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The Houston Symphony showed the many sides of Bach in a festive performance over the Easter weekend.

Listening to arrangements of Bach is like Dostoevsky’s challenge not to think about polar bears. It’s best to put the Bach out of your thoughts, even if “the cursed thing will come to mind every minute.”

Brinton Averil Smith, the Symphony's principal cello, approached Haydn's D major Concerto with bold courage and passionate, if inconsistently manufactured, strokes.

In a failed mash-up, the Houston Symphony performed only the first movement (the three-minute “Prelude: Maestoso”) of Ives’ Fourth Symphony and continued attacca into the 80 minutes of Mahler's "Resurrection."

Houston Symphony’s program starring John Corigliano’s Conjurer: Concerto for Percussionist and String Orchestra and Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé crept through mists.

When a hurricane floods your symphony hall, and you have to scrap and replace programs according to new venues and limited rehearsal time – all with an aim to soothe a city in distress – what do you play?

In a program of vivid Italian work, violinist Elina Välhälä, performing Corigliano's violin concerto, seemed to transform into a formidable sprite.

In a program with Chabrier’s España and Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat, the Houston Symphony ambitiously unearthed Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Cello Concerto, last heard at its premiere with the New York Philharmonic in 1935.

On a program with unusually slow tempos in Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony and Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides, Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter gave a cursory performance of Mendelssohn's First Piano Concerto.

While passion, supreme technical mastery, and inspiration all come to mind watching a celebrity like Ma perform, camaraderie, perhaps, is the best word for this concert.

In the year of the composer's 70th birthday, Adams’ Doctor Atomic Symphony had everyone sitting up straighter. 

In his Houston Symphony debut, Behzod Abduraimov holds court with Beethoven, even though the orchestra couldn't quite match him. 

Fluidity defines Daniil Trifonov's style, even while he navigates different realities.

Houston Symphony’s Creation was not pristine, but it caught the emotion overall so well that perhaps the out-of-place details don’t matter.

It’s curious to program an opening night with second-fiddle work; at least I thought so until this Strauss.

As long as the beginning and the end of a performance come together, will anyone remember the grievances in between? 

More than today’s expert on Brahms, Ax promotes a revolutionary approach to the soloist persona: the soloist who is a chamber musician first and a diva second. 

It is odd to pair a seven-minute world première with a 72-minute Mahler Symphony, but there is so much life packed in to John Corigliano’s STOMP for Orchestra, that the two halves of Houston Symphony Orchestra’s concert felt surprisingly well balanced.

From the American national anthem to An American in Paris and back to New York City for West Side Story with Joshua Bell, Stravinksy’s Firebird stuck out as the most remarkable piece on the program.

A Mozart symphony in the second half of this Houston Symphony concert could hardly compete with Augustin Hadelich playing Bartók. 

Soprano Amber Wagner debuts with a flair that reminds us that Verdi's Requiem has dramatic roots.

A lively program with soloist Martin Fröst, in his HS debut, leaving a deep impression in Copland.

Hans Graf conducts the Houston Sympony and proves even a line-up of symphonic favorites can be foiled by a tepid tempo.

A pleasant program of reliably joyful pieces, conducted by a true master.

Who would have thought a program of water sprites and revolutions spanning 200 years could be so seamless? 

Houston Symphony's Andrés Orozco-Estrada brings remarkable intention to Mozart's sacred masterpiece. 

Thanks to wild talent of soloist and conductor, a strikingly new take on some familiar work and a standout concert in Houston Symphony's season so far.

Under Cristian Măcelaru's baton, Al-Zand, Barber, and Copland paint a memorable American scene.

Fabien Gabel leitet als Gastdirigent ein Konzert mit Werken aus seiner Heimat. 

Das Houston Symphony Orchestra unter Andrés Orozco-Estrada brillierte mit swingendem Bernstein und dramatischem Dvořák.