Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada Leads The Houston Symphony In LA VALSE

Houston Symphony Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada leads the orchestra in Ravel's La valse Jan. 24 and 26 at 8 p.m. and Jan. 27 at 2:30 p.m. at Jones Hall. Written by the composer of the famed Boléro, La valse is Ravel's tribute to a bygone Vienna, opening with a musical depiction of whirling clouds that reveal waltzing couples. The waltz rhythms become increasingly dramatic and urgent, sweeping everything before them by the piece's end.

Continuing the Viennese theme, Orozco-Estrada welcomes Latvian violin virtuoso Baiba Skride to perform Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Violin Concerto, composed in an opulently lyric, Romantic style, reminiscent of turn-of-the-century Vienna. Originally premiered by the legendary Jascha Heifetz, Korngold's Violin Concerto is renowned for its dazzling virtuosity and warmth, and is one of the most treasured in the violin repertoire.

In this program, Orozco-Estrada continues his comprehensive exploration of Charles Ives' Symphony No. 4. Having led the first two movements in previous concerts this season, Orozco-Estrada opens the evening with the expressive third movement, Fugue, of Ives' symphony.

Orozco-Estrada opens the second half of the program with Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements-one of Stravinsky's most significant works composed during World War II. Written while Stravinsky was rescoring his ground-breaking ballet The Rite of Spring, the Symphony in Three Moments was inevitably influenced by the more famous score. Ravel's fiery and show-stopping La valse closes out the evening.

Ravel's La valse sponsored by Frost Bank takes place at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street, in Houston's Theater District. For tickets and information, please call (713) 224-7575 or visit www.houstonsymphony.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday-Saturday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.

During the 2018-19 season, the Houston Symphony celebrates its fifth season with Music Director Andrés Orozco- Estrada and continues its second century as one of America's leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring and recording activities. The Houston Symphony, one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $33.9 million, the full-time ensemble of 88 professional musicians presents nearly 170 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Additionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony's four Community-Embedded Musicians offer over 900 community-based performances each year, reaching thousands of people in Greater Houston.

The Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony has recorded under various prestigious labels, including Naxos, Koch International Classics, Telarc, RCA Red Seal, Virgin Classics and, most recently, Dutch recording label PENTATONE. In 2017, the Houston Symphony was awarded an ECHO Klassik award for the live recording of Alban Berg's Wozzeck under the direction of former Music Director Hans Graf. The orchestra earned its first Grammy nomination and Grammy Award at the 60th annual ceremony for the same recording in the Best Opera Recording category.

To post a comment, you must register and login.