On March 29, 30 and 31, the Houston Symphony presents Carl Orff’s spectacular masterpiece, Carmina Burana. Houston Symphony Principal Cello Brinton Averil Smith opens the concert with d’Albert’s passionate Cello Concerto. In this post, discover this virtuoso cello showpiece and the stormy love-life of the composer who wrote it. Get tickets and more information here. Even … Continued
On March 15, 16 and 17, classical superstar Joshua Bell returns to the Houston Symphony to play/conduct an all-Beethoven program. In this post, discover Beethoven’s delightful Fourth Symphony, a lighthearted masterpiece full of mischievous musical jokes. Get tickets and more information here. Though the sketchbook for Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony has been lost, surviving evidence suggests that Beethoven … Continued
On March 15, 16 and 17, classical superstar Joshua Bell returns to the Houston Symphony to play/conduct an all-Beethoven program. In this post, discover Beethoven’s one-and-only Violin Concerto, one of his most deeply-felt and satisfying masterpieces. Get tickets and more information here. In 1794, the 14-year-old prodigy Franz Clement was already long-established as one of … Continued
On March 8, 9 and 10, the Houston Symphony presents a delectable all-French program featuring mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and Debussy’s La mer. In this post, discover how Debussy’s masterpiece revolutionized orchestral music. Get tickets and more information here. Revolutionaries are often brash, noisy characters, iconoclasts intent on shattering traditions; Debussy, however, was a quiet revolutionary. Rather than … Continued
On March 8, 9 and 10, the Houston Symphony presents a delectable all-French program featuring mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, Debussy’s La mer and other French musical masterpieces. In this post, discover Roussel’s Suite from Le Festin d’araignée (The Spider’s Feast), a gem of impressionist ballet. Get tickets and more information here. One of the leading French composers of … Continued
On March 8, 9 and 10, the Houston Symphony presents a delectable all-French program featuring mezzo-soprano Susan Graham singing one of her signature pieces: Berlioz’ Les nuits d’été. In this post, discover how Berlioz’ turbulent personal life may have influenced this gorgeous, Romantic song cycle. Get tickets and more information here. After years of stalking his celebrity … Continued
On March 8, 9 and 10, the Houston Symphony presents a delectable all-French program featuring mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and Debussy’s La mer. Berlioz’ spirited Overture to Béatrice et Bénédict opens the concerts. In this post, discover how Shakespeare inspired Berlioz’ final operatic masterpiece. Get tickets and more information here. The Gospel saying that “No prophet … Continued
Above: Detail from Monet’s The Houses of Parliament, Sunset. On November 29 and December 1 and 2, the Houston Symphony welcomes renowned conductor Edo de Waart to Jones Hall for a performance of Elgar’s noble and passionate Symphony No. 1. Learn more about this masterpiece and the context that inspired it in this post. The … Continued
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
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
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
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
This November, the Houston Symphony is mixing things up with The Seven Deadly Sins, a playfully provocative program put together by acclaimed guest conductor Bramwell Tovey. “Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins with Storm Large was our starting point,” Tovey explained. “Kurt Weill was a German-Jewish refugee who escaped the Nazis and eventually became a U.S. citizen. … Continued
Above: Detail from John William Waterhouse’s Miranda–The Tempest. On October 26, 27 and 28, acclaimed guest conductor Fabien Gabel leads Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, a program of musical storytelling featuring works by Tchaikovsky, Korngold and Bernard Herrmann. Learn more about Tchaikovsky’s The Tempest, a vivid tone poem inspired by Shakespeare’s famous play that will be featured on … Continued
On October 26, 27 and 28, acclaimed guest conductor Fabien Gabel leads Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, featuring violinist Karen Gomyo. In this post, learn more about Tchaikovsky’s Romantic masterpiece and the surprising relationship that inspired it. Tchaikovsky wrote his Violin Concerto in March 1878 while staying amid the breathtaking mountains of Clarens, Switzerland on Lake Geneva. The … Continued
On October 26, 27 and 28, acclaimed guest conductor Fabien Gabel leads Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, a program of musical storytelling featuring works by Tchaikovsky, Korngold and Bernard Herrmann. Learn more about innovative film composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold and his swashbuckling Suite from The Sea Hawk, which concludes the program. Erich Wolfgang Korngold began his career as … Continued
On October 18, 20 and 21, legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman returns to the Houston Symphony for our Perlman Plays and Conducts program. In addition to performing Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor, Perlman will also conduct Mozart’s powerful Symphony No. 40 in G minor. Learn more about this unsurpassed masterpiece in this post. Mozart composed his magnificent … Continued
On October 18, 20 and 21, legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman returns to the Houston Symphony for our Perlman Plays and Conducts program. In addition to performing Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor, Perlman will also conduct Schumann’s Symphony No. 4. In this post, learn more Schumann and this fascinating work. Though Robert Schumann’s Symphony in D minor is … Continued
On October 18, 20 and 21, legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman returns to the Houston Symphony to perform Bach’s exquisite Violin Concerto in A minor as part of our Perlman Plays and Conducts program. In this post, learn how this gem of the violin repertoire was preserved for posterity thanks to one special coffeehouse. The earliest … Continued
Above: Image adapted from artwork by Saul Bass for the theatrical release poster of Vertigo. On October 26, 27 and 28, acclaimed guest conductor Fabien Gabel leads Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, a program of musical storytelling featuring works by Tchaikovsky, Korngold and Bernard Herrmann. Learn more about innovative film composer Bernard Herrmann and his haunting Suite … Continued