Oct. 10, 11 & 12
Jean-Yves Thibaudet + The Three-Cornered Hat
About This Concert
Composed during a vacation in Cairo, Saint-Saëns’s crowd-pleasing Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian runs the gamut from delicate grace to powerhouse virtuosity. Beloved for his captivating mix of dramatic flair and tour-de-force brilliance, Jean-Yves Thibaudet will leave you spellbound. And, castanets click, fiery flamenco rhythms blaze, and sensuous sonic colors saturate the stage in a rare complete performance of Manuel de Falla’s exuberant The Three-Cornered Hat.
What To Expect?
Showstopping piano fireworks + irresistible Spanish dance music = A guaranteed feel-good night, bridging classical virtuosity with foot-stamping fiesta.
Filled with flamenco rhythms, and based on a lighthearted story about a lusty magistrate, a miller, and his wife, Manuel de Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat is a non-stop delight packed with playful energy.
Superstar pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet dazzles with “sophistication and suavity, clarity and freedom” (The New York Times)
Program
FALLA
La vida breve: Interlude and Danza Española No. 1
FALLA
La vida breve: ¡Vivan los que rien!
SAINT-SAËNS
Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, Egyptian
FALLA
El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat)
Tickets
In-Hall Tickets
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Friday, Oct. 10
7:30 P.M. at Jones Hall
Saturday, Oct. 11
7:30 P.M. at Jones Hall
Sunday, Oct. 12
2:00 P.M. at Jones Hall
Livestream Access
Saturday, Oct. 11
7:30 P.M. at Jones Hall
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Your Music. Your Season. Your Way.
Pick 3 or more concerts and enjoy big savings with our Pick Your Own Subscriptions. Choose your favorite performances — in-hall or livestream — and save up to 43%.
Click Here to Start Saving
Artists

Gonzalo Farias
conductor
View Biography

Jean-Yves Thibaudet
piano
View Biography

Sara Couden
contralto
View Biography
Sponsors
General and Mrs. Maurice Hirsch Memorial Concert Fund
Underwriter
Video enhancement of Houston Symphony concerts is made possible by the Albert & Ethel Herzstein Foundation through a special gift celebrating the foundation's 50th anniversary in 2015
Extras
Additional Information
Doors Open:
60 mins. pre-concert
Prelude:
45 mins. pre-concert
Duration
Approx. 120 mins.
Intermission
20 mins.
Age Limit
Age 6+
Visitor Info
Parking and Directions
Learn More >In-Hall Experience
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Jean-Yves Thibaudet
piano
Through elegant musicality and an insightful approach to contemporary and established repertoire, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has earned a reputation as one of the world’s finest pianists. He is especially known for his diverse interests beyond the classical world, including numerous collaborations in film, fashion, and visual art. He is a devoted educator and the first-ever Artist-in-Residence at the Colburn School, which awards several scholarships in his name.
A prolific recording artist, Thibaudet has appeared on more than 70 albums and six film scores; his extensive catalog has received two Grammy nominations, two ECHO Awards, the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the Diapason d’Or, the CHOC du Monde de la Musique, the Edison Prize, and Gramophone awards. His recent recordings include Khachaturian, a celebration of the Armenian composer’s works including his Piano Concerto and several solo piano pieces; Gershwin Rhapsody, a selection of Gershwin pieces recorded with Michael Feinstein, including four newly discovered ones; and Carte Blanche, a collection of deeply personal solo piano pieces never before recorded by the pianist. He is the soloist on Dario Marianelli’s recently reissued score for Pride & Prejudice; his playing can also be head on Marianelli’s score for Atonement, Alexandre Desplat’s scores for The French Dispatch and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, and Aaron Zigman’s score for Wakefield.
Jean-Yves Thibaudet was born in Lyon, France, where he began his piano studies at age five and made his first public appearance at age seven. At 12, he entered the Paris Conservatory to study with Aldo Ciccolini and Lucette Descaves, a friend and collaborator of Ravel. Among his numerous commendations is the Victoire d’Honneur, a lifetime career achievement award and the highest honor given by France’s Victoires de la Musique. In 2010, the Hollywood Bowl honored Thibaudet for his musical achievements by inducting him into its Hall of Fame. Previously a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Thibaudet was awarded the title Officier by the French Ministry of Culture in 2012. In 2020, he was named Special Representative for the promotion of French Creative and Cultural Industries in Romania.

Sara Couden
contralto
Praised by Opera News for her “unusually rich and resonant” voice, contralto Sara Couden is a premier interpreter of operatic, orchestral, chamber, and song repertoire. Her 2025–26 season includes a debut with Detroit Opera as Rita in Poul Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Tale; a debut with the Houston Symphony in selections from La vida breve; a role and house debut as Ježibaba (Rusalka) with Pacific Northwest Opera; Die Hexe/Die Mutter (Hänsel und Gretel) with Lakes Area Music Festival; and appearances with the St. Louis Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and Tucson Symphony as the Alto Soloist in Händel’s Messiah.
Couden’s latest triumphs include her San Francisco Opera debut as Rita (The Handmaid’s Tale), a return to the Metropolitan Opera to cover Mrs. Sedley (Peter Grimes), her debut appearance in recital at the Manchester Music Festival, and a role debut as Baba the Turk (The Rake’s Progress) with Lakes Area Music Festival; as well as company debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra as Mother/Chinese Cup/Dragon Fly (L’Enfant et les sortilèges), the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as the Alto Soloist in Julia Perry’s Stabat Mater, the Seattle Symphony in Händel’s Messiah, and the California Symphony in songs by Mahler. Couden also recently released her debut solo album, the Complete Vocal Works of Artur Schnabel, on the Steinway & Sons label.
Highlights from previous seasons include her debut with the Metropolitan Opera as Tetka (Jenufa) and Albine (Thaïs), as well as returns to Carnegie Hall as the Alto Soloist in Karl Jenkins’s Stabat Mater and to the Met to cover Erste Magd (Elektra) and Marta and Pantalis (Mefistofele). She also made role debuts as Ottavia (L’Incoronazione di Poppea) and Nurse in Dukas’s Ariane et Barbe-Bleue with West Edge Opera, Juno (Semele) and Marquise de Berkenfeld (La Fille du Régiment) with St. Petersburg Opera, Israelitish Man (Judas Maccabaeus) with Philharmonia Baroque, Ormindo (Ermelinda) with Ars Minerva, Dejanira (Hercules) at the Staunton Music Festival, and Testo in Stradella’s La Susanna with Heartbeat Opera and Opera Lafayette.

conductor
Gonzalo Farias
Gonzalo Farias, Associate Conductor of the Houston Symphony, is an imaginative and engaging orchestral leader, award-winning pianist, and dedicated educator. Praised for his “clear, engaging style with a lyrical, almost Zen-like quality,” he is recognized as “a focused, musical artist who knows what he wants and how to get it—with grace and substance.”
He has held conducting posts with the Kansas City Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. As Music Director of the Joliet Symphony Orchestra, he strengthened community connections through innovative programming, pre-concert lectures, and bilingual collaborations, including a narrated performance of Bizet’s Carmen.
Recent and upcoming appearances include the Nashville Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Buffalo Philharmonic, Tallahassee Symphony, and the Houston Symphony, where in 2024 he conducted the world premiere of Arturo Márquez’s Guitar Concerto with Pablo Sainz-Villegas.
He was one of six conductors chosen for the prestigious Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, presented by the League of American Orchestras, and was appointed by the National Endowment for the Arts as a grant review panelist.
Born in Santiago de Chile, Farias began piano studies at age five. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and continued his education at the New England Conservatory, studying under Wha-Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman. He has won prizes at the Claudio Arrau International Piano Competition, Maria Canals, and Luis Sigall competitions. His conducting mentors include Donald Schleicher, Marin Alsop, Larry Rachleff, and Otto-Werner Mueller.
Beyond performance, Farias is committed to reimagining music as a force for personal growth, dialogue, cooperation, and community-building. His doctoral dissertation, Logical Predictions and Cybernetics, examines Cornelius Cardew’s The Great Learning to explore music-making as a self-organizing system. Influenced by Zen Buddhist practice and second-order cybernetics, he views music as a shared space where performers and audiences co-create meaning, reflecting on our shared human condition.