French Piano Star Jean-Yves Thibaudet Returns to Jones Hall
Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” is the capstone work Andrés Orozco-Estrada has chosen to bring his eight-year tenure as Houston Symphony Music Director to a thrilling close on April 29, 30, and May 1, 2022. Earlier in the month, French piano virtuoso Jean-Yves Thibaudet unleashes his smoothly dazzling artistry on Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, April 15 and 16, 2022. Both concert weekends take place in Jones Hall, and the Saturday night performances are livestreamed.
Andrés Orozco-Estrada chose one of the largest-scale works in the repertoire for his finale as Houston Symphony Music Director. It requires the full complement of the orchestra, as well as two vocal soloists, and a large onstage chorus to musically pull back the veil between life and death, culminating in the Symphony’s glorious finale, the rapturous moment when the soul is set free to soar heavenward. Joining Orozco-Estrada and the Houston Symphony onstage are the Houston Symphony Chorus under the direction of Dr. Betsy Cook Weber, as well as soprano Ana María Martínez and mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, for a combined force of over 200 musicians onstage, April 29, 30, and May 1, 2022. This program is part of the Frost Gold Classics Series and the Spec’s End of Season Celebration. The Cullen Foundation and The Humphreys Foundation are Grand Guarantors.
This March in advance of his farewell concert, Andrés Orozco-Estrada joins Houston Symphony Executive Director, CEO, and holder of the Margaret Alkek Williams Chair John Mangum for a discussion of Orozco-Estrada’s life, career, and legacy on March 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Jones Hall. Music and Memories: A Conversation with Andrés Orozco-Estrada is free and open to the public, and available to livestream via YouTube and Facebook Live. Sign up for free tickets or livestream links at houstonsymphony.org/andres-fest-a-symphonic-celebration.
Young Venezuelan conductor, and Montréal Symphony Orchestra Music Director, Rafael Payare makes his Houston Symphony debut April 15 and 16, 2022, which also marks the return to Jones Hall of French piano star Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Thibaudet is soloist in Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, a Romantic work that moved the concerto form toward a traditional symphonic poem, with the piano set less in competition with the orchestra, and more toward playing a more integral role in the ensemble. The program opens with Payare conducting the orchestra in Sofia Gubaidulina’s charming Fairytale Poem, which tells the tale of a piece of chalk that dreams of being freed from a life of etching mathematical figures in the classroom, to drawing castles, sunlit gardens, and seascapes. Payare and the orchestra close the program with one of Beethoven’s most celebrated works, his Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.” This program is part of the Shell Favorite Masters Series.
For tickets and more information, please call 713.224.7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. Livestream performances are available via a private link to ticket holders for $20. All programs and artists are subject to change.
The classical series is endowed by the Wortham Foundation, Inc., in memory of Gus S. and Lyndall F. Wortham. Livestreaming of Houston Symphony concerts is made possible by Barbara J. Burger and supported by The Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation.
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- Mahler’s Resurrection
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- Jean-Yves Thibaudet
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- Andres Orozco-Estrada
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- Kelley O’Connor
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- Ana María Martínez
BEETHOVEN’S EROICA & LISZT
Friday, April 15 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 16 at 8 p.m.*
Rafael Payare, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
- Gubaidulina:Fairy Tale Poem
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Eroica
ANDRÉS’S FAREWELL: MAHLER’S RESURRECTION SYMPHONY
Friday, April 29 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 30 at 8 p.m.*
Sunday, May 1 at 2:30 p.m.
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, conductor
Ana María Martínez, soprano
Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano
Houston Symphony Chorus, Betsy Cook Weber, director
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”
*Livestreamed at 8 p.m. CT