If the Houston Symphony’s 2025-26 season opening weekend was intended to showcase virtuosity, that objective was clearly met. The program of three “big orchestra” works provided ample opportunities for the musicians to display their talents to an audience that was highly receptive to the music on offer. It was also an opportunity to celebrate the recently-announced three-year extension of Juraj Valčuha’s contract as Music Director.
Florent Schmitt’s monumental Psalm XLVII calls for an eight-part mixed chorus, soprano solo and organ in addition to an oversized symphony orchestra employing loads of percussion. The musical forces required make it a financial and logistical challenge to mount; indeed, the last time this work had been performed in North America was in 2019. The Psalm is a piece with undeniable audience appeal, and the musicians did their best to deliver a thoroughly convincing presentation. Valčuha’s interpretation played up the score’s savage aspects, reminding us that the Jewish race is one of oriental tribal roots. The Houston Symphony Chorus (augmented by the Houston Chamber Choir) delivered sharp attacks, precision ensemble and decent French diction (not always a given in performances of this score).
In the outer sections of the piece, Valčuha kept the pace moving, providing a satisfying forward propulsion to the music, while in the contrasting middle section, soprano Angel Blue sang a rapturous rendition of the Psalm of Psalms. Valčuha achieved good balances between the soprano, 100+ member chorus and massive orchestra. If there was one drawback to the presentation, it was with the disappointingly underpowered electronic organ.
In a nod to more familiar orchestral fare, Stravinsky’s ever-popular Firebird Suite was also presented. The original ballet was premiered by the Ballets Russes in Paris in 1910, and therein lies an interesting connection with Florent Schmitt. The ties between the two composers were particularly close in those days, and both men were then under the influence of Rimsky-Korsakov.
The HSO presented Stravinsky’s 1945 version of the ballet suite. Valčuha delivered a probing reading of a score that can sometimes be treated to a “once over lightly” run-through. Instead, the conductor brought many musical insights to light. The Dance of the Princesses had a featherweight lightness that suggested France as much as Russia, while the atmospherics in the dark opening section as well as in the Berceuse were spellbinding in their effect. Throughout, solo instrumental passages were adroitly navigated, adding to the special appeal of this presentation.
The concert’s opening work was the world premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Liberty Bell, a co-commission of the HSO and the symphony orchestras of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Nashville. The composer is perhaps best-known as a co-founder of the fusion music collective Bang on a Can, formed in 1987. Wolfe describes Liberty Bell as epitomizing a “messy, boisterous, ongoing, interlocking struggle”. The orchestra’s performance fully met the moment, but was the musical content worth the effort? The piece is full of tone clusters, pounding rhythms, ever-present percussion... and bells, lots of bells. A smattering of repetitious phrases reminded one of minimalism – not to mention other “generic-modern” characteristics that border on the cliché. With the string sections having little to do, the piece seems more suited for a wind ensemble than a symphony orchestra.