HOUSTON (Sept. 6, 2019) – The Houston Symphony opens its 106th season at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14, 2019, with an all-Russian Opening Night program featuring legendary piano virtuoso Yefim Bronfman for a one-night-only performance of Rachmaninoff’s monumental Piano Concerto No. 3 at Jones Hall.
Led by renowned, Grammy Award-winning conductor Leonard Slatkin, the glamorous evening begins with Mikhail Glinka’s Kamarinskaya, an orchestral work based entirely on Russian folk music and dance, and Alexander Borodin’s lyrical and emotional Nocturne (the musical source for the song “And This Is My Beloved” from the hit Broadway musical Kismet). Then, the Russian extravaganza continues as Slatkin leads the orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s colorful and lively Capriccio Italien, inspired by the composer’s time and experience in Italy.
When speaking of legendary pianist Bronfman, The New Criterion boldly declared: “there is not a better pianist in the world.” Known for his interpretations of Rachmaninoff’s works, Bronfman closes out the evening with Rachmaninoff’s extremely challenging Piano Concerto No. 3, which showcases the pianist’s staggering virtuosity.
Opening Night: Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, sponsored by ConocoPhillips and chaired by Barbara Burger and co-chairs Kusum and K. Cody Patel, takes place at the Houston Symphony Sept. 15 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 houstonsymphony.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday–Saturday, 12–6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.
About the Houston Symphony
During the 2019–20 season, the Houston Symphony celebrates its sixth 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 $35.2 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 1,000 community-based performances each year at various schools, community centers, hospitals, and churches reaching nearly 200,000 people in Greater Houston annually.
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.