. Among his other works are “THE TALK: Instructions for Black Children When They Interact with the Police” for chorus and the song cycle “1619” (the year when Africans arrived for servitude in Colonial Virginia). He envisions writing a piece based on Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man.”

Describing his compositional style as “definitely not on the atonal side,” Geter seeks “to make music for people to feel. A lot of my music sets up a groove” as a grounding element, aiming to let audiences “listen to a piece and forget where they are.”

More from Geter and an excerpt from “Loving v. Virginia:”

http://www.damiengetermusic.com/loving-vs-virginia

10 a.m.-noon EDT
1500-1700 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Handel: “Solomon” –
“Swell, swell the full chorus”
“May no rash intruder” (“Nightingale Chorus”)
“From the censer curling rise”
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists/John Eliot Gardiner
(Decca)

William Boyce: “Solomon” – “Softly rise, O southern breeze!”
Ian Bostridge, tenor
vocal ensemble
The English Concert/Bernard Labadie
(Warner Classics)

John Marsh: Symphony No. 10 in E flat major
(“Conversation Symphony for 2 Orchestras”)
London Mozart Players/Matthias Bamert
(Chandos)

Haydn: “Die Jahreszeiten” (“The Seasons”) – “Der Frühling” (“Spring”)
Christina Landshamer, soprano
Maximilian Schmitt, tenor
Florian Boesch, baritone
Collegium Vocale Gent
Orchestre des Champs-Élysées/Philippe Herreweghe
(PHI)

Paul Dukas: Villanelle
Richard Watkins, French horn
Julius Drake, piano
(Signum Classics)

Joaquín Rodrigo: “Fantasia para un gentilhombre”
Miloš Karadaglić, guitar
London Philharmonic/Yannick Nézet-Séguin
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Ravel: “Le Tombeau de Couperin”
(Kenneth Hesketh orchestration of Fugue & Toccata)
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic/Sakari Oramo
(BIS)

After 54 years of reviewing live performances, I’m calling it quits. For two reasons:

– Health: For several years, I’ve been coping with inflammatory ailments. I’m prescribed drugs that suppress my immune system, making me more vulnerable to infectious diseases. Attending public events is potentially hazardous. Until recently, I reviewed Richmond Symphony concerts from video streams posted about a week after the performances, but I’ve had to skip other events. That gives the reader tardy assessments of one set of concerts, and none of other classical performances in the Richmond area – a warped view of what goes on here.

– Recycling: Good for the environment, bad for concert reviewing. Classical ensembles and presenters, especially the larger ones, necessarily concentrate on standard-repertory works; that’s what sells concert tickets. I’m running out of original things to say about music that I’ve heard over and over for decades, and I don’t think that repeating myself is a good use of time, either for me or for readers.

---

So where does Letter V go from here?

I’ll continue to post the monthly events calendar, to cover news from this region’s classical-music scene, and to link to news articles and essays about classical music that I consider important or insightful.

When I hear an interesting new piece of music, an interesting take on a familiar piece, or an under-appreciated artist, composer or work worth getting to know, I may write about that subject.

I keep threatening to review recordings, and I may finally do so. Stay tuned.

I’ll also continue to present Letter V Classical Radio on WDCE, the University of Richmond’s radio station, for as long as I’m able and the station is willing to broadcast the show.

Health permitting, I’ll return to concertgoing, but as a “civilian” – a listener, not a public commentator. Live music-making is the finest kind, and I was very lucky to make a living writing about performances and the artists giving them. Now I look forward to going to concerts for enjoyment and enrichment, not for work.

The US composer Alvin Lucier, who died in 2021, continues to make music, after a fashion. An Australian foursome – three artists and a neuroscientist – have “revivified” Lucier’s brain, whose neural signals are being translated into sounds.

Lucier, a prominent experimental composer, donated blood to the project a year before his death. “[H]is white blood cells were reprogrammed into stem cells. . . . The team transformed the cells into cerebral organoids – clusters of neurons that mimic the human brain,” Rosamund Brennan reports in The Guardian.

“Lucier’s organoids were grown on to a fine mesh of 64 electrodes . . . allowing neural signals to be captured from multiple layers – much like a developing brain.” Matt Gingold, one of the artists on the project, “then adapted an open-source platform to interpret this activity and generate sound, turning the artificial brain into a live, responsive performer.”

In a demonstration of the project, Brennan heard “a fractured symphony of rattles, hums and warbles [that] bounces off the walls . . . filling the space with a kind of breathless, disembodied soundtrack.”

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/apr/09/alvin-lucier-dead-composer-making-music-ai-artificial-intelligence-brain

(via http://artsjournal.com)

I’m old enough to remember “The Outer Limits,” the early ’60s show that may be the creepiest in television history. One especially memorable episode, “The Brain of Colonel Barham,” starred a disembodied brain, growing ever larger and more commanding, seething with murderous intentions.

Lucier’s cerebral organoids are more gainfully employed. So far.

Keyboards galore – harpsichord, tangent piano, fortepiano and modern piano, in music ranging from Haydn and Beethoven to Poulenc and Martinů.

10 a.m.-noon EDT
1400-1600 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Beethoven: Sonata in C major, Op. 53 (“Waldstein”)
Ronald Brautigam, fortepiano
(BIS)

Haydn: Symphony No. 94 in G major (“Surprise”)
(Johann Peter Salomon arrangement)
Simon Standage & Monica Huggett, violins
Jan Schlapp, viola
Anthony Pleeth, cello
Stephen Preston, flute
Christopher Hogwood, fortepiano
(Decca Eloquence)

C.P.E. Bach: Fantasia in F sharp minor, Wq. 67
Alexander Melnikov, tangent piano
(Harmonia Mundi)

Poulenc: “Concert champêtre”
Zuzana Růžičková, harpsichord
Czech Philharmonic/Kurt Sanderling
(Supraphon)

Bohuslav Martinů: Piano Concerto No. 4 (“Incantation”)
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
New York Philharmonic/Xian Zhang
(New York Philharmonic)

Jean Françaix: Piano Concertino in G major
Claude Françaix, piano
London Symphony Orchestra/Antal Doráti
(Mercury Living Presence)

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 do not include service fees.

April 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Les Arts Florissants
Paul Agnew directing
Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin
“Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ at 300”
Vivaldi: “The Four Seasons”
Monteverdi: “Adoramus te” (instrumental transcription)
Vivaldi: “Madrigalesco” Concerto, RV 129
Marco Uccellini: “La Bergamasca”
Vivaldi: Concerto in D minor, RV 813
Francesco Geminiani: Concerto No. 12 in D minor (“Follia”) (after Corelli)
Vivaldi: “La Fida Ninfa” (“The Faithful Nymph”) Overture
Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in B flat major, RV 370 – II: Grave
$12-$35
(434) 924-3376 (UVa Arts box office)
http://tecs.org

April 2 (4:30 p.m.)
Tower Entrace (Patio), Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Community drum circle
Third Coast Percussion
program TBA
free
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.com

April 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Les Arts Florissants
Paul Agnew directing
Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin
“Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ at 300”
Vivaldi: “The Four Seasons”
Claudio Monteverdi: “Adoramus te” (instrumental transcription)
Vivaldi: “Madrigalesco” Concerto, RV 129
Marco Uccellini: “La Bergamasca”
Vivaldi: Concerto in D minor, RV 813
Francesco Geminiani: Concerto No. 12 in D minor (“Follia”) (after Corelli)
Vivaldi: “La Fida Ninfa” (“The Faithful Nymph”) Overture
Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in B flat major, RV 370 – II: Grave
$25-$65
(540) 231-5300
http://artscenter.vt.edu/performances.html

April 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Perkinson Arts Center, 11810 Centre St., Chester
April 5 (7:30 p.m.)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 6010 Fergusson Road, Richmond
April 6 (3 p.m.)
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland
Richmond Symphony
Hae Lee conducting
Haydn: Violin Concerto No. 1 in C major
Jeanette Jang, violin
Shawn Okpebholo: “Zoom!”
Haydn: Symphony No. 103 in E flat major (“Drumroll”)
$30 (Chester, Ashland); $50 (Richmond)
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

April 3 (7 p.m.)
April 5 (8 p.m.)
April 6 (3 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Fabio Biondi conducting
Schumann: “Julius Caesar” Overture
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503
Mao Fujita, piano
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A major (“Italian”)
$17-$133
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

April 4 (7:30 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River & Ridge roads, Richmond
Daniel Stipe, piano & organ
Liszt: works TBA
free; tickets required
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org

April 4 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Chamber Singers
Michael Slon directing
program TBA
$15
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

April 4 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Pops
Jack Everly conducting
Tony DeSare, vocalist
Bria Skonberg, trumpet & vocalist
John Manzari, tap dancer & vocalist
“Let’s Misbehave: the Songs of Cole Porter”
$38-$99
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

April 5 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First & Franklin streets
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Adrian Pintea, violin
Jordan Bak, viola
James Wilson, cello
Kelly Ali, double-bass
David Lemelin, clarinet
Alexander Davis, bassoon
David Byrd-Marrow, French horn
Beethoven: Septet in E flat major, Op. 20
Antonio Garcia: “Exordium”
free; registration via http://www.eventbrite.com/e/opus-20-party-of-7-tickets-926597346607?aff=oddtdtcreator
(804) 646-7223
http://cmscva.org

April 5 (4 p.m.)
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Ninth & Grace streets, Richmond
Vox Concordia
Richmond Allied Voices Treble Choir
Greater Richmond Chorus
Orchard House Middle School Chorus
“Generations: a Concert Celebrating Treble Choirs”
program TBA
free
(804) 643-3589
http://stpaulsrva.org

April 5 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Percussion Ensemble
I-Jen Fang directing
works TBA by Molly Joyce, Cameron Church
$10
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

April 6 (3 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Rennolds Chamber Concerts:
Harlem Quartet
Beethoven: Quartet in A major, Op. 18, No. 5
Guido López-Gavilán: “Cuarteto en Guaguanco”
Caroline Shaw: Entr’acte
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: Quartet in E flat major
$35
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

April 6 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Chamber Music Series:
Kelly Peral, oboe
Adam Carter, cello
Jeremy Thompson, piano
Chen Yi: “Mountain Song”
Philippe Hersant: “Shehnai”
Robert Kahn: Serenade in F minor, Op. 73
Pierre Sancan: Sonatine for oboe & piano
Reena Esmail: “Jhula Jhule”
Jeffrey Scott: “Of Good and Evil” – III: “Fly with the Orishas”
$15
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu

April 6 (3 p.m.)
Berglund Performing Arts Theatre, Orange Avenue at Williamson Road, Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Orff: “Carmina burana”
Penelope Schumate, soprano
Jeffrey Springer, tenor
Kevin McMillan, bass
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra Chorus
other choruses TBA
$34-$59
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

April 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Kaufman Theater, Chrysler Museum of Art, 1 Memorial Place, Norfolk
Feldman Chamber Music Society:
Ariel Quartet
Hugo Wolf: “Italian Serenade”
Ravel: Quartet in F major
Schubert: Quartet in D minor, D. 810 (“Death and the Maiden”)
$40
(757) 552-1630
http://feldmanchambermusic.org

April 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg:
Ariel Quartet
Hugo Wolf: “Italian Serenade”
Ravel: Quartet in F major
Schubert: Quartet in D minor, D. 810 (“Death and the Maiden”)
sold out; waiting list
(757) 741-3300
http://chambermusicwilliamsburg.org

April 8 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Lambert Orkis, piano
Mozart: Violin Sonata in G major, K. 301
Schubert: Fantasy in C major, D. 934
Aftab Darvishi: “Likoo”
Fritz Kreisler: works TBA
Respighi: Violin Sonata in B minor
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/

April 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Commonwealth Singers
VCU Choral Arts Society
Vox Concordia
Alexandria City High School Choir
Theodore Thorpe directing
“Belonging: a Choral Celebration of Community”
program TBA
$12
(804) 828-1169
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

April 10 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Danielle Wiebe-Burke, viola
Sam Suggs, double-bass
Shelby Sender, piano
Heinrich Biber: “Mystery Sonata” IX: “The Carrying of the Cross”
Beethoven: “An die ferne Geliebte” (Wiebe-Burke arrangement)
John Dowland: “Flow My Tears” (Wiebe-Burke arrangement)
Dowland: “If My Complaints Could Passions Move” (Wiebe-Burke arrangement)
Britten: “Lachrymae: Reflections on a Song by John Dowland”
Judith Shatin: “Penelope’s Song” for amplifiede viola & electronics
Derrick Skye: “Hum”
Caroline Shaw: “In manus tuas”
Garth Knox: “Three Weddings and a Fight”
free
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

April 10 (7 p.m.)
April 11 (11:30 a.m.)
April 12 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Karina Canellakis conducting
Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor
Alban Gerhardt, cello
Wagner: “Tristan und Isolde” – Prelude & “Liebestod”
Scriabin: “The Poem of Ecstasy”
$17-$133
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

April 11 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU University Band
Philip Duane Coston directing
“Journey”
Kevin Day: “Rocketship”
James Swearingen: “Aventura”
Tom Davoran: “Belonging”
Hoagy Carmichael: “Georgia on My Mind”
Sam Hazo: “A Zillion Nickels”
$12
(804) 828-1169
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

April 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Simone Dinnerstein, piano
Rameau: “Gavotte et Six Doubles”
Philip Lasser: “12 Variations on a Chorale by J.S. Bach”
J.S. Bach: 15 3-part inventions (sinfonias) BWV 787-801
Keith Jarrett: “Encore from Tokyo”
$20-$60
masterclass, 6 p.m. April 8, Perkinson Recital Hall, North Court
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

April 11 (11 a.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Eric Jacobsen conducting
Berlioz: “Symphonie fantastique”
$15-$119
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

April 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
April 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Eric Jacobsen conducting
Anna Clyne: “This Moment”
John Adams: “Harmonium”
Virginia Symphony Chorus
Berlioz: “Symphonie fantastique”
$15-$119
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

April 11 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Baroque Orchestra
David Sariti, violin & direction
works TBA by Telemann, J.S. Bach, W.F. Bach, Charles Avison, others
$10
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

April 11 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Jennifer Koh, violin
Thomas Sauer, piano
Del Sol String Quartet
Ravel: Violin Sonata in G major
Tania Léon: “Anima”
Léon: new work TBA
Reena Esmail: “Zeher”
Ben Johnston: Quartet No. 4 (“Amazing Grace”)
Léon: “Esencia para cuarteto de cuerdas”
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/

April 12 (7 p.m.)
April 13 (3:30 p.m.)
Marburg House, 3102 Bute Lane, Richmond
Belvedere Series:
Domenic Salerni, violin
Jonathan Ruck, cello
Sam Suggs, double-bass
Jay Shankar, clarinet
Ingrid Keller, piano
Kati Agócs: “Queen of Hearts”
Suggs: “the beehive”
Messiaen: “Quatuor pour la fin du temps” (“Quartet for the End of Time”)
sold out; waiting list (April 12)
$45 (April 13)
(804) 833-1481
http://belvedereseries.org

April 12 (8 p.m.)
April 13 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Anna Clyne: “Masquerade”
Rachmaninoff: “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini”
Stewart Goodyear, piano
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major (“Pastoral”)
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

April 13 (3 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Schola Cantorum
Jeffrey Riehl directing
Craig Hella Johnson: “Considering Matthew Shepard”
other works TBA
free; tickets required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

April 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Wind Ensemble
Brianna Gatch directing
program TBA
free; tickets required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

April 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Mozart: Sonata in F major, K. 332
Schumann: “Arabesque,” Op. 18
Debussy: “Images,” Book 2
Tchaikovsky: Sonata in G major, Op. 37 (“Grand Sonata”)
$92-$149.50
(202) 785-9727
http://washingtonperformingarts.org

April 15 (7:30 p.m.)
Hixon Theater, Barr Education Center, 440 Bank St., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Jessie Montgomery, violin & composer
Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players
Montgomery: Study No. 1
Montgomery: Concerto grosso
Jorge Amado Molina: “Ajiaco y Simbolos”
Molina: “Cuarteto de Cuerdas” – VI: “Carnavelesco”
$25
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

April 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Norfolk Academy, 1585 Wesleyan Drive
Virginia Arts Festival:
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
Tidewater Guitar Orchestra members
program TBA
$35
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

April 17 (6:30 p.m.)
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Overbrook Road at Ownby Lane, Richmond
Richmond Symphony members
Stefan Boleslaw Poradowski: Trio for double-basses
Florence Price: “Five Folk Songs”
Carlos Gardel: “Por una Cabeza”
August Klughardt: Quintet, Op. 79
trad.: “Go Tell It on the Mountain”
$30-$40
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

April 17 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
Gabriela Ortiz: “Antrópolis”
Gabriela Montero: Piano Concerto No. 1 (“Latin”)
Gabriela Montero, piano
Rimsky-Korsakov: “Scheherazade”
$38-$99
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

April 18 (7 p.m.)
All Saints Episcopal Church, 8787 River Road, Richmond
Choirs of All Saints Church
Scott G. Hayes directing
Daniel Stipe, organ
J.H. Maunder: “Olivet to Calvary”
Chase Peak, baritone
Jason Brown, tenor
free; donations accepted
(804) 288-7811
http://allsaintsrva.org

April 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Salem Civic Center, 1001 Roanoke Boulevard
Roanoke Symphony Pops
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Jeans ’n Classics
Jean Meilleur & John Regan, vocalists
“An Innocent Man: the Music of Billy Joel”
$31-$52
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

April 21 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Chamber Ensembles
Joanne Kong directing
program TBA
free; tickets required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

April 21 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Orchestre national Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Thomas Zehetmair conducting
“The Lafayette Tour”
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges: “The Anonymous Lover” – Sinfonia
Ruth Crawford Seeger: Andante for strings
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 (“Turkish”)
Thomas Zehetmair, violin
Zehetmair: “Passacaglia, Burlesque and Chorale” for strings
Beethoven: “Great Fugue” in B flat major, Op. 133
$55-$150
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

April 22 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Young Concert Artists:
Oliver Neubauer, violin
Janice Carissa, piano
Schubert: Violin Sonatina in D major, D. 384
Bartók: Sonata for solo violin
Ellen Taafe Zwilich: Fantasy for solo violin
Richard Strauss: Violin Sonata in E flat major, Op. 18
$20-$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

April 23 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Symphony Orchestra
Naima Burrs conducting
program TBA
free; tickets required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

April 23 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Girma Yifrashewa, piano & composer
Yifrashewa: works TBA
$100
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

April 23 (6 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Washington National Opera members
The Gershwins: “Porgy and Bess” (selections), with discussion
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/

April 25 (7:30 p.m.)
April 27 (2:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Opera
Richmond Symphony
Adam Turner conducting
Damien Geter & Jessica Murphy Moo: “Loving v. Virginia” (premiere)
Flora Hawk/Chase Sanders (Mildred Jeter Loving)
Jonathan Michie/Robert Wesley Mason (Richard Loving)
Troy Cook (Bernard Cohen)
Christian Sanders (Philip Hirschkop)
Benjamin Werley (Sheriff Brooks & Judge Leon M. Bazile)
Adam Richardson (Raymond Green)
Tesia Kwarteng (Annette Byrd)
Phillip Bullock (Theoliver “Jake” Jeter)
Melody Wilson (Musiel Byrd Jeter)
Alissa Anderson (Lola Allen Loving)
Denyce Graves, stage director
in English; English captions
$21.25-$140
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

April 25 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Hélène Grimaud, piano
Beethoven: Sonata in E major, Op. 109
Brahms: 3 intermezzos, Op. 117
Brahms: 7 fantasies, Op. 116
J.S. Bach: Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 – Chaconne (Feruccio Busoni transcription)
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/

April 26 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Opera
VCU Symphony
Kenneth Wood conducting
alumni artists TBA
“A Toast to Opera: VCU Opera’s 75th Anniversary Gala”
program TBA
$20
(804) 828-1169
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

April 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
April 27 (3:30 p.m.)
Martin Luther King Jr. Arts Center, Charlottesville High School, 1400 Melbourne Road
Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia
Benjamin Rous conducting
Debussy: “Clair de lune”
Kaija Saariaho: “Asteroid 4179”
Borodin: “Prince Igor” – “Polovtsian Dances”
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor
Anna Han, piano
$10-$53
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

April 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Ave., Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Orchrestra
David Stewart Wiley conducting
“Portraits of America”
Wiley: “Blue Ridge Spirit”
Jennifer Higdon: Mandolin Concerto
Jeff Midkiff, mandolin
Copland: “The Tender Land” – “The Promise of Living”
Duke Ellington: “Giggling Rapids”
Copland: “Simple Gifts – Shaker Tune”
Howard Hanson: Symphony No. 2 (“Romantic”)
$34-$59
(540) 343=9127
http://rso.com

April 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Pan American Symphony Orchestra
Sergio Alessandro Bušlje conducting
Javier Sanchez, Heyni Solera & Rodrigo Àvalos, bandoneons
dance couples TBA
“Pasión por Tango”
$59-$79
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

April 26 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Horszowski Trio
Rebecca Clarke: Piano Trio
Charles Wuorinen: Piano Trio No. 1
Wuorinen: Piano Trio No. 2 (premiere)
Schubert: Piano Trio in E flat major, D. 929
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/

April 27 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Paragon Philharmonia
Miriam Burns conducting
Barber: Adagio for strings
Adolphus Hailstork: “Sonata di Chisea”
Copland: Clarinet Concerto
Nick Thompson, clarinet
Lisandro Adrover: “Imágenes” (premiere)
Ariel Pirotti: “Inesita”
Copland: “Three Latin American Sketches”
$35-$50
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

April 27 (4 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Yunchan Lim, piano
J.S. Bach: “Goldberg Variations,” BWV 988
$230
(202) 785-9727
http://washingtonperformingarts.org

April 27 (3 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Eva Ollikainen conducting
Sofia Gubaidulina: “Fairytale Poem”
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Violin Concerto in D major
Gil Shaham, violin
Stravinsky: “Petrouchka”
$38-$99
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

April 29 (7:30 p.m.)
Christ & St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 560 W. Olney Road, Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
The Tallis Scholars
Peter Phillips directing
program TBA
$35
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

April 29 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts:
Takács Quartet
Britten: Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36
Nokuthula Ngwenyama: “Flow”
Beethoven: Quartet in F major, Op. 135
$58
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 1 (7 p.m.)
May 2 (11:30 a.m.)
May 3 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Alfred Schnittke: Violin Concerto No. 1
Lisa Batiashvili, violin
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 in C minor
$17-$133
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Opera Lafayette
Ryan Brown conducting
Paulina Francisco, soprano
James Reese, tenor
Jonathan Taylor Ward, bass-baritone
other artists TBA
“Rejoice: 30 Years of Ryan Brown”
program TBA
$30-$95
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 1 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Jonathon Heyward conducting
Elgar: “Froissart”
James Lee III: Cello Concerto (premiere)
Joshua Roman, cello
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
$38-$99
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

May 2 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 2040 McRae Road, Bon Air
Richmond chapter, American Guild of Organists’ Repertoire Recital Series:
Jonathan Ryan, organ
J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in E flat major, BWV 552 (“St. Anne”)
Franz Tunder: “Christ lag in Todesbunden”
Johann Bernhard Bach: Chaconne in B flat major
Calvin Hampton: “Five Dances” – “At the Ballet”
Dudley Buck: “Variation sion ‘The Last Rose of Summer’ ”
Flor Peeters: Toccata, Fugue and Hymn on “Ave Maris Stella”
donation requested
(804) 272-0992
http://richmondago.org

May 2 (7:30 p.m.)
May 4 (2 p.m.)
May 5 (7 p.m.)
May 7 (7:30 p.m.)
May 9 (7:30 p.m.)
May 10 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Lidiya Yankovskaya conducting
Mason Bates & Mark Campbell: “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs”
John Moore (Steve Jobs)
Winona Martin (Laurene Powell Jobs)
Jonathan Burton (Steve “Woz” Wozniak)
Wei Wu (Kōbun Chino Otogawa)
Justin Burgess (Paul Jobs)
Anneliese Klentsky/Kresley Figueroa (Chrisann Brennan)
Michelle Mariposa (Teacher)
Rebecca Herman, stage director
in English; English captions
$45-$269
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 2 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
American Contemporary Music Ensemble:
Clarice Jensen, cello & direction
Ben Russell & Laura Lutzke, violins
Kyle Miller, viola
Claire Bryant, cello
Max Richter: “The Blue Notebooks”
Richter: “In a Landscape”
$39-$144
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
May 4 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Pops
conductor TBA
John Williams: “The Music of Star Wars”
$17.50-$119
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

May 3 (7:30 p.m.)
May 4 (2 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Virginia Opera
Richmond Symphony
Adam Turner conducting
Damien Geter & Jessica Murphy Moo: “Loving v. Virginia” (premiere)
Flora Hawk/Chase Sanders (Mildred Jeter Loving)
Jonathan Michie/Robert Wesley Mason (Richard Loving)
Troy Cook (Bernard Cohen)
Christian Sanders (Philip Hirschkop)
Benjamin Werley (Sheriff Brooks & Judge Leon M. Bazile)
Adam Richardson (Raymond Green)
Tesia Kwarteng (Annette Byrd)
Phillip Bullock (Theoliver “Jake” Jeter)
Melody Wilson (Musiel Byrd Jeter)
Alissa Anderson (Lola Allen Loving)
Denyce Graves, stage director
in English; English captions
$45-$116
(703) 993-2787
http://vaopera.org

May 3 (8:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Marin Alsop conducting
Renée Fleming, soprano
Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano
Thomas Hampson, baritone
“American Rhapsody”
program TBA
$55-$299
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 3 (4 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Evgeny Kissin, piano
Chopin: Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1
Chopin: Nocturne in A flat major, Op. 32, No. 2
Chopin: Scherzo in E major, Op. 54
Shostakovich: Sonata in B minor, Op. 61
Shostakovich: preludes & fugues, Op. 87 (selections)
$57.50-$126.50
(202) 785-9727
http://washingtonperformingarts.org

May 4 (4 p.m.)
Second Presbyterian Church, 5 N. Fifth St., Richmond
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Kako Boga & Min-Young Kim, violins
Caleb Georges, viola
Anna Steinhoff & James Wilson, cellos
Anthony Manzo, double-bass
Carsten Schmidt, fortepiano
Schubert: Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667 (“Trout”)
Schubert: String Quintet in C major, D. 956
$30
(804) 304-6312
http://cmscva.org

May 4 (4 p.m.)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 6010 Fergusson Road, Richmond
Richmond Philharmonic
Peter Wilson conducting
Ravel: “Ma mère l’Oye” (“Mother Goose”) Suite
Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor
Fauré: Élégie for cello & orchestra
Jennifer Kloetzel, cello
Ravel: “Valses nobles et sentimentales”
Ravel: “Boléro”
free
(804) 556-1039
http://richmondphilharmonic.org

May 4 (4 p.m.)
Williamsburg Community Chapel, 3899 John Tyler Highway
Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra
Williamsburg Youth Orchestra
David Grandis conducting
“Side by Side Concert”
program TBA
$10
(757) 229-9857
http://williamsburgsymphony.org

May 9 (7:30 p.m.)
May 10 (7:30 p.m.)
May 11 (2:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Virginia Opera
Richmond Symphony
Adam Turner conducting
Damien Geter & Jessica Murphy Moo: “Loving v. Virginia” (premiere)
Flora Hawk/Chase Sanders (Mildred Jeter Loving)
Jonathan Michie/Robert Wesley Mason (Richard Loving)
Troy Cook (Bernard Cohen)
Christian Sanders (Philip Hirschkop)
Benjamin Werley (Sheriff Brooks & Judge Leon M. Bazile)
Adam Richardson (Raymond Green)
Tesia Kwarteng (Annette Byrd)
Phillip Bullock (Theoliver “Jake” Jeter)
Melody Wilson (Musiel Byrd Jeter)
Alissa Anderson (Lola Allen Loving)
Denyce Graves, stage director
in English; English captions
$22.91-$130
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

May 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
May 10 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Eric Jacobsen conducting
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
$15-$79
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Highbrow humor for April Fools’ Day . . .

10 a.m.-noon EDT
1400-1600 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Richard Strauss: “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks”
Staatskapelle Dresden/Rudolf Kempe
(Warner Classics)

Haydn: Quartet in E flat major, Op. 33, No. 2 (“The Joke”)
Cuarteto Casals
(Harmonia Mundi)

Stravinsky: “The Soldier’s Tale” Suite
Richard Stoltzman, clarinet
Lucy Chapman Stoltzman, violin
Richard Goode, piano
(RCA)

Hindemith: “Overture to ‘The Flying Dutchman’ as Sight-read
by a Bad Spa Orchestra at 7 in the Morning by the Well”
Kocian Quartet
(Praga Digitals)

James Hewitt: “Medley Overture” in D minor-major
Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä/Patrick Gallois
(Naxos)

John Adams: “John’s Book of Alleged Dances”
Kronos Quartet
(Nonesuch)

Michael Daugherty: “Dead Elvis”
Charles Ullery, bassoon
London Sinfonietta/David Zinman
(Argo)

Kirill Petrenko, the chief conductor the Berlin Philharmonic, is famously disinclined to sit for media interviews. A conversation with Malte Krasting and Tobias Müller, posted on the orchestra’s website, may be the most personally and professionally revealing remarks that Petrenko has made for public consumption.

Since taking over artistic direction of the Berliners in 2019, Petrenko says, “I don’t believe that I shall ever feel as if this is an established relationship, because our work together always feels very much as if it is taking place in the here and now. . . . It’s a matter of leaving our comfort zone behind us and exploring extremes,” aiming for a performance in which “the demands of the composer are comprehensively aligned with the abilities of the musicians,” producing what he calls “fragile moments of happiness.”

Petrenko learned his craft the old-fashioned way, beginning as a répétiteur in provincial opera houses, working his way up the professional ladder in a succession of theatrical and concert engagements. The technique of conducting is “the sort of thing that you can grasp after only two or three sessions,” he says; but the art of conducting “is something that you can learn only with practice.”

“[A]s a conductor you are not actually producing the sound. You are literally left hanging in the air. If, as a pianist, I play a particular passage in five different ways, I know at the end of this process which is the right way. As a conductor, on the other hand, I don’t have any immediate way of checking to see if what I am doing is any good. For this, I have to stand in front of an orchestra. Only then do I notice – sometimes to my horror – that a particular idea isn’t right. This is why a conductor is constantly questioning himself and his interpretation.”

Born and reared in the former Soviet Union, the son of musicians, Petrenko was schooled in conducting in Austria, initially in the provincial conservatory in Feldkirch, subsequently at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Although he has conducted much of the Russian concert repertory, his work generally has been more focused on works composed in Central Europe.

Petrenko discusses at some length his kinship with the music of Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner, especially his identification with Mahler’s famous self-description as “homeless three times over: as a Bohemian among Austrians, as an Austrian among Germans and as a Jew in the whole of the world.” During his youth in the Soviet Union, his family “had to do everything we could to hide the fact that we were Jewish. . . . Of course, my parents kept reminding me where I come from. But I never had any contact with any living tradition of Jewish musical culture.”

About leading the Berlin Philharmonic, Petrenko says, “I feel an undying reverence for this orchestra, because they are all such damned good musicians. . . . It makes no difference how many years we may continue to work together, it will never feel normal for me to stand in front of this orchestra.”

http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/stories/conversation-with-kirill-petrenko/

(via http://slippedisc.com)

10 a.m.-noon EDT
1400-1600 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Dvořák: “Scherzo capriccioso”
Cleveland Orchestra/Christoph von Dohnányi
(Decca)

Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor
Bella Davidovich, piano
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Neeme Järvi
(Philips Eloquence)

Mel Bonis: “Femmes de légende” (“Legendary Women”)
Orchestre national de Metz/David Reiland
(La Dolce Volta)

Debussy: 3 Nocturnes
women of Choeur de Radio France
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France/Mikko Franck
(Alpha)

Stravinsky: “Le sacre du printemps” (“The Rite of Spring”)
Los Angeles Philharmonic/Esa-Pekka Salonen
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Sofia Gubaidulina, the Russian composer whose works, combining modernist techniques with Christian spirituality, drew the ire of Soviet authorities, has died at 93.

Born in Tatarstan, then a Soviet republic, and schooled in the conservatories of Kazan and Moscow, Gubaidulina had a fraught relationship with the cultural establishment, recognized for her talent and encouraged by Dmitri Shostakovich but denounced for a compositional style that was by Soviet standards avant-gardist. She also wrote and performed music for Russian folk instruments.

Her violin concerto “Offertorium,” introduced in 1980 and taken up by violinist Gidon Kremer, brought Gubaidulina to international notice. Subsequently, musicians in the West promoted and regularly performed her works, many of which were informed by her devout Christianity.

She spent her later years in Appen, Germany.

Gubaidulina’s compositions were marked by “struggle and disorder; of awaiting some signal from beyond with hushed anxiety; of the strenuous attempt to bridge the gap between humans and the divine,” The New York Times’ Zachary Woolfe writes in an appreciation of the composer. “Transcendence, if and when it arrives, is hard won.”