Barber, Brahms win for Houston Symphony, despite Schumann disarray

By Sydney Boyd, 31 January 2016

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Reviewed at Jones Hall, Houston on 30 January 2016

Barber, The School for Scandal: Overture, Op.5

Schumann, Violin Concerto in D minor

Brahms, Symphony no. 2 in D major, Op.73

Houston Symphony

Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Conductor

Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Violin

Houston Symphony vividly brings Peer Gynt to life

Sam Jacobson, 28th March

Blending theater and symphony, the Houston Symphony reimagines Peer Gynt as Grieg intended – complete with dialogue, chorus, and a luminous cameo from Karita Mattila.

****1

Showpieces star in Houston Symphony’s memorable season opener

Phillip Nones, 20th September

Celebration is on the menu at the Houston Symphony Orchestra’s season opening weekend of concerts, conducted by Juraj Valčuha.

****1

Death and lunacy in Juraj Valčuha's Houston Symphony program

Kurt Gottschalk, 15th February

A mad March hare, a murdered child, a hypochondriac prince, and a roomful of dead wives make for a stellar concert by the Houston Symphony Orchestra.

*****

Brilliant Bach from Jane Glover and the Houston Symphony

Sam Jacobson, 3rd April

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

***11

Bach by arrangement: Houston Symphony under Esa-Pekka Salonen

Kurt Gottschalk, 27th March

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.”

****1

Full-bodied Beethoven from Yefim Bronfman and Fabien Gabel in Houston

Phillip Nones, 6th March

Fabien Gabel and the Houston Symphony Orchestra present memorable Beethoven performances that are solidly in the Austro-German tradition.

****1

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Sydney Boyd

Sydney Boyd is an arts writer, scholar, and violinist. She has been a music critic in Houston since 2012 and is the blog author of Girl at the Opera. She has a Ph.D. in English literature from Rice University, where she currently holds a post-doctoral Spatial Studies fellowship in the Humanities Research Center.