HOUSTON (Jan. 15, 2019) – Houston Symphony Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada leads the orchestra in Ravel’s La valse Jan. 24 and 26 at 8 p.m. and Jan. 27 at 2:30 p.m. at Jones Hall. Written by the composer of the famed Boléro, La valse is Ravel’s tribute to a bygone Vienna, opening with a musical depiction of whirling clouds that reveal waltzing couples. The waltz rhythms become increasingly dramatic and urgent, sweeping everything before them by the piece’s end.
Continuing the Viennese theme, Orozco-Estrada welcomes Latvian violin virtuoso Baiba Skride to perform Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto, composed in an opulently lyric, Romantic style, reminiscent of turn-of-the-century Vienna. Originally premiered by the legendary Jascha Heifetz, Korngold’s Violin Concerto is renowned for its dazzling virtuosity and warmth, and is one of the most treasured in the violin repertoire.
In this program, Orozco-Estrada continues his comprehensive exploration of Charles Ives’ Symphony No. 4. Having led the first two movements in previous concerts this season, Orozco-Estrada opens the evening with the expressive third movement, Fugue, of Ives’ symphony.
Orozco-Estrada opens the second half of the program with Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements—one of Stravinsky’s most significant works composed during World War II. Written while Stravinsky was rescoring his ground-breaking ballet The Rite of Spring, the Symphony in Three Moments was inevitably influenced by the more famous score. Ravel’s fiery and show-stopping La valse closes out the evening.
Ravel’s La valse sponsored by Frost Bank takes place at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street, in Houston’s Theater District. For tickets and information, please call (713) 224-7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday–Saturday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.
RAVEL’S LA VALSE
Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019, 8 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019, 2:30 p.m.
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, conductor
Baiba Skride, violin.
Ives: Symphony No. 4, Fugue
Korngold: Violin Concerto
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
Ravel: La valse
About Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Houston Symphony Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada began his tenure in the 2014–15 season. He immediately established a dynamic presence on the podium and a deep bond with the musicians of the orchestra. He carefully curates his programs to feature engaging combinations of classical masterworks paired with the music of today, significant artistic collaborations with composers and guest artists, and innovative use of multimedia and visual effects, all in order to make meaningful connections with the audience.
In the 2017–18 season, Orozco-Estrada continued to engage with audiences both with casual commentary from the stage and discussions with guests in “Behind the Scenes with Andrés” videos. Upon the commercial release of the critically acclaimed Dvořák series featuring the composer’s last four symphonies, he and the orchestra recently released a Haydn—The Creation recording in collaboration with the Houston Symphony Chorus and a Music of the Americas disc featuring Gershwin’s An American in Paris, Revueltas’ Sensemayá, Piazzolla’s Tangazo and Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.
Born in Medellín, Colombia, Andrés began his musical studies on the violin and started conducting at age 15. At 19, he entered the renowned Vienna Music Academy, where he studied with Uroš Lajovic (pupil of the legendary Hans Swarowsky), and completed his degree with distinction conducting the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein. Andrés burst onto the international scene with two substitutions with the Vienna Philharmonic: the first, his debut in 2010, standing in for Esa-Pekka Salonen, and then in 2012, substituting for Riccardo Muti at the Musikverein. Andrés now regularly appears with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome, the Orchestre National de France, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
His engagements for the 2017-18 season featured debuts at the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and the Staatskapelle Dresden with two concerts at the Salzburg Easter Festival. As a guest, he performed once again with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and with the Vienna Philharmonic, which he led on a tour to Paris and Budapest. In June 2018, he toured Asia for two weeks with his Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to his post in Houston, Andrés is chief conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He was recently named music director of the Vienna Symphony as of the 2021-2022 season.
About Baiba Skride
Baiba Skride is consistently invited to prestigious orchestras throughout the world for her refreshing interpretations, sensitivity and delight in music. She has collaborated with many renowned conductors, including Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Christoph Eschenbach, Marin Alsop, Ed Gardner, Susanna Mälkki, Andris Nelsons, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Vasily Petrenko, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Tugan Sokhiev, John Storgårds, Osmo Vänskä and Simone Young.
Highlights of this season include her return to the Munich Philharmonic, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as this orchestra and others in Baltimore, Toronto, Vancouver and Utah. In the spring, she performs the world premiere of Sebastian Currier’s violin concerto and tours with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra to Spain, Japan and China. Baiba also celebrates the Spanish premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Triple Concerto with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia. Recently, she returned to the NHK Symphony Orchestra with Jukka-Pekka Saraste and performed Bernstein’s Serenade at the Tanglewood Music Festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons before embarking on a European tour with the same partners.
An internationally sought-after chamber musician, Baiba joins her Skride Quartet (with Lauma Skride, Harriet Krijgh and Lise Berthaud) this season in Europe and on a U.S. tour in March. She also performs with Daniel Müller-Schott and Xaiver de Maistre in Innsbruck, Budapest, Hanover and Düsseldorf. Baiba adds to her prolific discography this season with a recording featuring Bernstein, Korngold and Rózsa with the Gothenburg Symphony and Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Rouvali; a recording of Bartók with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne and Eivind Aadland; and the debut recording of the Skride Quartet, all under the Orfeo label.
Baiba was born into a musical Latvian family in Riga where she began her studies. After transferring to the Rostock University of Music and Theatre, she studied with Professor Munteanu. In 2001, she won first prize in the Queen Elisabeth Competition. She plays the Yfrah Neaman Stradivarius loaned to her by the Neaman family through the Beare’s International Violin Society.
About the Houston Symphony
During the 2018-19 season, the Houston Symphony celebrates its fifth season with Music Director Andrés Orozco- Estrada and continues its second century as one of America’s leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring and recording activities. The Houston Symphony, one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $33.9 million, the full-time ensemble of 88 professional musicians presents nearly 170 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Additionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony’s four Community-Embedded Musicians offer over 900 community-based performances each year, reaching thousands of people in Greater Houston.
The Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony has recorded under various prestigious labels, including Naxos, Koch International Classics, Telarc, RCA Red Seal, Virgin Classics and, most recently, Dutch recording label PENTATONE. In 2017, the Houston Symphony was awarded an ECHO Klassik award for the live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck under the direction of former Music Director Hans Graf. The orchestra earned its first Grammy nomination and Grammy Award at the 60th annual ceremony for the same recording in the Best Opera Recording category.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Eric Skelly: (713) 337-8560, eric.skelly@houstonsymphony.org
Mireya Reyna: (713) 337-8557, mireya.reyna@houstonsymphony.org
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