Classical Month in Washington (June)

Last month | Next monthClassical Month in Washington is a monthly feature. If there are concerts you would like to see included on our schedule, send your suggestions by e-mail (ionarts at gmail dot com). Happy listening!

June 1, 2013 (Sat)
2 pm
Markus Groh, piano
WPAS
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

June 1, 2013 (Sat)
7:30 pm
National Chamber Ensemble
With Carlos Rodriguez, piano
Rosslyn

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Jaap van Zweden Directs the NSO

Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden led the National Symphony Orchestra on Saturday evening in a program of Wagenaar, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky. Van Zweden, who is Music Director of the Dallas Symphony, violently jerked the musical leash of the hundred-plus musical personalities to establish leadership in the beginning of Johan Wagenaar’s Overture to Cyrano de Bergerac. His abusive gestures during

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Rafał Blechacz in Holding Pattern

Debussy / Szymanowski, Sonata, R. Blechacz (DG, 2012)
Rafał Blechacz's first visit to Washington, in 2010, confirmed the Polish pianist's gift for the music of Chopin. The jury and audience at the 2005 Chopin Competition in Warsaw were so impressed with his ability to play Chopin that he swept every prize, an achievement so remarkable that the jury decided not to award a second prize.

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In Brief: Cool Spring Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio, online video, and other good things in Blogville and Beyond. (After clicking to an audio or video stream, press the "Play" button to start the broadcast.)


The French premiere of Gerald Barry's new opera The Importance of Being Earnest, recorded last month in Nancy, plus a performance of Viktor Ullmann's one-act opera Der

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Dip Your Ears, No. 135 (Medtner, Unsweetened)

N.Medtner / S.Rachmaninoff, Piano Concertos Nos.2 & 4, Floods of Spring,
Y.Sudbin / North Carolina Sym. / G.Llewellyn
BIS SACD


Yevgeny Sudbin is one of the very few pianists about whose recordings I get excited, no matter what repertoire he tackles. His Scriabin (see Dip Your Ears, No.86) and his Scarlatti have set a standard so high, that even very good Beethoven concertos (with the

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Christine Brewer vs. Pollen

Charles T. Downey, For Christine Brewer, a rare miss at Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Washington Post, April 27, 2013


Strauss, Four Last Songs (inter alia), C. Brewer, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, D. Runnicles (Telarc, 2006)Christine Brewer does not play it safe in programming, which means that not every recital by the lauded American singer will be a winner. She is one of the most exciting

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Evgeny Kissin's Op. 111

Liszt, Études d'exécution transcendante (inter alia), E. Kissin


Schubert / Brahms / Bach / Liszt / Gluck, E. Kissin

Previous Reviews:
2011 | NSO, 2009 | 2009
2007 | 2005
Among living pianists, Evgeny Kissin is in a separate category, someone whose technical acumen and musical approach are near-infallible. We have not missed a single local performance by this most celebrated Russian pianist

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Briefly Noted: Vinikour's Rameau

J.-P. Rameau, Complete Harpischord Works, J. Vinikour (2 CDs)
(released on June 26, 2012)
DSL-92154 | 156'44"
The harpsichord played by Christophe Rousset in a concert at the Library of Congress earlier this month was built by Thomas and Barbara Wolf in 2005. It is a copy of a 1707 instrument created in Paris by Nicolas Dumont (hidden in an estate's granary, where it survived the French

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Crunch Time for Missing Children

The Scoping Report on Missing and Abducted Children 2011 states the following: “Children who go missing are at risk of harm. When a child goes missing, there is something wrong, often quite seriously, in that child’s life. The reasons behind missing incidents are varied, where children go missing as a consequence of specific, distinct circumstances. The serious problem of missing and abducted

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Bavouzet Returns, Phillips Collection

Charles T. Downey, Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet: Technical mastery in need of a little heart
Washington Post, April 23, 2013


Debussy, Complete Works for Piano, J.-E. Bavouzet (Chandos, 2012)
No one should have any doubts about the virtuosity of Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. The French pianist has amassed an extensive number of recordings on the Chandos label, including complete sets of Beethoven’s

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The Writing on the Wall

Charles T. Downey, A valiant ‘Belshazzar’ at Freer Gallery
Washington Post, April 22, 2013

Handel, Belshazzar, A. Rolfe Johnson, A. Auger, English Concert, T. Pinnock
[Review of Jacobs DVD]Cyrus the Great has been admired by many people, from the ancient Hebrews to the Greeks to Thomas Jefferson. When Cyrus conquered the Babylonians, he freed many enslaved people and returned the cultural

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In Brief: Boston Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio, online video, and other good things in Blogville and Beyond. (After clicking to an audio or video stream, press the "Play" button to start the broadcast.)


Andris Nelsons leads the Berlin Philharmonic in Shostakovich's sixth symphony, a Mozart symphony (K. 319), and Wagner's overture to Tannhäuser. [Österreichischer

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Dip Your Ears, No. 134 (The Lovely Hill)

Alfred Hill,
SQ4ts 10 & 11, “Life” Quintet
Dominion Quartet / R.Mapp
Naxos 8.572844

Here’s chamber music you didn’t know you love: From Australian Alfred Hill (1869-1960), whose string quartets led Robert Reilly to call him “the Australian Dvořák.” That’s perhaps giving their earnest melodiousness a little too much credit, but the excellent if not revelatory 10th and 11th (of 17) string

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Stile Antico @ LoC

Charles T. Downey, Stile Antico brings out beauty of early music
Washington Post, April 19, 2013


Passion and Resurrection, Stile Antico (Harmonia Mundi, 2012)
[Other recordings]
Sometimes the best way to champion early music is to perform it as beautifully as possible and forget about how it might have been performed when it was composed. This was exactly what the English chamber choir Stile

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Dresden Staatskapelle (and WPAS) in North Bethesda

Brahms, Violin Concerto / C. Schumann, Three Romances, L. Batiashvili, Dresden Staatskapelle, C. Thielemann (DG, 2013)
Given the direction Washington Performing Arts Society seems to be going -- more about that below -- we should perhaps savor the last Neale Perl season from WPAS, with performances by András Schiff, Evgeny Kissin, and Rafał Blechacz in just this month alone. Add to that list a

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Maurizio Pollini de Retour

Chopin, Preludes / Nocturnes / Mazurkas / Scherzo, M. Pollini (DG, 2012)


Chopin, Box Set, M. Pollini (DG, recorded 1972-2008)


Debussy, Preludes (Book 1) / L'Isle Joyeuse, M. Pollini (DG, 1999)

Previous Recitals:
2010 | 2008 | 2006 | 2004
Why do we love the performances of Maurizio Pollini so much? What some listeners find too flinty or steely in his playing is the same lack of varnish, the

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In Memoriam: Hearing Sir Colin Davis (1927 - 2013)

Tippett, Midsummer Marriage
Lyrita
UK | DE | FR Britten, Peter Grimes
Philips/Decca
UK | DE | FR
To pick a dozen recordings from Sir Colin Davis’ discography that do his life, work, and art justice is either terribly easy (because there are so many) or terribly difficult (because twelve are so few). Davis was one of the most prolific, and most recorded conductors, rivaled only by Sir

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Christophe Rousset, Musical Journeys

Charles T. Downey, Christophe Rousset on the harpsichord
Washington Post, April 15, 2013


J.-P. Rameau, Les Indes Galantes, C. Rousset (Naïve, 2009)
In the right hands, the harpsichord can be a mesmerizing instrument. Christophe Rousset, in two concerts over the weekend, took listeners on unforgettable musical journeys: through two centuries of French music for the harpsichord, through musical

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Sir Colin Davis (1927 - 2013)

See our Colin Davis Appreciation here: In Memoriam: Hearing Sir Colin Davis (1927 - 2013)

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In Brief: Tax Man Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio, online video, and other good things in Blogville and Beyond. (After clicking to an audio or video stream, press the "Play" button to start the broadcast.)


The Opéra de Lyon gives the world premiere of Thierry Escaich's opera Claude (watch video embedded at right), based on Victor Hugo's novel Claude Gueux from 1834. [

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Dip Your Ears, No. 133 (Bach Motets)

J.S.Bach, Motets
J.E.Gardiner / Monteverdi Choir
SDG 716

John Eliot Gardiner’s Bach recordings on his label, Soli Deo Gloria, are gorgeous in every way. The packaging is a joy to behold; the artwork, the notes, the choice of fonts… everything exudes thoughtfulness. The same is true for their live performances—here the six Motets of Bach which not only Gardiner considers among the cantor’s “

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Christophe Rousset in Concert

Froberger, Suites de clavecin, C. Rousset (Naïve, 2010)


L. Couperin, Suites de Clavecin, C. Rousset (Aparte, 2010)


J.-P. Rameau, Les Indes Galantes, C. Rousset (Naïve, 2009)
We are big fans of the harpsichord playing of Christophe Rousset around here. The French harpsichordist and conductor has a vast discography to his name, with discs of music by a startling range of composers, some

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Parsifal and the Tree of Life

My first Wagner opera was Parsifal at the Bavarian State Opera. Around Easter, twelve years ago, I managed to snag a standing room ticket for a performance with Waltraud Meier and Kurt Moll (John Keyes was Parsifal, Christof Prick conducted). At the time, Peter Konwitschny’s production was already six years old, and it fascinated me, right through my enthralled incomprehension.

I might not

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American Ballet Theater at the Kennedy Center

Marcelo Gomes and Julie Kent in The Moor's Pavane, American Ballet Theater (photo by Gene Schiavone)
American Ballet Theater is back in town for a week-long visit to the Kennedy Center Opera House, a company we last reviewed in their charming Nutcracker a couple years ago. The distinguished touring company, established to bring the best ballet to the citizens of the Unites States and once led

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WNO Celebrity Series: Diana Damrau

Charles T. Downey, Coloratura Diana Damrau charms in Washington National Opera debut despite illness
Washington Post, April 10, 2013

Nuit d'étoiles (music by Debussy), X. de Maistre (harp) with D. Damrau (2009)Diana Damrau, one of the finest coloraturas of her generation, finally came to Washington National Opera on Monday night. It was not exactly the debut one might have hoped for, not on

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Washington Concert Opera's 'Maria Stuarda'

Donizetti, Maria Stuarda, B. Sills, E. Farrell, London Philharmonic Orchestra, A. Ceccato


Donizetti, Maria Stuarda, J. Sutherland, H. Tourangeau, L. Pavarotti, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, R. BonyngeDonizetti's Maria Stuarda features perhaps the best cat fight in operatic history. In what is arguably the opera's high point, at the end of the second act, Queen Elizabeth I of

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The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge

This review is an Ionarts exclusive.


Mozart Requiem: Realisations, Choir of King's College, Cambridge (to be released this month)


Glorious Majesty: Music for English Kings and Queens, Choir of King's College, CambridgeRegarded as the “pre-eminent representative of the great British choral tradition,” the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, offered a rare performance Sunday afternoon to an

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Bach is Next to Godliness, the Flute Not

J.S.Bach, Flute Sonatas, and lots of them,
M.Piccinini, Brasil Guitar Duo
Avie

In the documentary “A Year in the Life of the St. Thomas Boys Choir” (an essay about it forthcoming in the next issue of Listen Magazine), Christoph Biller, the 16th Thomanercantor since Bach, says that God can’t be known (hence faith), but he can be felt—in Bach. Bach—and I agree wholehearted, although “

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A Far Cry, Dumbarton Concerts

Charles T. Downey, A Far Cry closes out Dumbarton Concerts series
Washington Post, April 8, 2013


Piazzolla, J. Vieaux, J. Labro, A Far Cry (2011)
What a chamber orchestra loses by performing without a conductor is some degree of ensemble cohesion, as well as an outside ear to judge balances, phrasing and interpretive choices. What it gains is independence, and that can energize a

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Kahane and Andres, Dual-Piano Act

T. Andres, Shy and Mighty, T. Andres and D. Kaplan (2010)


G. Kahane, Where Are the Arms? (2011)
Gabriel Kahane's flexibility in the pop idiom, which he mixes with an interest in classical music old and contemporary, has made him the darling of many critics. The same is true of composer-pianist Timothy Andres, which made their dual appearance on the free concert series at the Library of

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In Brief: Quasimodo Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio, online video, and other good things in Blogville and Beyond. (After clicking to an audio or video stream, press the "Play" button to start the broadcast.) Oh, so much to watch and listen to this week, so get started!


Washingtonians may want to listen to Christoph Eschenbach with another band, the Czech Philharmonic,

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Dip Your Ears, No. 132 (Gál’s Marionettes)

Hans Gál, Complete Piano Duos
Goldstone and Clemmow Piano Duo
Divine Art 245098

Don’t let the amateurish graphic design of this release (strictly speaking re-release from an earlier Olympia recording), or the performer’s shiny turquoise waistcoat fool you: These are quality piano duos by the wonderful, woefully neglected Hans Gál, in highly professional, thoughtful performances by Caroline

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For Your Consideration: 'Reality'

Matteo Garrone, the Italian filmmaker, took his realistic approach to cinéma vérité quite seriously when he made Gomorra, an extraordinary film about the corruption of the Neapolitan mafia. He was able to make that frank assessment of the Camorra, the crime syndicate that pervades the life of Naples, only by collusion with that same mafia, as has recently been alleged. He discovered one of his

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Easter WETA Redux No.2<!-- Easter Pilgrimage – Parisfal [sic!] -->

Fresh back from a Easter Parsifal performance (review forthcoming), I figure it seems only (in)appropriate, on this Easter Sunday, to resurrect the two meandering 'Easter Pilgrimage bits' I wrote for WETA in 2008... which was a wonderful trip through Europe with the goal of getting as many Parsifal and Matthew Passion performances into a fortnight. (An unforeseen link: Attila Jun, then a Dutchman

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NSO and Ax

S. Albert, Symphony No. 1 ("RiverRun"), National Symphony Orchestra, M. Rostropovich


Chopin, Piano Concertos 1/2, M. J. Pires, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, E. Krivine / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, A. Previn


Dvořák, Symphony No. 5, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, J. Bělohlávek
Sometimes a concert can be more intriguing, intellectually rewarding, than truly exciting. All of the ingredients

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WNO Young Artists and Their Russian Friends

Tenor Sergey Radchenko (photo courtesy of Askonas Holt)
For the third year in a row, Washington National Opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program has undertaken an exchange of its young singers with young artists in a similar training program at the Bolshoi Opera. After sending a few of its charges to Moscow, WNO has hosted a few Russian singers here in Washington the last couple weeks, and

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Reviewed, Not Necessarily Recommended: Vapid Mann

Johan Gottfried Hendrik MANN: Feest Preludium for Orchestra op.95, Clarinet Concerto op.90, Violin Concerto op.101, Troisième Suite op.98. Sebastian Manz (clarinet), Akiko Yamada (violin), Hermann Bäumer (conductor), Osnabrücker SO ● CPO 777 620 (73:40)



J.G.H.Mann, Violin & Clarinet Concertos et al.,
S.Manz, A.Yamada / H.Bäumer / Osnabruck SO
CPO

I don't remember being less impressed by

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Classical Music Agenda (May 2013)

In May, we are leading with the living composers who are coming to the area and whose music will be performed here. Equally high in our estimation are some definitely dead composers also being performed here next month. Here are the Top 10 choices, but many more concerts will run through the calendar in the sidebar.


Composer John Adams
ALIVE:
The last time that we reviewed Meredith Monk and her

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Eric Whitacre Takes New Direction

Eric Whitacre, Night: Music for the Zombie Apocalypse, Eric Whitacre Singers, London Symphony Orchestra
What is the secret behind Eric Whitacre's hold over choral singers around the world? The answer may be found in the composer's new album, Night, which cashes in on the frenzy of interest in zombie stories like television's The Walking Dead. The new album, says advance press releases, "is an

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