7 Reasons to See The Seven Deadly Sins

This November, the Houston Symphony gives you the rare chance to experience Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s 1933 ballet chanté (“sung ballet”), The Seven Deadly Sins, live in concert. Part classical, part cabaret, with catchy tunes galore and plenty of sharp satire, it’s a remarkable fusion of popular entertainment and high art from two 20th … Continued

Drums of War: Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3

On November 29 and December 1 and 2, the Houston Symphony welcomes world-renowned pianist Garrick Ohlsson back to Jones Hall for Ohlsson Plays Beethoven, a program featuring Beethoven’s dramatic Piano Concerto No. 3. Learn more about this fiery masterpiece and the events that may have inspired it in this post. The earliest sketch for Beethoven’s … Continued

Gazing into the Void: Brahms’ Symphony No. 4

Above: Detail from Caspar David Friedrich’s Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. This Thanksgiving weekend, the Houston Symphony performs a program of music by composers associated with Vienna: Mozart, Brahms and Suppé. Learn more about Brahms’ powerful Symphony No. 4, a work of profound depth that many critics regard as his greatest masterpiece. During the summers … Continued

Workin’ for the Money: Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins

On November 2, 3 and 4, the Houston Symphony welcomes renowned conductor Bramwell Tovey and vocalist Storm Large back to Jones Hall for The Seven Deadly Sins, a playfully provocative program of works by Strauss, Scriabin and Weill. Learn more about The Seven Deadly Sins, Weimar Germany’s swan song, in this post. Born in 1900 to a German-Jewish … Continued

Body and Soul: Scriabin’s The Poem of Ecstasy

Above: Detail from Odilon Redon’s Pandora. On November 2, 3 and 4, the Houston Symphony welcomes renowned conductor Bramwell Tovey back to Jones Hall for The Seven Deadly Sins, a playfully provocative program of works by Strauss, Scriabin and Weill. Learn more about the spiritual and sensual sides of Scriabin’s The Poem of Ecstasy in this … Continued

Dance for me, Salome: Strauss’s Dance of the Seven Veils

On November 2, 3 and 4, the Houston Symphony welcomes renowned conductor Bramwell Tovey back to Jones Hall for The Seven Deadly Sins, a playfully provocative program of works by Strauss, Scriabin and Weill. Learn more about Salome’s Dance (also known as The Dance of the Seven Veils) from Strauss’s scandalous opera Salome in this post. One … Continued