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‘Title search’ takes on a different meaning – Letter V
Previously unknown or long-forgotten works by famous composers occasionally emerge from searches of archives. Recent examples: a little waltz by Frédéric Chopin found at New York’s Morgan Library and Museum, and two instrumental pieces and an aria for “Sémiramis,” a never-completed cantata by Maurice Ravel, found in Paris’ Bibliotheque National de France. A local council…
Letter V Classical Radio Oct. 5 – Letter V
11 p.m.-1 a.m. EDT0300-0500 UTCWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.net Johann Joseph Fux: Concerto in D major (“Le dolcezze e l’amerezze della notte”)(“The Gentleness and Bitterness of the Night”)Freiburger Barockorchester/Gottfried von der Goltz(Carus) Schubert: Impromptu in F minor, D. 935, No. 1Krystian Zimerman, piano(Deutsche Grammophon) Schoenberg: “Verklärte Nacht” (“Transfigured Night”)Berlin Philharmonic/Herbert von Karajan(Deutsche Grammophon) Chausson: “Poème…
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. Prices may include service fees. Oct. 2 (7 p.m.)Marburg House, 3102 Bute Lane,…
Letter V Classical Radio Sept. 28 – Letter V
1-3 p.m. EDT1700-1900 UTCWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.net Mozart: “Die Zauberflöte” (“The Magic Flute”) OvertureZürich Opera House Orchestra/Nikolaus Harnoncourt(Warner Classics) Brahms: Serenade No. 1 in D major, Op. 11(Alan Boustead reconstruction)Czech Nonet(Praga Digitals) Paul Dukas: VillanelleRichard Watkins, hornJulius Drake, piano(Signum Classics) Johann Joachim Quantz: Flute Concerto in G majorPatrick Gallois, fluteC.P.E. Bach Chamber Orchestra/Peter Schreier(Deutsche…
Letter V Classical Radio Sept. 21 – Letter V
1-3 p.m. EDT1700-1900 UTCWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.net Jan Dismas Zelenka: Capriccio No. 3 in F majorBernhard Forck & Raimar Orlovsky, violinsRadek Baborák, horn & directionBerlin Baroque Soloists(PhilHarmonie) Haydn: Symphony No. 60 in C major (“Il distratto”)Mozarteumorchester Salzburg/Ivor Bolton(Oehms Classics) Erwin Schulhoff: “Five Pieces for String Quartet”(Manfred Honeck & Tomáš Ille orchestration)Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck(Reference…
Another cancellation – Letter V
The Flemish region of Belgium is not known as a hotbed of anti-Semitism. Far from it: The largest city in Flanders, Antwerp, was a refuge for Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal in the 16th century, and today is a center of Haredi Orthodox Judaism in Europe. Given that history, the decision by a music…
Letter V Classical Radio Sept. 14 – Letter V
Remembering Christoph von Dohnányi, the German maestro who restored the Cleveland Orchestra to greatness in the 1980s and ’90s. As you’ll hear, Dohnányi’s mastery, from European classics to American moderns, was matched by few conductors of his generation. 1-3 p.m. EDT1700-1900 UTCWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.net Smetana: “The Bartered Bride” – “Dance of the Comedians”Cleveland…
Met stages Mason Bates’ latest – Letter V
Mason Bates, the Richmond-bred composer known for his incorporation of electronica in orchestrations, is readying his latest opera, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” for New York’s Metropolitan Opera. The work, with a libretto by Gene Scheer, was introduced last year at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. It was to be a co-production…
Christoph von Dohnányi (1929-2025) – Letter V
Christoph von Dohnányi, the longtime music director of the Cleveland Orchestra and one of the most versatile conductors of his generation, has died, two days before he would have celebrated his 96th birthday. Dohnányi, grandson of the Hungarian composer Ernst von Dohnányi, was reared in a cultured German family, two of whose members, his father,…
The tune that time can’t kill – Letter V
Question: What’s the No. 1 ear-worm in the history of Western music? Answer: “Folia.” Never heard of it? You’ve probably heard it, or at least some echo of it. Early music mavens will recognize the name from its use in, and resulting nickname for, Arcangelo Corelli’s Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 5, No. 12,…
Letter V Classical Radio Sept. 7 – Letter V
From folk roots, classics grow: Corelli, Beethoven, Kodály, Alexander Reinagle, Florence Price and Carl Orff reimagine old songs and dance tunes of Iberia, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, England, Scotland and early America. 1-3 p.m. EDT1700-1900 UTCWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.net anonymous: “Folia” (Portuguese/Spanish, 15th century [Rodrigo Martinez manuscript])string & percussion ensemble/Jordi Savall(AliaVox) Corelli: Violin Sonata in…
Symphony’s principal trumpeter off to Philly – Letter V
Samuel Huss, the Richmond Symphony’s principal trumpeter since 2018, has joined the Philadelphia Orchestra. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Huss also has performed with the orchestras of St. Louis, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Charlotte, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra and…
The maestro of the future? – Letter V
Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Finnish composer-conductor, has been named to three posts in Paris and Los Angeles. One of them is conventional: music director of Orchestre de Paris. The other two are more futuristic. Last year, Salonen made waves when he short his tenure at the San Francisco Symphony, after its board, citing financial constraints, scrapped…
Picks of the season – Letter V
Health and safety concerns currently prevent me from attending most live performances – avoid crowds, the doctors advise; so I’m going to try some preemptive reviewing. What follows are a somewhat jaded but inquisitive and variety-hungry critic’s choices of the most enticing offerings in the Richmond area’s 2025-26 classical season. Links for times, tickets and…
September 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. Some prices include service fees. Sept. 5 (7:30 p.m.)Lake Matoaca Amphitheater, 121 Ukrop…
2025-26 season overview – Letter V
Labor Day weekend has arrived, and with it, Letter V’s overview of the classical season to come in the Richmond area. This September-to-June thumbnail calendar covers all major ticketed performances and many free or donation-requested events. Long as it is, the list is incomplete: Several church and community concert series, most choral programs and some…
Letter V Classical Radio Aug. 31 – Letter V
In the first of the show’s Sunday matinees during the University of Richmond’s fall semester, previews of coming attractions: Artists performing in Richmond’s 2025-26 classical season, among them pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Midori, the Dover Quartet and the Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra. 1-3 p.m. EDT1700-1900 UTCWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.net J.S. Bach: Double Concerto in…
A sound world well worth visiting – Letter V
In a New York Times “Critic’s Notebook,” Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim samples the Bard Festival’s survey of music by Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959), the Czech-born composer who spent most of his creative life in France and US. “[A] restless exile equally fluent in Czech folk song, Neo-Classicism and the hum of the modern world . . .…
Belvedere Series 2025-26 – Letter V
The Belvedere Series of chamber concerts will present seven programs in its 2025-26 season – four in the salon setting of Marburg House in Richmond’s Carillon district, three in the larger venues of Ryan Recital Hall at St. Christopher’s School and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Pianist Ingrid Keller, artistic director of the series, will join…
Chamber Music Society 2025-26 – Letter V
The Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia will present nine programs, featuring works by Beethoven, Debussy, Dvořák, Shostakovich and the contemporary Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, as well as music by five Virginia-based or -born composers, in its 2025-26 season. Seven ticketed concerts at four Richmond area churches – Holy Comforter and St. Mary’s Episcopal, First…
Paley Music Festival 2026 – Letter V
The Alexander Paley Music Festival, the concert series that the Moldavan-born pianist has staged in Richmond since 1998, will return for three concerts, Jan. 9-11, at St. Luke Lutheran Church, 7757 Chippenham Parkway. Paley and his spouse and piano 4-hands partner, Peiwen Chen, will be joined by violinist Daisuke Yamamoto, concertmaster of the Richmond Symphony,…
Richmond Philharmonic 2025-26 – Letter V
In its 2025-26 season, the Richmond Philharmonic will present three classical and two pops programs, focusing on American music as the US heads toward the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Although the orchestra’s classical season is framed by two major symphonies by Europeans – Beethoven’s “Eroica” (No. 3 in E flat major) and…
Letter V Classical Radio Aug. 17 – Letter V
Celebrating Pierre Monteux, the eminent French conductor and teacher of conductors, born 150 years ago. As a young musician, he performed for Brahms, Grieg and other late-romantic luminaries. In the years before World War I, he conducted a string of premieres – Stravinsky’s “Petrushka” and “The Rite of Spring,” Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloé,” Debussy’s “Jeux”…
Virginia Opera 2025-26 – Letter V
In its 2025-26 season, Virginia Opera will present three mainstage productions – Rossini’s “Cinderella” (“La Cenerentola”), Verdi’s “Aïda” and “Intelligence” by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer – and an evening of three contemporary one-acts. All productions will be staged at Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard in Norfolk, and the Carpenter Theatre of…
UR Modlin Center 2025-26 – Letter V
Violinist Midori, the Pacifica Quartet with clarinetist Anthony McGill and the SPA Trio – soprano Susanna Phillips, violist Paul Neubauer and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott – highlight classical attractions in the coming season of the University of Richmond’s Modlin Arts Center. In addition to the Modlin Arts ticketed series, which also will present jazz, world music,…
Letter V Classical Radio Aug. 24 – Letter V
7-10 p.m. EDT2300-0200 UTCWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.net Prokofiev: “Overture on Hebrew Themes”Sarah Nemtanu & Deborah Nemtanu, violinsPierre Génisson, clarinetEnsemble Contraste(Alpha) Mozart: String Quintet in G minor, K. 516Alexander String QuartetPaul Yarbrough, cello(Foghorn Classics) Telemann: Concerto in E minor, TWV 52:e1Dorothee Oberlinger, recorderMichael Schmidt-Casdorff, fluteEnsemble 1700(Deutsche Harmonia Mundi) Ravel: “Miroirs” – IV: “Alborada del gracioso”(Ravel…
VCU Rennolds Chamber Concerts 2025-26 – Letter V
Virginia Commonwealth University’s Anne Rennolds Chamber Concerts series expands to five programs on Sunday afternoons in the coming season, presenting artists ranging from a piano duo to a baroque orchestra. The series opens on Sept. 14 with the duo of pianists (and spouses) Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung, and continues with performances by Trio Zimbalist…
Letter V Classical Radio Aug. 10 – Letter V
7-10 p.m. EDT2300-0200 UTCWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.org Michael Torke: “Bright Blue Music”Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/David Zinman(Decca) Bernstein: Serenade (“after Plato’s ‘Symposium’ ”)Zino Francescatti, violinNew York Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein(Sony Classical) Duke Ellington: “Harlem”(Luther Henderson orchestration)Detroit Symphony Orchestra/Neeme Järvi(Chandos) Holst: “The Planets”Boston Symphony Orchestra/William Steinberg(Deutsche Grammophon) Nielsen: “Helios” OvertureDanish National Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Dausgaard(Dacapo) Debussy: “La mer”Cleveland Orchestra/Pierre Boulez(Deutsche…
Richmond Symphony 2025-26 – Letter V
The Richmond Symphony’s 2025-26 season will explore musical Americana in a genre-crossing sampler ranging from works by Copland, Gershwin and John Williams to Sousa marches, gospel music and songs from Motown and the Philly Sound. The coming season, Valentina Peleggi’s fifth as the orchestra’s music director, will feature nine programs in the mainstage Symphony Series…
Portland Opera promotes Damien Geter – Letter V
Damien Geter, composer-in-residence at the Richmond Symphony, has been named music director of Oregon’s Portland Opera. Geter had been serving as the company’s artistic advisor and interim music director. A 45-year-old native of Chesterfield County in Richmond’s suburbs, now based in Chicago, Geter is a bass-baritone who has performed with the Metropolitan Opera and Chicago…
Letter V Classical Radio Aug. 3 – Letter V
7-10 p.m. EDT2300-0200 UTCWDCE, University of Richmond90.1 FMhttp://wdce.net Kodály: “Dances of Galanta”Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Charles Mackerras(Linn) Germaine Tailleferre: Concertino for harp & orchestraMarie-Pierre Langlamet, harpBerlin Philharmonic/Juan José Mena(Berliner Philharmoniker) Enescu: Suite No. 2, Op. 10Charles Richard-Hamelin, piano(Analekta) Hindemith: “Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber”Philadelphia Orchestra/Wolfgang Sawallisch(Warner Classics) Schubert: Fantasie in C major, D.…
August 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. Prices do not include service fees. Aug. 1 (7 p.m.)Garth Newel Music Center,…
Endangered wood = endangered bows – Letter V
Pernambuco, the Brazilian wood used for bows of stringed instruments, has been classed since 2007 as endangered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Trade in in the wood is permitted but tightly regulated. Now CITES is considering upgrading protection of Pernambuco to its highest level, which…
Cleo Laine (1927-2025) – Letter V
Cleo Laine, the British jazz vocalist also famed for performances in music theater and modern classical repertory, has died at 97. Laine launched her career singing with a group led by clarinetist and saxophonist John Dankworth, whom she married in 1958. The couple continued performing together until shortly before Dankworth’s death in 2010. Known for…
Letter V Classical Radio July 27 – Letter V
Celebrating the centenary of electrical recording – in which microphones amplify sound, producing a more realistic representation of music – we go back-to-shellac: Memorable recordings from the golden age of the 78-rpm record. At this speed, many of the legendary figures of 20th-century classical music documented their artistry and set standards of performance that today’s…
Milestone for iconic choir – Letter V
The Tabernacle Choir of Salt Lake City, perhaps the largest and certainly the best-known American choir, is celebrating the 5,000th broadcast of its radio program “Music and the Spoken Word.” Ruth Graham, writing for The New York Times, notes that the 30-minute show’s format “not only has endured since 1929, but almost as remarkably, has…
The potency of the ‘weaker’ hand – Letter V
In an article for The Guardian, Nicholas McCarthy, a pianist who was born without a right hand, explores music for piano left-hand, “often seen as a mysterious niche” of the classical repertory. Some of the best-known works in this genre were written for the Viennese pianist Paul Wittgenstein, brother of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. After…
Tom Lehrer (1928-2025) – Letter V
Tom Lehrer, the Ivy League mathematician whose acerbic satirical songs delighted fans and outraged civic and religious establishments, has died at 97. Lehrer was a math prodigy who enrolled at Harvard University at 15, subsequently taught there and at Wellesley College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California at Santa Cruz, and worked…