Sala: Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas

Jukka-Pekka Saraste conducts the Dallas Symphony in a Sibelius tone poem and a Shostakovich symphony, both works of great tragedy.

Two minor key works, performed before a – limited – live audience in Dallas, and streamed online. 

With an artistic director forced to cancel in the middle of a weekend of concerts, duty called on his assistant conductor - and she clearly had done her homework.

Extreme dynamics explored in Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé and Boléro presented by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Jaap van Zweden, complemented by Louis Lortie's Mozart. 

Dallas Symphony Orchestra, led by Jaap van Zweden and featuring baritone Matthias Goerne, performed music by Britten, Mahler, and Brahms, in a concert where not enough was ultimately said, despite a strong return from Goerne.

The Dallas Symphony, now in its sixth season under Music Director Jaap van Zweden, welcomed his predecessor Andrew Litton back to conduct a weekend of Stravinsky and Saint-Saëns (music from two ballets and a violin concerto, respectively).

For the first time in recent memory, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra presented a program this weekend without any blockbuster audience-favorite to be found on it.

After a series of Pops concerts featuring John Williams’ film scores, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra returned to standard classical fare this weekend with Canadian guest conductor Julian Kuerti. Debussy’s Ibéria never really got off the ground, but Mr Kuerti and the DSO had better luck in music by Joaquín Rodrigo and Prokofiev.