Houston Symphony Performs Penultimate European Tour Concert In Hannover

The Houston Symphony and Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada performed the penultimate concert in their multicity European tour Sunday, March 18, at the Hannover Congress Centrum's Kuppelsaal, the largest concert hall in Germany.

Designed as a tribute to the Roman Pantheon, the Kuppelsaal features a golden goddess of light with 12 zodiac signs. A renovation of the hall by Ernst Zinsser in 1961, however, dominated these symbols with dark wood paneling and a reinterpretation of the Pantheon. Acoustics were compromised until the Kuppelsaal's latest renovation was completed in 2015, with acoustics designed by Rohde Acoustics. The space merged design elements from its original conception as well as the 1961 renovation, and replaced the old ceiling above the stage with 10 small reflectors that are customizable for the acoustic requirements of various performances.

The first half of the program began with Bernstein's Three Dance Episodes from On The Town, followed by the composer's lyrical Serenade for Violin featuring three-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn. Bernstein's works are featured predominantly in tour repertoire in celebration of the composer's 100th birthday. The audience responded with enthusiastic applause to the evening's performance under the direction of Orozco-Estrada.

"The Houston Symphony has a very special sound and a very interesting way to approach these different composers, and particularly the symphonies we're playing on the tour like Dvorák's Symphony No. 7 and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5," said Orozco-Estrada. "We share a very strong and special connection with these works, which at the end is what matters the most; that we connect ourselves with the music and with the audience."

The evening concluded with Dvo?ák's dramatic Seventh Symphony, a work that was featured in Orozco-Estrada's critically-acclaimed inaugural recording with the Houston Symphony. The Houston Symphony's last stop on the European tour is in Munich, Germany, on Monday, March 19, at the prestigious Gasteig.

For more information about the European tour, visit https://www.houstonsymphony.org/european-tour.

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