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A for starters – Letter V
Why do orchestras tune to an A, and why is the note played on an oboe? The Australian music educator Kathleen McGuire answers those and other questions in a tutorial on orchestral tuning. Writing for the website The Conversation, McGuire notes that “an open A string [is] common to all orchestral string instruments.” The oboe’s…
Alexander Paley Music Festival 2025 – Letter V
The Alexander Paley Music Festival, in which the Moldovan-born pianist will perform with his wife and duo/4-hands partner, the Taiwan-born pianist Peiwen Chen, and two principals of the Richmond Symphony, violinist Daisuke Yamamoto and cellist Neal Cary, will be staged in evening concerts on Jan. 10 and 11 and a matinee on Jan. 12 at…
Letter V Classical Radio Nov. 17 – Letter V
7-9 p.m. EST0000-0200 UTC/GMTWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.org J.S. Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049Alan Choo, violinDaphna Mor, recorderApollo’s Fire/Jeannette Sorrell(Avie) Poulenc: “Concert champêtre”Zuzana Růžičková, harpsichordCzech Philharmonic/Kurt Sanderling(Supraphon) Charles Avison: Concerto grosso No. 6 in D major(after Domenico Scarlatti)Chiharu Abe, violin & directionConcerto Köln(Berlin Classics) Einojuhani Rautavaara: “The Fiddlers”Richard Tognetti, violin…
Letter V Classical Radio Nov. 10 – Letter V
7-9 p.m. EST0000-0200 UTC/GMTWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.org Smetana: “Libuše” OvertureCleveland Orchestra/Christoph von Dohnányi(Decca) Thomas de Hartmann: Violin ConcertoJoshua Bell, violinINSO-Lviv Symphony Orchestra/Dalia Stasevska(Pentatone) Martinů: Double Concerto, H. 271, for 2 string orchestras, piano & timpaniJosef Růžička, pianoJan Bouše, timpaniCzech Radio Symphony Orchestra/Charles Mackerras(Supraphon) Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E minorRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic/Vasily Petrenko(Naxos)
Quincy Jones (1933-2024) – Letter V
Quincy Jones, the jazz trumpeter turned composer, arranger, producer and facilitator for a wide range of artists and musical styles, has died at 91. Born on the South Side of Chicago and reared in the Seattle area, schooled at what is now Berkelee College of Music in Boston, Jones went on to study in Paris…
Review: Alexander Malofeev – Letter V
Nov. 3, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University The Russian school of piano playing, in which muscularity meets poetry, is an archetype of classical music dating back to Anton Rubinstein in the late-19th century and Sergei Rachmaninoff in the early 20th. The tradition sounds to be in good hands for decades to come from Alexander…
New York Philharmonic fires 2 players accused of sexual misconduct – Letter V
Two musicians of the New York Philharmonic, oboist Liang Wang and trumpeter Matthew Muckey, accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women presently or formerly in the orchestra, have been fired after an investigation by an outside lawyer. Wang and Mackey have been notified by the orchestra that they will not be rehired in the 2025-26…
Handel’s ‘feat of sustained inspiration’ – Letter V
As we approach “Messiah” season, when orchestras, church choirs, community choruses and sing-along participants celebrate Christmas with George Frideric Handel’s sacred oratorio (never mind that it was first performed in Easter season), composer and musical biographer Jan Swafford, writing in The Atlantic, examines the work’s unique qualities, in its own time and ever since. “Among…
Letter V Classical Radio Nov. 3 – Letter V
7-9 p.m. EST0000-0200 UTC/GMTWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.org Schubert: “Fierrabras” OvertureCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Edward Gardner(Chandos) Tchaikovsky: “Romeo and Juliet” Fantasy-OvertureRoyal Philharmonic/Yuri Temirkanov(RCA) Anton Arensky: Chamber Symphony in A minor, Op. 35(“In memory of P.I. Tchaikovsky”)Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Candida Thompson(Channel Classics) Beethoven: Quartet in F minor, Op. 95 (“Serioso”)(Gustav Mahler orchestration)Vienna Philharmonic/Christoph von Dohnányi(Decca) Brahms: String Sextet…
Review: Richmond Symphony – Letter V
Valentina Peleggi conductingwith James Ehnes, violinNov. 2, Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center The Canadian violinist James Ehnes is fast becoming one of the leading interpreters of an unusually wide range of classical repertory – you name it, he probably plays it, on violin or viola, masterfully. In the latest program in the Richmond Symphony’s mainstage…
November calendar – Letter V
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. Nov. 1 (7:30 p.m.)River Road Church,…
Chopin lost and found – Letter V
New York’s Morgan Library & Museum announces that it has discovered a previously unknown waltz by the young Frédéric Chopin, found among an assortment of memorabilia in its collection. The piece, lasting about a minute and a quarter, was written on paper and with ink that matches those in use around 1830, when the waltz…
Review: Wagner & Kong – Letter V
Christoph Wagner, celloJoanne Kong, pianoOct. 25, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond The performing partnership of Christoph Wagner, a German cellist now teaching at the University of New Mexico, and Joanne Kong, the University of Richmond-based pianist and harpsichordist, has been ongoing for several years. The duo’s latest performance, before a well-filled Camp Concert Hall…
Review: Richmond Symphony – Letter V
(I was unable to attend these concerts; the review is via the video stream posted Oct. 25.) Valentina Peleggi conductingwith Clayton Stephenson, pianoOct. 19-20, Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center It’s pretty rare for Igor Stravinsky’s “Le sacre du printemps” (“The Rite of Spring”) to be upstaged in a concert program. Pianist Clayton Stephenson, conductor Valentina…
Letter V Classical Radio Oct. 27 – Letter V
7-9 p.m. EDT2300-0100 UTC/GMTWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.org Stravinsky: “The Firebird” SuiteNew York Philharmonic/Lorin Maazel(Deutsche Grammophon) Mel Bonis: “Femmes de légende” (“Legendary Women”)Orchestre national de Metz/David Reiland(La Dolce Volta) Debussy: “Jeux – Poème dansé”Cleveland Orchestra/Pierre Boulez(Deutsche Grammophon) Pēteris Vasks: Cello Concerto No. 2 (“Presence”)Sol Gabetta, celloAmsterdam Sinfonietta/Candida Thompson(Sony Classical) Arvo Pärt: “Tabula rasa”Gil Shaham &…
Marie Goodman Hunter (1929-2024) – Letter V
Marie Goodman Hunter, a longtime fixture in the productions of Richmond’s theater troupes, a singer and actor in many events celebrating the city’s Black community, has died at 95. Hunter, a mezzo-soprano, was a Virginia State University graduate who also studied at Columbia University. She taught music, speech and drama at John Marshall High School…
Letter V Classical Radio Oct. 20 – Letter V
On the 150th birthday of Charles Ives, we’ll contrast his vision of American music’s future and the future anticipated by Antonín Dvořák, and works by two living American composers, Jessie Montgomery and Carlos Simon, who sound to have taken both elders’ advice. 7-9 p.m. EDT2300-0100 UTC/GMTWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.org Ives: “Variations on ‘America’ ”Gerard…
‘A radically original American musical voice’ – Letter V
Pianist Jeremy Denk, writing in The New York Times, marks the 150th birthday of Charles Ives, the American maverick composer who (in)famously told musicians and their audiences to “stand up and take your dissonance like a man.” “He dreamed that music would evolve into ‘a language, so transcendent, that its heights and depths will be…
Review: ‘Swept Away’ – Letter V
Chamber Music Society of Central VirginiaOct. 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…
A robot conductor and a dead critic – Letter V
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,…
Letter V Classical Radio Oct. 13 – Letter V
7-9 p.m. EDT2300-0100 UTC/GMTWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://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 minorDanny Driver, pianoBBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Rebecca Miller(Hyperion) David Matthews: “Dark Pastoral” (after Vaughan Williams)Guy Johnston, celloRoyal Scottish National Orchestra/Martin Yates(Dutton) Barber: “Knoxville, Summer of 1915”Dawn…
Leif Segerstam (1944-2024) – Letter V
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…
New Yorkers learning to play new instrument – Letter V
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,…
Letter V Classical Radio Oct. 6 – Letter V
7-9 p.m. EDT2300-0100 UTC/GMTWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.org Schumann: Konzertstück in F major, Op. 86, for 4 horns & orchestraMarkus Maskuniitty, Martin Schöpfer, Kristofer Öberg & Monica Berenguer Caro, French hornsRoyal 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 deuxOrchestra Sinfonica…
Review: Ferguson & Katz – Letter V
William Ferguson, tenorMartin Katz, pianoOct. 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…
Gandelsman tapped for ‘genius grant’ – Letter V
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…
October calendar – Letter V
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,…
National Symphony strike ends quickly – Letter V
The musicians’ strike at Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra ended less than four hours after it began on Sept. 26, with the musicians and the Kennedy Center, which houses the orchestra and controls many of its administrative functions, settled on a contract raising the musicians’ salaries and improving benefits such as healthcare and parental leave. Under…
Letter V Classical Radio Sept. 29 – Letter V
7-9 p.m. EDT2300-0100 UTC/GMTWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.org Chopin: “Rondo à la krakowiak” in F major, Op. 14Jan Lisiecki, pianoNDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester/Krzysztof Urbański(Deutsche Grammophon) Alice Mary Smith: Andante for clarinet & orchestraAngela Malsbury, clarinetLondon Mozart Players/Howard Shelley(Chandos) Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Piano Concerto in B minorStephen Hough, pianoEnglish Chamber Orchestra/Bryden Thomson(Chandos) Rossini: “La scala di seta”…
Review: ‘What Belongs to You’ – Letter V
Karim Sulayman, tenorAlarm Will SoundAlan Pierson conductingSept. 26, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond David T. Little’s “What Belongs to You,” being introduced at the University of Richmond’s Modlin Arts Center (which co-commissioned the work) in performances by tenor Karim Sulayman and the new-music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, is a chamber opera based on the…
National Symphony musicians strike – Letter V
Musicians of Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra have gone on strike. Contract negotiations with the Kennedy Center, which houses and provides management services for the NSO, have stalled, with the musicians’ union local stating that union proposals and management response “remain far apart on wages and other important issues.” The NSO’s Sept. 28 season-opening gala has…
Previewing a Richmond premiere – Letter V
The New York Times’ Joshua Barone recounts the genesis and performance challenges of “What Belongs to You,” David T. Little’s opera based on the Garth Greenwell novel, receiving its premiere by vocalist Karim Sulayman and the Alarm Will Sound ensemble in a production choreographed by Mark Morris, at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26 and 28 at…
National Symphony players vote to strike – Letter V
Musicians of Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra have voted unanimously to go on strike, citing stalled negotiations with the Kennedy Center, which partially funds and provides a venue and services for the orchestra. NSO’s union negotiators called for musicians’ wages to rise by 25 percent over the next four years. The Kennedy Center’s counter-proposal is for…
Review: Belvedere Series – Letter V
Nicholas DiEugenio & Ellen Cockerham Riccio, violinsFitz Gary & Andriana Linares, violasRaman Ramakrishnan, celloIngrid Keller, pianoSept. 21, Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School The third season of Richmond’s Belvedere Series of chamber concerts opened with music that hinges, in part, on the stringed instrument that gets the least love: the viola. The program paired major…
Letter V Classical Radio Sept. 15 – Letter V
7-9 p.m. EDT2300-0100 UTC/GMTWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.org Hamish MacCunn: “The Land of the Mountain and the Flood”Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Grant Llewellyn(Argo) Frank Bridge: “Oration” (“Concerto elegiaco”)Steven Isserlis, celloDeutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin/Hugh Wolff(BIS) Vaughan Williams: “The Lark Ascending”Iona Brown, violinAcademy of St. Martin in the Fields/Neville Marriner(Decca) Samuel Barber: “Medea’s Dance of Vengeance”Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin(Warner…
Review: Richmond Symphony – Letter V
Valentina Peleggi conductingwith Daniel Dastoor, Annelle Gregory, William Hagen, Qing Li, Emma Meinreken, Julian Rhee, Adé Williams & Daisuke Yamamoto, violinsSept. 13, Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center The Richmond Symphony is launching its 2024-25 season with Strad Fest, a showcase of violins crafted in the early 18th century by Antonio Stradivari. Nine of these classic…
2024-25 season overview – Letter V
For years, it has been common in the Richmond area’s classical season to see multiple events on the same day. In the coming season, conflicts really abound. Among the events scheduled to date, I count nine one-or-the-other decisions to make for comparably programmed events – even dueling Christmas festivals of lessons and carols at the…
Letter V Classical Radio Sept. 8 – Letter V
7-9 p.m. EDT2300-0100 UTC/GMTWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.org Vaughan Williams: “The Wasps” OvertureLondon Symphony Orchestra/André Previn(RCA) Stravinsky: Violin Concerto in D majorHilary Hahn, violinAcademy of St. Martin in the Fields/Neville Marriner(Sony Classical) Ravel: “Miroirs”Stewart Goodyear, piano(Orchid Classics) Carl Orff: “Carmina burana”Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritoneGundula Janowitz, sopranoGerhard Stoltze, tenorDeutsche Oper Berlin Chorus & Orchestra/Eugen Jochum(Deutsche Grammophon)