WETA FM 90.9 Blog

“I wouldn’t suggest the racetrack as the incubator and inspirer of poetry. I just say it might work for me—sometimes. Like beer, or [enjoying] a good woman, cigars, or Mahler with good wine and the lights out, sitting there naked watching the cars go by…” (Los Angeles Free Press, March 3, 1967)

Sifting…, Bukowski, (Ecco / HarperCollins)

Charles Bukowski might seem an unlikely source of insight about classical music, but he was an avid listener—especially to classical music on the radio—and he had a naturally discriminate ear. “Bach is the hardest to play badly because he made so few spiritual mistakes” is only one astute point among his 15 “Observations on Music” (from Sifting through the madness for the word, the line, the way). That Bukowski couldn’t mention Haydn without also using the F-word or a raunchy equivalent in the same sentence doesn’t take away from those insights.

Among his most cherished composers—and the one with the most references in his works—is Gustav Mahler. If “the struggle, the crisis of identity and faith, the uncertainties and the challenge of a creeping modernism that undermined life as people knew it… all seem to be reflected in the clashes and crashes of Mahler’s symphonies” (Mahler Introduction), then it isn’t terribly surprising that Bukowski responded to Mahler so strongly, even well before Mahler’s music had achieved the wide spread popularity it enjoys today.

Mahler was always one

of my favorites.

it’s possible to listen to

his works again and

again and

again without

tiring of them.

I don’t agree with that (anymore), but it’s the pithiest reference to Mahler in Bukowski I know. Unless that very apt picture of Mahler as the dinner guest already at the door, who takes an hour saying goodbye, is also from Bukowski, as I seem to very faintly remember.

Symphonies 4-6, Bernstein, WPh (Unitel)

That Mahler has influenced other artists isn’t surprising. Just as Mahler soaked up the music in his sphere, they soaked up his music to make it their own. I’d like to think that Bukowski, quite accustomed with earthy language, might have responded well to the subcutaneous vulgarity present in Mahler. Mahler–the crude juxtapositions in his music, the banalities that are just saved by their presumed irony–had been thought a vulgar composer well into the 60s. I never understood that sentiment until I watched Unitel’s DVD of Leonard Bernstein conducting the Sixth Symphony at the Musikverein in Vienna. The orchestra plays with some reluctance, the brash orchestral effects suddenly begin to sound like crude kitsch, and even the walls of the Golden Hall look like the seedy interior of a brothel, with Bernstein as the charming pimp in lead.

Urlicht, Uri Caine (Winter & Winter)

Uri Caine is a Philadelphia born avant-garde jazz artist from New York with a penchant for classical music, unsurprising given that his composition teachers were George Crumb and George Rochberg. Mozart, Wagner, Beethoven, Bach, Schumann have all inspired him to absorb and creatively regurgitate their music. The result is music unlike any you have ever heard, which is as high a compliment as I know of. His best ‘crossover’ work might well be that with Mahler. His treatment of the source material is an ethnomusicological exploration of Mahler, at once reverent, insightful, and flimsy. Uri Caine’s distortion, modification, deconstruction and reassembly doesn’t obscure the Mahler beneath it, it actually allows for deeper insights into what it is we hear in Mahler. All the Jewish and Klezmer influences emerge vividly. And whether it’s “Liebst Du um Schönheit” as a gospel collage or the “Adagietto” taken apart into individual piano notes, suspended like a mobilé, it’s always Mahler from a new angle, always surprising and delightful to the ears. I’ve come to appreciate and even love most, maybe all his ‘crossover’ albums—but his primary Mahler disc, Urlicht, remains at the top of the heap; among the handful of favorite recordings I own.

Zimro Concert Tour, Vogler String Quartet (Hänssler)

A different way to get at the Jewish and Yiddish musical roots of Mahler is by hearing the music from the same tradition that has been written at Mahler’s time or since. The Vogler Quartet plays a recital of such music Thursday night at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. It is based on the music played by the Russian-Jewish Zimro Ensemble, a string quartet, clarinetist, and pianist that Prokofiev heard on their American tour in 1919. Their mission was to maintain a level of excellence in the “New Jewish School” of music with strong roots in Jewish folk music. Sponsored by Zionist Organizations around the world, and intent of touring their way to Palestine, they performed only music approved by the St.Petersburg Society of Jewish Folk Music. Along their American tour they greatly impressed Prokofiev who consequently wrote his Overture on Hebrew Themes for them. In the end they never made it quite to Palestine, because Simeon Bellison was snagged by the New York Philharmonic as solo clarinetist.

The Vogler Quartet (excellent Thuille!) is on their own Zimro tour now, performing the works the original ensemble (and its successor ensembles) played—Ekht-Jewish music from composers such as Grigori Krejn, Julius Chajes, Joseph Achron—and of course Prokofiev. If you can’t make the concert, the same musicians have released that program on a wonderful CD as well, which is what backs up my enthusiasm about their (Mahler-related) program tomorrow.

Berio, Sinfonia et al, Boulez, New Swingle Singers , (Hänssler)

For the 125^th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic in 1967, Luciano Berio composed (albeit missing the deadline) Sinfonia, a four-, then five-movement work for orchestra and amplified voices. There is a very decent Wikipedia article on the piece, that goes well beyond describing that the third movement of Sinfonia is a quixotic pastiche of the third movement from Mahler’s Second Symphony, cut up, re-imagined, and spliced with quotations from a dozen other composers. Next to his Schubert-realization Rendering, Sinfonia remains one of Berio’s most accessible and most easily enjoyable pieces.

Mahler/Berio: Attrazione D’Amore/Voyage to Cythera

Mahler: Conducting Mahler/I Have Lost Touch With the World, (Juxtapositions)

The Berio-Mahler connection can be further explored on one of the four superb Frank Scheffer documentaries on Mahler that I’d like to mention. While three of those four “Juxtaposition” films—from a series that always couples two more or less related subjects to another—don’t relate directly to the music he influenced or was influenced by, they are DVD gold when it comes to delving fully into Mahler and assuming you are already a fan. Attrazione D’Amore is a film on Riccardo Chailly, ‘his’ Concertgebouw (at the time), and Mahler. A touch of hagiography, but splendid all the same. Coupled to it is Voyage to Cythera, about Berio and Sinfonia. The other coupling consists of Conducting Mahler—with Muti, Chailly, Rattle, Abbado, and Haitink rehearsing their orchestras in Mahler, opining along the way—and I Have Lost Touch With the World about Mahler’s 9^th and Chailly.

This continues Gustav Mahler — Symphony No.4 (Part 2) from Monday, with a discussion of more “Mahler 4” recordings I particularly cherish.

While Mahler’s Forth Symphony is very different from the previous three, it also constitutes the group of Wunderhorn Symphonies with them, of which the last three had all included vocal elements. From here on Mahler set out on a slightly different path and soon had a new source of delight and suffering entering his life in the form of Alma Mahler, née Schindler.

Symphony No.4, Boulez / Banse / Cleveland (DG)

Symphony No.4, Sinopoli / Banse / Dresden StK. (PROFIL Hänssler)

I have just extolled the virtues of recent Mahler Fourth recordings by David Zinman, Iván Fischer, and Michael Tilson Thomas, but if they fail to elicit more enthusiastic praise from me, it is because they share with the earlier Haitink recordings and Pierre Boulez’ (DG) a missing, indefinable, distinctive quality that goes beyond exquisiteness. Unlike with the Third Symphony, I am less content with sheer excellence alone in the Fourth, since the recording catalog offers so many more choices. Swift Boulez almost gets there, though, because the Cleveland Orchestra provides him with pronounced and individualist chatter of instruments that comes, like Bernstein, a little closer to the aforementioned ideal of a “Concerto for Orchestra”. What does stand out with Boulez is his first movement, which he zips through at a pace that leaves you bopping along without your mind ever tempted to wander. Taking only a minute less than Bruno Walter (who more than makes up for lost time in the last two movements), he sounds twice as fast. His soprano Juliane Banse is equally wonderful in the totally different, very broad Sinopoli recording from Dresden (PROFIL Hänssler) where the Italian adds three minutes to Boulez’ 8’44” in “Das himmlische Leben”… with wildly fluctuating tempi. Banse doesn’t sing her quick parts any slower in Dresden than she does in Cleveland, only her slow parts are retarded to a point where it must have become challenging for the singer to maintain the line. It is exaggeration occasionally—well, regularly—seen in Sinopoli’s Mahler, but one can’t blame him for wanting to explore the beautifully spacious acoustic and striking sound of the orchestra both of which come across nicely on the recording.

Symphony No.4, Kletzki / Loose / Philharmonia (EMI)

The gEMIni re-issue of Paul Kletzki’s Fourth—coupled with his acclaimed Lied—does the EMI remastering-engineers proud: the 1957 sound is far better than one might expect and the performance among the light ones that please. Paul Kletzky’s wife, Emmy Loose, sings faultlessly and wonderfully innocently, if without particular distinction beyond that. Washingtonians with a long memory and therefore skeptical of such musical Mahler-Fourth / Wife nepotism can be assured that Loose earns her inclusion in that performance on account of skill, not wedding band.

Symphony No.4, Haitink / Schäfer / RCO (RCO Live )

One Mahler recording issued in 2008 truly stood out among the lot: the Concertgebouw’s performance of the Fourth Symphony with Bernard Haitink conducting and Christine Schäfer taking the soprano part. If a Fourth Symphony can easily be undone by an inappropriate soprano (Gielen/Whittlesey, Abbado/Fleming), it can’t generally be ‘made’ by a great singer. Well, maybe Schäfer could actually, because her soprano is simply perfect for “Das himmlische Leben”. Clarity and beauty of tone are a given with her, but the innocence, the angelic ring that she believably exudes is exactly what the symphony (and Mahler) asks for. In theory a treble might be better, still, but put into practice it simply doesn’t work.

Fortunately Schäfer doesn’t have to rescue anything here, she’s simply the crowning glory of what is a superb performance. Haitink is generally short on cutting and acerbic tones in Mahler and long on beauty. So here. This Fourth Symphony (his fourth commercial recording of it!) benefits from beauty and suffers not from the absence of tortuous and biting sounds, as for example the Sixth would. Generous, rich, and yet transparent, there is plenty of that beauty to go around here. Among his three live recordings (two with the RCO and one with the Berlin Philharmonic), this is the one with the quickest pulse. The RCO plays with near-perfection (this is a true live recording, not patched from several performances), its usual gorgeousness, and grandeur of sound—all caught perfectly by the recording engineers. This sumptuous performance has now replaced Inbal, my previous top choice.

Symphony No.4, Gielen / Whittlesey / South West German RSO (Hänssler)

Michael Gielen’s Mahler is more and more becoming a favorite of mine. Here is a conductor with a modernist perspective of Mahler (like Abbado and Chailly) who (unlike Abbado and Chailly) can really rip through these symphonies instead of making them sound ‘lovely’. There is little of that ‘well behaved’ sound in his recordings with the South-Western Radio Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden. Perhaps because his players are not as seasoned a Mahler orchestra as areChicago, Vienna, and even Berlin? His Fourth suffers from the same problem Abbado’s does, though: Three good movements and then big a let-down from the soprano. Christine Whittlesey’s problem is not self-conscious artificiality but that she sounds like the evil witch from one of Brother’s Grimm fairy tales. You’d think that once she finishes with “Die eng’lischen Stimmen / Ermuntern die Sinnen, / Daß alles für Freuden erwacht” she’ll rush back home to roast Hänsel. (Gielen’s inclusion of the sublime Schreker “Prelude to a Drama” probably makes for the best filler on any disc with the Fourth Symphony, though.)

Symphony No.4, Chailly / Bonney / RCO (Decca)

Another wonderful and appropriate filler are the Seven Early Songs by Berg. The above mentioned Abbado offers them (and here, unlike with Mahler, Fleming shines)—as does the Ricardo Chailly recording with the Concertgebouw and Barbara Bonney. Like Gielen, the recording can be difficult to get outside the complete box (Arkiv currently lists it, actually), which is a shame as neither collections—Gielen’s or Chailly’s—include any of the ‘fillers’. Chailly’s Fourth is unwavering in its forward-momentum… steady and secure like a sewing machine. Understated, but surreptitiously powerful. The playing (aided by excellent sound) is three-dimensional. There isn’t a more delicate, more loving third movement on record. This is a monument to well thought-out craftsmanship of the highest order.

Many consider the George Szell recording (Sony) with Judith Raskin one of the finest recordings; inexplicably it has gone out of print… though thankfully it can now be had as an ArkivMusic licensed re-print (if you can’t find the original cheaper on Amazon) and should be heard; it remains one of the finest in the catalog even after so many years of strong competition. The same cannot be said of every recording that has old age on its side. When, after timid discovery, I started listening to Mahler in earnest, it was usually a Bruno Walter recording that I went with. My first impressions of the First, Second, and Fourth were with Walter. Such early impressions are usually indelible, but in this case they have all been dislodged and surpassed. His Fourth (Sony) with the New York Philharmonic from May of 1945 for example is nice and brisk, and the less than perfect playing, occasionally sour, can be said to add lots of character.  (More character, still, comes from the so-so 1945 recording quality!) But it is full of strange touches, too. Take the first movement, where Walter doesn’t hurry up the introductory sleigh-bell phrase and consequently has no room or time for a ritardando. (Boulez almost does the opposite: begins fast and refuses to slow down.) By not making much of a distinction between “Deliberate” and “Very leisurely”, it sounds like his sleigh grinds into the snow and never quite gets going again. For reasons of interpretation and authority, Walter is always worth coming back to. But if I had only two or three Mahler Fourths on my shelf, I’d not put up with the technical limitations this one demands excusing.

The font used in the title is “Eckmann Regular”

Mahler 4 Choices

1. Bernard Haitink / Christine Schäfer, CSO, CSO Resound

2. Eliahu Inbal / Helen Donath, Frankfurt RSO, Denon / Brilliant

3. Paul Kletzki / Emmy Loose, Philharmonia Orchestra, EMI

4. Esa Pekka Salonen / Barbara Hendricks, LA Phil, Sony via Arkiv

5. George Szell / Judith Raskin, Cleveland, Sony via Arkiv

6. Riccardo Chailly / Barbara Bonney, RCO, Decca

Mahler 4 SACD Choice

Bernard Haitink / Christine Schäfer, CSO, CSO Resound

Gustav Mahler. Postcard by Hans Boehler.
Courtesy of the Carnegie Hall Archives

E.N.v.Reznicek, Sy.#1, our Songs of Prayer and Repentance, F.Beermann / M.Prudenskaja / Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt (Oder)

cpo 777276 (58:10)

Somber and very dark beauty is exuded by the “Four Songs of Prayer and Repentance on words from the Bible” that Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek (of “Donna Diana” fame) composed in 1913. This is very different music than his light-hearted, Richard Strauss-heavy work that is most gloriously exemplified by the tone-poem “Schlemihl”, Reznicek’s ‘Anti-Heldenleben’. Of course these four orchestral songs, only between two and four minutes long, still contain slight hints of Strauss, Reznicek’s friend, model, and great influence, but no more than the few hints of Gustav Mahler that also run through it. They are unquestionably gorgeous in their own right. The harmonies are not as advanced as those of Othmar Schoeck or late Mahler can be, but significantly more chromatic than in his Symphony No.1 (1903), the imposing 55 minute work that shares CD space with the songs.

A late-romantic symphony, not particular cogent, and with little sense of purpose, that First Symphony (titled “Tragic”) is still remarkably lovely as it saunters through its four movements with melodic leisureliness. Only the nervous, wispy second movement has any sense of momentum; the three other movements are languid affairs full of quotes from any romantic composer within reach. Instead of wondering what a better orchestra might have been able to extract from this work (a world premiere recording, since the manuscript of the Symphony had been lost until recently), we can enjoy—with a little patience—the performance of the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt (Oder) under Frank Beermann for the class act it is. Together with mezzo-soprano Marina Prudenskaja (just the right, dark mix of husky and dramatic) they’re even better in the Prayer’n’Repentance songs which, even at only a sixth of this CDs 66 minutes playtime, are the primary reason for purchase and discovery. (The liner notes are a mess, the ‘English’ translation plain incomprehensible.)

Previously and since in Chamber Music You Didn’t Know You Love:

( 1 ) – Ludwig Thuille, Piano Quintets

( 2 ) – Joseph Marx, String Quartets

( 3 ) – Franz Mittler, String Quartets

( 4 ) – Felix Weingartner, String Quartets

( 5 ) – Wilhelm Bernhard Molique, String Quartets

Previously and since in Orchestral Music You Didn’t Know You Love:

( 1 ) – Friedrich Ernst Fesca, Symphonies

( 2 ) – Max Bruch, Swedish & Russian Dances

( 3 ) – Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek, Orchestral Songs, Symphony

November is loaded with music, with one or more attractive concerts to chose from almost every day… and that’s after selecting only those events that I reckon have the greatest potential for excellence, discovery, and delight. And better yet: No premature* Christmas concerts need to be circumvented yet.

Till Fellner continues his Beethoven Sonata cycle at the National Gallery of Art with Sonatas nos. 4 (op.7), 15 (op.28, “Pastoral”), 24 (op.78 “À Thérèse”), 25 (op.79), and 27 (op.90—one of my most dear Beethoven sonatas). He will perform at the National Gallery of Art at 6.30PM on November 1^st. The concert is free, but you will have to fight for your seat.

If you are in Baltimore, free Bach (courtesy Bach Concert Series) might be a fitting alternative: Cantata BWV 80 (“Ein Feste Burg ist Unser Gott”) will be performed at Christ Lutheran Church at the Inner Harbor, 701 South Charles Street. (4PM) The concert opens with a little introduction to the music.

Noontime Cantata Bach (“Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn, BWV 132”) on Tuesday, November 3^rd at the Church of the Epiphany.

Later that night—also free (reserve tickets early through Ticketmaster or try your luck at the door on the night of the performance)—at the Library of Congress you can hear the Zemlinsky Quartet. If it’s got “Zemlinsky” in the title, I’m already interested. But beyond their name, this youngish quartet has many impressive performances and a few neat recordings under their belt and their program includes their namesake composer, Mozart’s most intriguing string quartet, and a quartet by Viktor Kalabis (1923-2006) that I’ve never heard (or knew existed), except that on account of Kalabis’ Harpsichord Concerto alone I am superbly   interested in what it might sound like.

Thanks to WPAS and their sponsors, Vadim Repin was finally brought to Washington last year.  Seems like his rather more subtle brand of excellence and unflashy musical authority has caught on, because he’s back now with the National Symphony Orchestra in the Brahms concerto under Alexander Vedernikov who gives his US conducting debut, also serving up Prokofiev’s 5^th Symphony. Serves the Washington Audience right to hear one of today’s very finest violinists. Performances take place at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall Thursday through Saturday on November 5^th (7PM), 6^th (8PM), and 7^th (8PM).

The Szymanowski Quartet (CD review on WETA) follows the Zemlinsky Quartet at the Library of Congress just a few days later. What is true for the former Czech group is equally true for their Polish counterparts—next to Apollon Musagete they’re the Polish quartet of its generation. Haydn-Szymanowski-Mendelssohn. Free. What else could one desire on a Friday night? November 6^th (8PM).

November 7^th (5PM) and again on November 15^th (2PM) at the Kennedy Center Opera House, the Washington National Opera performs—but does not stage—Götterdämmerung, the final opera in the Ring Tetralogy. To avoid the company’s own Götterdämmerung, what would have been the last installment of Francesca Zambello’s American Ring had to be axed. (Co-producers San Francisco Opera, who have arrived at Die Walküre this year, managed without canceling, somehow.) That’s a shame, because for all its clattered confusion (Rheingold and Walküre (p)reviews here), the “American Ring” was intriguing stuff and its tame controversy very healthy for the Washington opera scene. Perhaps a concertized Götterdämmerung will bring closure… or perhaps the necessary funds to stage the production as a cycle, after all. Dependable regulars like Alan Held, Gordon Hawkins, Gidon Saks, and Elizabeth Bishop (as second Norn) make it an attractive affair, as does the opportunity to hear—presumably—the orchestra outside the pit and thus many musical details otherwise lost in live performance.

For the purposes of hearing Bruckner’s Quartet alone you should consider a trip to the National Academy of Sciences. They, too, have a (free) program of chamber music and their venue, which looks like something between a 1970’s Star Trek movie set and an inverted Eulitz-cut diamond, has a fine acoustic. On Sunday, November 8^th (3PM), they present the Fine Arts Quartet in Haydn (“Sunrise Quartet”) and Schumann’s op.41/1, apart from the Bruckner.

Spirited performances and an intriguing, even eclectic mix of composers are hallmark signs of the “Musicians from Marlboro” series at the Freer Gallery of Art (also free). The first of these concerts takes place on Thursday, November 12^th (7.30PM) and features Mozart’s Flute Quartet, Brahms’s third Piano Quartet op.60; Messiaen’s Louange á l’Immortalité de Jésus (violin and piano); Takemitsu’s A Bird Came Down the Walk; and Kaija Saariaho’s Mirrors.

I have never claimed that Jean-Yves Thibaudet is anywhere near my favorite pianists, but in Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F I can really imagine him as splendidly entertaining, especially when embedded in an all-Gershwin program with Marin Alsop at the helm of the B’more SO. On November 12^th, 13^th, and 15^th they will perform at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, on Saturday, November 14^th (8PM), at the Music Center at Strathmore.

François-Frédéric Guy has dilly-dallied in Washington before, but no more of that when he sits down to play a complete (!!!) Beethoven piano sonata cycle in just ten days. It’d require considerable stamina even on the listener’s part to sit through all 32 sonatas in the nine sessions at La Maison Française (never mind the performer), but what an opportunity, also. He’ll start on Friday November 13^th (7PM), continues with two performances on Saturday (4PM and 7PM), then one each until and including the 17^th; he then finishes the cycle (played more or less in numerical order) on the 20^th, 21^st, and 22^nd. Always at 7PM—except Sundays, when the recitals will begin at 4PM.

I don’t know the Ibis Chamber Music Society, but I do know that there isn’t a much more tender, more moving French song than Duparc’s L’Invitation au Voyage to be had, especially not in its slightly orchestrated version with flute, harp, and strings. If you don’t know the few songs that Duparc’s short and very troubled life have left us to adore and marvel at, do go and listen to it. If you know Duparc, you probably need no encouragement. The rest of the program looks intriguing enough: Piazzolla (“Histoire du Tango”), some De Falla, Pierne, Dvořák, and Corigliano. All on November 14^th, (7.30PM) at the Clarendon United Methodist Church in Arlington.

Early choral music on November 15^th can either be had courtesy of the Choral Arts Society of Washington and their program of antiphonal music, sung from all corners of the Kennedy Center Concert Hall at 4PM… or at the National Gallery of Art when the National Gallery Vocal Arts Ensemble performs music by Gevaert, Janequin, and Rameau. (6.30PM) The Choral Arts Society also includes the Mass for Double Choir by Frank Martin as well as works by Britten, Tavener, and Biebl.

Not a concert, but still important: WPAS presents a Lecture by Alfred Brendel, titled “On Character in Music”. To hear Alfred Brendel talk is the best thing after hearing him play live is no longer an option, and probably better than hearing his occasionally, curiously dull recordings (his Haydn be explicitly exempted). The talk—undoubtedly he’ll illustrate at the Boesendorfer—takes place at the Embassy of Austria, Monday, November 16^th (7PM) and will sparkle with the wit he displayed on stage and be saturated with his ferocious, unpretentious, and never overwhelmingly employed intelligence.

The welcome addition to the Noontime Cantatas continues for those near the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Center where on Thursday, November 19^th, you get Cantata BWV 93 (“Wer nur den lieben Gott last walten”) at the Bach Cantata Series’ free concert. (1.30PM)

Prokofiev, Grigory Krejn, Joseph Achron, Julius Chajes, and Osvaldo Golijov are on the innovative program of the Vogler String Quartet when they appear at the Terrace Theater on Thursday, November 19^th. This mix of composers is part of their “ZIMRO” project of combining Jewish art music with more standard chamber music repertoire and which is being captures on CD by Hänssler. Beautiful music, bits of which you can sample here. (7.30PM) For what it is worth, this is my concert tip of the month.

A Musorgsky-Schumann-Larcher project from Leif Ove Andsnes on November 20^th (7.30PM) promises to be a tasteful but grand multi-media experience. “Pictures Reframed” can be previewed on Youtube and takes place at the Terrace Theater.

Too bad attending Andsnes show means missing the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt at the Library of Congress on the same Friday (or vice versa). With soprano Lorna Anderson and tenor Jamie MacDougall they present a program of Haydn Trios (their recording of the complete Piano Trios is available on Phoenix Records) and best of all: Haydn’s Scottish Songs. I’ve written about them before and I maintain that these are must-hear marvels, whether on CD or better yet: live. They’ll further spice the concert up with the US premiere of Lalo Shifrin’s “Elegy & Meditation”, written for and dedicated to the group. (8PM)

If Bach is your ticket, the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra (2009/2010 schedule) can provide the necessary fix in either of their two “Brandenburg Festival” programs dedicated to the eternal composer. Both feature two Brandenburg Concertos, one Cello Suite or Violin Sonata, and a concerto or chamber piece.

You’d be forgiven if you tried to avoid concerts of the New York Philharmonic; too many 9-to-5 attitude concerts have ruined their reputation thoroughly with any discriminating orchestra lover. But if there’s one conductor who they cannot turn into an accomplice of disciplined boredom, it’s Riccardo Muti. So you’ll probably have to go, after all… for a little Liszt, Elgar, and Prokofiev. WPAS, Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Saturday, November 21^st. (4PM)

Gounod’s Faust is an outstanding opera; for all the trepidation with which this subject matter has been approached by composers, the results are outstanding more often than not. Busoni did well, as did Berlioz; Schumann got off to his most promising operatic start, Schnittke, Boito, and Gounod positively excelled. (Dusapin… not so much.) The Washington Concert Opera, with its small budget but inexorably high standards, will perform the work on Sunday, November 22^nd (6PM) at the Lisner Auditorium.

German violinist Viviane Hagner could well be one of the future great violinists; if you haven’t heard of her yet, it’s because she builds her career steadily, solidly—not by being a flash-in-the-pan violin girly. In that regard—and roughly in age—she’s similar to Julia Fischer and especially Arabella Steinbacher. At the Terrace Theater she will play promising mix of Turnage, Schubert, Bartók, and Schumann. WPAS presents the recital on November 24^th. (7.30PM)

The 64th American Music Festival at the National Gallery of Art features several interesting performances—the one that I find most interesting is on Wednesday, November 25^th, at noon (free), by the Ensō String Quartet in music by Steve Reich and Pierre Jalbert. 

* In light of all the soon to be ringing and jingling bells, trails of snow-from-a-can, and randomly attached antlers, it’s good to remind oneself that Christmas(tide) starts on December 25^th and lasts through Epiphany on January 6^th. The carol’s not called “Fifty-six days of Christmas”.

op.17

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J.Haydn, String Quartets op.17 Hob.III 25-30, The London Haydn Quartet

Hyperion 67622 (148:07)

J.Haydn, String Quartets op.17 Hob.III 25-30, Auryn Quartet

Tacet 175 (141:00)

J.Haydn, String Quartets op.17 Hob.III 25-30, Quatuor Festetics

Arcana A412 (150:00)

J.Haydn, String Quartets op.17 Hob.III 19, 21, 22, Kodály Quartet

Naxos 8.550786 (61:01)

J.Haydn, String Quartets op.17 Hob.III 20, 23, 24, Kodály Quartet

Naxos 8.550854 (56:38)

J.Haydn, String Quartets op.17 Hob.III 25-30, Buchberger Quartet

Brilliant 93760 (119:53)

Haydn’s op.17 quartets are closely related to his set of op.9 quartets and were composed in 1771. Haydn listed them in his catalogue of works (the “Entwurf-Katalog”) in the order of no.2, 1, 4, 6, 3, and 5—the numbering attached to them nowadays stems from the first edition by J.J.Hummel (Amsterdam). What is true for op.9 (“Like all quartets before op.33, they get short shrift—like all quartets of Haydn that get short shrift, they’re still superb. [F]or the ambitious Haydn lover, they’re joyously requisite listening…”) is equally true of op.17. If anyone could have reason to complain about these works, it’s the second violinist who gets much less interesting work assigned than the soloistic first violinist—for a greater share of melody, the second violin has to wait until the later quartets. But that’s hardly a concern for the listener who concerns himself with the lovely results, not the particular division of labor employed to get there.

Haydn was alone at the forefront of the four-movement string quartet when he wrote these quartets in 1771; the fruitful back-and-forth with Mozart did not start until the years after his 1781 set of op.33 quartets. So he experiments on his own, although given the similarity in structure to op.9 (Moderato opening-Menuet-Adagio-Presto/Allegro Finale), the process might better be understood as one of maturing and cultivating the form, rather than experimenting with it. (Something Haydn was more prone to do in ‘wayward’ ways in his early symphonic writing.) The progress is very subtle (especially compared to the difference between the opp.1 & 2 Divertimentos and op.9, or op.17 and op.20), but when pointed out, the slow movements can be noticed to be more complex (“opera without words”), the instruments slightly more evenly weighed, the Menuets have less an entr’acte character, and there is a deliberate juxtaposition of extremes.

Recordings of these early quartets are slowly beginning to sprout, after they had been available only as part of complete surveys. That’s still the case with most of the choices, but at least the more recent additions to the Haydn String Quartet bonanza are also available separately. If some of the recordings mentioned below are not yet easily available in the US, they will be within due time. (Specifically the Arcana and Tacet labels are in the process of smoothing out North American distribution.)

The Auryn Quartet (Tacet) have a cultured elegance about them that is not to be mistaken for “boring”. It simply means that they produce a cultured sound, play in tune, and offer wonderful ensemble work in a generous acoustic. They, the London Haydn Quartet (Hyperion, HIP) and the Quatuor Festetics (Arcana, HIP) play all the repeats, unlike the completion. The latter HIP quartet, whose op.9 I commented on as being the work of “spirited amateurs” (which wasn’t actually meant derisively), are difficult to pin down; as a historical performance quartet, one might expect them to go into Haydn quartets with gusto and brisk speeds, but throughout op.17 they tend to be very leisurely. Their first movement of op.17/2 (Moderato) makes the Kodály Quartet (Naxos) sound like regular speed demons, which is a rare achievement. (The Naxos-Hungarians sound like they are vibrato-sailing through these works like on a big piece of butter.) But where the Buchberger Quartet (Brilliant, HIP) sounds as though they never had enough rehearsal time for op.17, the Festetics rarely leave something to be desired as regards intonation and coherence (the Presto of op.17/5 is a right mess, though). Their darkly sinewy tone (they are the only ones to tune down to A=421Hz)  is not conventionally beautiful in the way the Auryn’s or Kodály’s is, but much more satisfactory than the Buchberger’s.

The latter, though not without truly exciting moments, are just too uncouth. This has nothing to do with a choice of “excitement over prettiness”, it’s simply a matter of not playing consistently well in these op.17 quartets. The first violinist is downright sloppy in the faster movements and in that case the spacious, yet very dry acoustic doesn’t help. It’s a really a shame, because all that which is good about the Buchberger’s is very good; they do manage for a joyous liveliness that’s great fun and demonstrate individual moments of very involving ensemble work. But then they irritate and give it all away with some blunder again… like a murderously dragged op.17/4 Menuet. Yikes.

The slow, detached way of the London Haydn Quartet may not be to everyone’s taste, but it offers an intonation that no other ensemble matches even remotely. That’s not to say that all others are sloppy, nor even that such painstaking precision (the Hagen Quartett has nothing on these guys) is necessary. It isn’t. But it is impressive and very notable in direct comparison. Since they take all repeats, slow movements with them can take twice as long as with the repeat-skipping others. If your temperament allows you to move along leisurely through their finely honed exploration of Haydn, rather than scurry about in the assumption that blundering is historically more correct than sauntering, then the London Haydn Quartet and their finely nuanced performances could just be the ticket. Otherwise nuance could be their downfall: Anyone lacking the patience to hear their Adagios out might miss the fact that every detail—dynamics, phrasing, voicing—is lavished with extraordinary care. And lest anyone get the idea that they are only relaxed, their last movements are the fastest among these five groups; blazing feats that sacrifice none of the dead-on precision of their (truly) slow movements.

The Auryn offer the recording about which one can’t make any complaints; it has no kinks, no weaknesses, no extremes. It’s a celebration of feel-good Haydn without making it quite as obvious as the Kodály. The matter-of-fact playing of the Quatuor Festetics is difficult to pin down; spirited it may be, but not immune to sounding stodgy when they slow down: Their short-breathed phrasing can’t always withstand the slow tempos as well as the long-spun lines of the London Haydn Quartet can. Not just because it’s nice to get the repeats (I’m not ideological about it and in live performance might prefer an elegant incision, but for home-consumption this music lends itself to hearing in full) the choice would be between Auryn, LHQ, and Festetics for op.17. It’s a most ungrateful task, solvable only by choosing two: the Auryn for non-HIP beauty and moderation and the LHQ for their detail and remarkable contrast between furiously fast movements and their otherwise calm pace. Their thin-ish HIP sound is made up for with plenty elegance.

This continues “The String Quartets (Part 1)” and “The String Quartets (Part 2)“

See also:
Haydn 2009 – The Seven Last Words
Haydn 2009 – Fricsay’s Symphonies
Haydn 2009 – Minetti Quartet(t)
Haydn 2009 – Harmoniemesse

This continues “Creative Destruction”, Part 1

This Fall, the classical channel of Bavarian Broadcasting (BR) launches BR Klassik, a label for its own orchestras and choir. The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and one of the best orchestras in the world, the Munich Radio Orchestra (with its focus on light classical music, Italian opera, and educational work), and the Bavarian Radio Chorus now each have the opportunity to pick the finest performances in any given season and immortalize them on record. The model of LSO Live is behind this new venture, too, but there are significant differences. As a public radio station, with the aid of radio license fees and a cultural mission to fulfill, the BR already records all the concerts of its musical bodies. “Rather than having to decide beforehand what to record (with the subsequent pressure to publish it, no matter the result), the artists and artistic advisors can pick the best from the lot”, says Stefan Piendl, Label Manager of BR Klassik.  Among the first releases, Mahler and Bruckner Symphonies with Chief Conductor Mariss Jansons have been chosen. Like LSO Live, BR Klassik issues new releases in the Super Audio CD format with surround sound. But Piendl says that SACD is no dogma for the label, simply a matter of using the high definition surround master that the radio provides. “We broadcast in surround sound, so we might as well make use of that quality and put it on CD. But who knows what the future will hold, with the maturing of BluRay and the like.”

Bruckner, Sy. No.7, Jansons / BRSO

Frank Martin, Mass for Double Choir, Dijkstra / BR Chorus

K.A.Hartmann, Des Simplicius Simplicissimus Jugend, Schirmer / Gerhaher, Volle, Nylund, et al. / Munich RSO

Beethoven & Mozart, Piano Concertos No. 1 & 18, Argerich / Ozawa & Jochum / BRSO

Since the cost of recording is offset because BR records the concerts anyway, releasing rare and ‘difficult’, but artistically important works with modest commercial prospect is made much easier. “That makes it easier to offer recordings like Klaus Amadeus Hartmann’s Simplicius Simplicissimus with the Munich Radio Orchestra or the BR Chorus’ release of Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir”, Piendl explains, and points to the philosophy of the label, summarized by its motto: Those possessing treasures should share them. “Sharing our best musical moments, and to decide ourselves, independent of traditional labels and their naturally different criteria of what makes a successful release, was one of the main motivations behind the founding of BR Klassik.” Sharing treasures especially applies to the BR’s vast archives with an estimated 20,000 recordings accumulated over the last 60 years. Incorporating the who’s-who of classical music in memorable performances that were only once broadcast on radio, the Archives are going to be an essential source for BR Klassik. Three or four recordings from the vaults are projected to see the light every year, alongside a couple new releases from each musical body, for a total of ten, twelve releases annually.

American orchestras, kept out of the recording business for years due to the insurmountable challenges the unions (of musicians and especially stage hands) caused, have lately gotten back into the important business of attesting to their artistic virility by issuing new recordings. While the Minnesota, Cleveland, and Philadelphia Orchestras have managed to get record contracts with traditional labels again (BIS, DG, Ondine), others like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO Resound) and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO Classics) have taken the in-house label route, following the American forerunner in that field, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra that founded its own label as a platform for its Mahler cycle. All of them cater to the audiophile segment, including high resolution downloads, which will be the next big thing in the classical music market.

In that classical market BR Klassik (available world-wide, thanks to an international distribution deal with Naxos) is the latest example of the beauty of creative destruction. Out of the detritus of the old recording companies spring dozens of new labels with thousands of recordings, offering more choice and rarer works than were ever available. As we near the 10^thanniversary of the declaration of the industry’s imminent death, LSO Live and BR Klassik are emblematic of the astounding vitality of Beethoven & Co. on CD.

Part one was published on October 14th and can be found here.

The classical music industry has been declared dead several times over in the last few years, but it simply refuses to die. What is happening, however, is that it changes in many ways. The ways of recording, distribution, and promotion are changing, and the companies that once dominated the market have either adapted or faltered. But a new trend aims to keep classical recordings from becoming a taxidermist’s project.

As estimable names in the industry fall by the wayside, new models of production arise. One of the most successful projects has been the establishment of classical labels by orchestras. As exclusive contracts with the big labels—EMI, Deutsche Grammophon/Decca, Sony/RCA, Telarc/Warner—became scarce, and their recording projects fewer and fewer, orchestras thought of new ways to reach new audiences with new recordings. Recording technology had advanced significantly in the last 20 years so that recording concerts live is no longer just an inexpensive but inherently hampered way to preserve an otherwise un-replicable musical event. “Recording technology is so mobile that there are no qualitative differences between studio and live recordings”, says Chaz Jenkins, head of the London Symphony Orchestra’s own label, LSO Live. LSO Live was practically the first label of an orchestra to enter the market this way (the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s earlier effort was contained locally).

Macmillan, St.John Passion, Davis / Maltman / LSO & Chorus

Shostakovich, Symphony No.11, Rostropovich / LSO

Sibelius, Symphonies No.3 & 7, Davis / LSO

Berlioz, Les Troyens, Davis / Heppner, DeYoung, Mingardo, et al. / LSO & Chorus

Mr. Jenkins, one of the pioneers of the orchestra-record-label industry, has been with LSO Live from the first hour since its founding days in 2000. The concept of the label has by now been replicated by many other orchestras, which the London Orchestra’s efforts have paved the way for. The London Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Mariinsky, Hallé Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra (in a joint venture with Signum) now have their own labels, to mention just a few, and plenty of them have gotten advice and help from Jenkins and his team.

The goal of LSO Live was not to replicate what labels have done in the past, to do something different, and especially to catch the orchestra’s work in the concert hall. “With 2000 people in front of them, there’s a very different energy and emotion available” Jenkins explains the particular appeal of many of its releases. “When recording companies started to rely on re-releasing recordings, the alarm bells were ringing at the LSO. Concerts and education are core activities for the LSO, but a wider public cannot partake in that. Instead they just see an anemic record industry. If no new recordings are released, then the public starts to see the whole industry as dead, a museum-culture. But there is still plenty interest in concerts and no decline in audiences, so why assume that people are not also interested in new recordings? There should be Beethoven for and from each generation.”

Or Hector Berlioz, as it were. One of the main reasons to found the label and record around the turn of 1999 was the opportunity to record conductor Sir Colin Davis in one of his specialties, Berlioz’ orchestral and choral music, of which the then-music director of the LSO conducted a complete cycle. Success followed afoot. The first Grammy was awarded to the label in 2002 for the recording of Berlioz’ massive opera “Le Troyens”, which sold an astounding 100,000 copies. That grabbed attention for the label which has issued some 70 albums since and sold over three million copies. For the LSO, unlike traditional record companies, the label is not something that needs to be boosted with a marketing campaign, it is a marketing campaign.

Like subsequent orchestra-owned labels, LSO Live also made the decision to go for the small, but important audiophile market, recording in the multi-channel capable, high-resolution Super Audio CD format. “We decided early on to record in the best possible sound, even if only a few people listen to it the finest nuances that the SACD format catches. The quality of CD recordings is limited and our setup was going to be able to capture so much more, so we wanted to produce the best that technology can offer”, so Jenkins.

Part two will follow October 15th and can then be read here.

Earlier today it became official: Christian Thielemann has announced to sign a contract to be the next Music Director of the Staatskapelle Dresden starting 2012. This does not come entirely unsuspected—the orchestra and conductor have been considered a natural and likely fit since the news of Thielemann’s contract not being renewed in Munich first broke. (As reported here, here, and here.) But the news also comes at a time when there was increasing hope for a compromise in Munich that would finally end the kindergarten-level quarrel over responsibilities.

Great for Dresden

This is a coup for Dresden and the incoming Intendant Ulrike Hessler (who also comes from Munich, where she is currently head of public affairs for the Bavarian State Opera). With Christian Thielemann they have bagged the best German conductor, one who even detractors (of which there are many) will credit with having genial moments. Supporters grant him outright genius-status. Thielemann is perhaps the conductor with the greatest sense for a musical moment, as a former member of the Munich Philharmonic attests him, and with an uncommon sense for flexibility of tempos. In German opera, Thielemann is truly at home; everyone who has heard his Wagner in Bayreuth or Vienna knows it to be unsurpassed. And of course there is scarcely a better place for conducting his favorite opera composers Strauss and Wagner than Dresden with its rich history of performing their works.

It’s a fine match for Thielemann, indeed. The tradition of the orchestra caters to his musical preferences, he gets to conduct as much opera as he could possibly wish for (something he missed in Munich), the quality of the orchestra, even if it needs a little dusting off and molding, is easily superior to that of the Munich Philharmonic and the musical body has a traditional German, varnished sound that Thielemann likes.

Presumably the Dresden Staatskapelle, one of the oldest orchestras in the world, continuously performing for nearly 500 years, knows that Thielemann is a difficult character. And presumably they are aware that after the lukewarm years with Fabio Luisi as music director, he can help them attain once again a reputation and quality that will rival that of the very best orchestras in the world. If the combination of Staatskapelle-Thielemann-Hessler isn’t torpedoed by antagonism, the chance for Dresden to reign supreme in Thielemann’s—limited—repertoire is within close reach.

Loss for Munich

Munich critic Klaus Kalchschmid reacted to the news saying that he was “almost glad the back and forth is finally over. The orchestra will have a hard time finding a conductor of nearly the same quality and reputation who is willing to put up with them, but they have brought this on themselves and they will have to deal with it. The whole affair reflects poorly on everybody involved, but especially the orchestra. And the Munich concert goers are the ones that bear the brunt of that decision.” Politicians may get the blame for letting Thielemann go, but behind the scenes it was the orchestra that, well, orchestrated his departure by attempting to curtail his powers after a signature-ready contract had already been worked out, trying to force him to give up control over guest conductors and their repertoire.

That move was indicative of the discontent among a significant part of the musicians with Thielemann’s unwillingness to tolerate greatness beside him, but it was also indicative of their foolishness in thinking they could put as willful a man as Thielemann ‘in his place’. Even with two years time to find a successor it will be difficult to get a replacement that can achieve the levels of musicianship with this orchestra better known for its exaggerated opinion of its own capabilities than inherent quality. The prestigious CD and DVD contracts with Deutsche Grammophon and Unitel, a projected Ring Cycle and US tour will also go out of the window. Discussions about potential successors will abound; one of the most promising prospects circulated already is the possibility of attaining the services of Daniele Gatti who recently conducted one of the most impressive guest conducted concerts with the Philharmonic in years. Incidentally his contract at the Zurich opera house runs out in 2012, when none other than current Dresden’s music director Fabio Luisi will take over the Swiss opera house.

Dalbavie, Lutosławski et al., Piano Concertos, Andsnes / Welser-Möst / BRSO

EMI 64182 (76:06)

In those countries where (classical) CDs are still mainly sold in stores (see Deutsche Welle article), I fear the worst for Leif Ove Andsnes’ lastest recording, “Shadows of Silence”. Because CDs with more than two, sometimes three, composers, are filed under the artist or his instrument, they are removed from the main section (ordered by composer); are out of sight and easily out of mind. It would be such a shame, too, because “Shadows of Silence” is a brilliant recording of the Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994) and Marc-André Dalbavie (*1961, featured on NPR in 2006) Piano Concertos, with Bent Sørensen (*1958) and György Kurtág (*1926) bits thrown in as value-adding solo piano diversions. Nice as the Sørensen nocturnal “Lullabies” (3 min.) and “Shadows of Silence” (16 min.) are, and nimbly as the Kurtág “Játékok” selectins are dashed off, this should be filed under Lutosławski or Dalbavie.

The Lutosławski Concerto could remind you of anything from orderly Stravinsky to restrained Varèse, spiky Ravel or astringent Rachmaninov, without being derivative of any existing work. Written for Krystian Zimerman (with a recording on DG), this is the sixth recording of the work. Not the least thanks to the contribution of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst, it is the most convincing of those I have yet heard. (Those include Zimerman’s, Paul Crossley / Esa-Pekka Salonen / LA Phil on Sony, and Peter Paleczny / Antoni Wit / Polish RSO Katowice on Naxos but not Ewa Poblocka with the composer conducting on CD Accord, or Poblocka’s second recording with Kazimierz Kord, also on CD Accord.)

If you expect Boulez student Dalbavie to follow his teacher’s abstract and intellectual musical footsteps, you will be surprised. Sorely disappointed if you wanted hard core avant-garde, most pleasantly surprised if you feared it. Dalbavie is tossed into the group of spectralist composers (Hugues Dufourt’s term) which essentially means a modern European romantic composer. Think Tristan Murail, Peter Eötvös, Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho, and then soften it up a little further. Like in the Lutosławski, the clarity and ease of execution on the part of both, soloist and orchestra, allow all details to emerge with crystalline purity—yet nothing sounds ever analytical. Without a penchant for reasonably modern music (Bartók and beyond), this disc is not going to appeal… for those who think classical music still has a pulse, in the late 20^th, early 21^st century, this is their gift from EMI.

Andsnes will perform “Pictures Reframed”, his and Robin Rhode’s Musorgsky-Schumann-Larcher based multi-media project (YouTube preview) at the Terrace Theater on November 20^th. (WPAS, 7.30PM)

I wrote about Friedrich Kleinhapl’s upcoming Beethoven recital on Thursday, October 1st (7.30PM) at the Austrian Embassy earlier this week.

Thursday through Saturday, October 1st (7PM), 2nd (8PM), and 3rd (8PM), the NSO will attempt to entertain with Beethoven’s sometimes rousing, sometimes dozy “Pastoral” Symphony, and then undoubtedly jolt things with Bartók’s Wooden Prince. Like all concerts under Iván Fischer, this should be self-recommending. (Kennedy Center Concert Hall)

Speaking of Bartók: The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop will be challenged in his Concerto for Orchestra after having the folk ensemble Harmonia set the mood with traditional music of the kind Bartók collected and incorporated. After that, the ears will be soothed by James Ehnes with Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Thursday, October 1st at Strathmore (8PM), the 2nd (8PM), 3rd (8PM), and 4th (3PM) at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

The opportunity to hear a Sackbutt ensemble should never be missed, if only to rid yourself of possibly embarrassing misunderstandings. Admission to the Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble concert on October 2nd (8PM) at the George Mason University Center for the Arts is free, to boot.

The nation’s self declared premiere baroque chorus and orchestra, the Washington Bach Consort, should be held to its own high standards when they will perform Bach’s b-minor Mass at the National Presbyterian Church on Sunday, October 4th (3PM).

Then again, the musical event to choose on October 4th is probably the Jupiter String Quartet’s appearance at the Corcoran Gallery (4PM). They have made a name for themselves with astounding performances in DC, and I still remember their first appearance at the Corcoran four years ago very fondly.

Don’t forget the monthly Bach lunch-time-sanctuary that the Washington Bach Consort provides every first Tuesday of the month. October 6th (noon), free, and at the Church of the Epiphany. This Tuesday, they will perform BWV 18, “Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt”.

Thursday October 8th (7PM), Saturday the 10th (8PM), and Sunday the 11th (1.30PM) one of the greatest, most musical active pianists—Nelson Freire—will grace the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, performing Brahms’ d-minor Piano Concerto (No.1, op.15). The National Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Ludovic Morlot. The concerto comes coupled with Martinů’s The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca and another Francesca, the one from Rimini, courtesy Tchaikovsky. [Update: Performing will be Markus Groh, instead. Freire is, sadly, sadly, sadly, out with the flu.]

The Washington National Opera will perform two of its productions this month, Falstaff and Ariadne auf Naxos. Falstaff (first performance October 10th, 7PM) is an opera that manages at once to be both one of Verdi’s best, and one of Verdi’s most overrated. I know I always expect too much of it, but I never don’t like it, either. With singers like Alan Opie, Elizabeth Bishop, Nancy Maultsby, and Tamara Wilson, it is reasonable to have high expectations, though. Ariadne’s doesn’t, on paper, look quite as promising—except that Lyobov Petrova will take on the dominating role of Zerbinetta and judging from her previous performances in Washington (“Femmes au bord de la Crise de nerfs” and “L’Italiana”) she’ll be an absolute blast. (First performance October 24th, 7PM.)

For me, Blandine Rannou’s appearance at La Maison Française on October 13th (7.30PM) is the highlight of the month. I absolutely adore the sound of her instrument, her playing, and just about all her recordings. To hear her play Couperin (Louis, François, Armand-Louis), Jean-Baptiste Forqueray, and Claude-Bénigne Balbastre should be pure bliss.

Sheer curiosity and a touch of the perverse should drive you to hear what Christopher Taylor makes of the Goldberg Variations with a “special instrument that combines the harpsichord’s ability to double its keyboard with the sonority of a modern Steinway”. Sounds potentially horrifying and equally intriguing, and it happens at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater on October 14th, 7.30PM.

The idea of free Bach seems to catch on. If you live near the Clarice Smith Center, the 1.30PM performance of the Bach Cantata Series of Cantata BWV 1 “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” might be worth checking out on October 15th.

This isn’t classical at all, but I love Bill Frisell and how you can’t pin him down to any one style. Jazz? Blues? Funk? October 16th, Terrace Theater, 7.30PM and 9.30PM.

Murray Perahia’s WPAS organized performance at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Saturday, October 17th (4PM ) is self recommending. He will play Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann.

If you can’t get a ticket or are not into Chopin at all, the Cantate Chamber Singers offer an alternative of contemporary music I find worth mentioning for its inclusion of James McMillan’s Cantos Sagrados. 7PM at St. John’s Norwood Parish in Chevy Chase.

And if that isn’t hip enough for you, Christopher O’Riley will offer his pianistic mélange of Radiohead and Nirvana at the Barns at Wolf Trap the same day at 7.30PM.

Richard Stoltzman still performs? Apparently. With the National Philharmonic under Piotr Gajewski, in a wonderful program of Mozart’s and Copland’s Clarinet Concerto. At Strathmore also on October 17th (8PM).

Haydn, Shostakovich, and Beethoven from the Belcea Quartet should well be worth considering a trip to Baltimore’s Shriver Hall on Sunday, October 18th (5.30PM). If you are at the free concert of the National Gallery of Art that day, instead (6.30PM) you will be able to hear a piano trio by one of my favorite little known composers, Joseph Jongen, performed by the National Gallery Piano Trio.

Meet the opera that gave name to one of the most important and famous baroque ensembles: Charpentier’s Les Arts Florissants is coming to town, courtesy Opera Lafayette. The performance takes place at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater on Monday, October 19th at 7.30PM, features the indefatigable François Loup, and is a sublime 70 minutes short. The same night a chamber music alternative awaits with the Eroica Quartet (“and Friends”) in one of the free concerts at the Library of Congress featuring Mendelssohn’s Octet and Spohr’s double quartet. (8PM)

Wonderful singers stop by Washington in October: On the 22nd (8PM) Ben Heppner in an all German program with the NSO conducted by Edo de Waart). On the 23rd (7.30PM) Dawn Upshaw in a recital at Strathmore. And on October 24th (Howard Community College, Smith Theater, 8PM) and October 25th (National Gallery of Art, 6:30PM) Emma Kirkby will bring Dowland and Purcell to our ears.