To Honor Rafael Fruhbeck De Burgos, Houston Symphony and Musicians Offer Concert Broadcast and Audio Stream

The Houston Symphony and its musicians honor the life of renowned conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos by offering fans free access to an audio stream of the Houston Symphony's April 2011 performance with Maestro Frühbeck de Burgos. The program, which includes Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, is available at houstonsymphony.org/audiostream and through the Houston Symphony's mobile application now through July 9.

The musicians of the Houston Symphony granted special permission to make this concert broadcast audio stream possible. Generous support was also provided by the American Federation of Musicians, Local AF of M 65-669 and by the Symphony's radio partner, Houston Public Media's Classical 91.7, who originally recorded the concert and offered permission to stream.

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos died on June 11, 2014, a week after announcing he would retire due to a cancer diagnosis. At the time of his death, he was Chief Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and a beloved guest conductor for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony and many others. He was 80 years old.

"Maestro Frühbeck de Burgos was a brilliant and inspiring conductor. My fellow musicians and I will fondly remember the time we spent making music with him. We are so proud of the work we have done together; it is our honor to share this performance as a tribute to his memory" said English Horn player Adam Dinitz, chair of the Musicians' Committee of the orchestra.

In March 2014, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos was scheduled to conduct the Houston Symphony's performance of Stravinsky's Pulcinella and Beethoven's Mass in C Major, but had to withdraw his involvement due to poor health. The performance continued as planned with conductor Courtney Lewis as his replacement.

Named Conductor of the Year by Musical America in 2011, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos had recorded extensively for EMI, Decca, Deutsche Gramophone, Spanish Columbia, and Orfeo. Several of these recordings are considered to be classics.

Concert Audio Stream

Recorded April 8-10, 2011

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Conductor

Aralee Dorough, Houston Symphony Principal Flute

MOZART, Serenade No. 6 in D major, K.239 (Serenata notturna)

MOZART, Flute Concerto No. 2 in D major, K.314

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV, Scheherazade, Opus 35

About the Houston Symphony

During the 2013-14 Season, the Houston Symphony celebrated its 100th year as one of America's leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring and recording activities. In the upcoming 2014-15 Season, the orchestra begins its next century under the direction of Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada, the organization's first Hispanic music director and 15th overall. The Houston Symphony is one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas whose inaugural performance was held at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston on June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $30.7 million, the full-time ensemble of 87 professional musicians is the largest performing arts organization in Houston, presenting more than 286 performances for 300,000 people, including 82,000 children, annually. For tickets and more information, please visit www.houstonsymphony.org or call 713-224-7575.

To post a comment, you must register and login.