The Houston Symphony kicks off the final month of the 2021–2022 Season with a pair of important classical events: Robert Spano leads the Houston Symphony commissioned world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Duo Duel for Two Percussionists and Orchestra featuring Symphony Associate Principal Timpani and Percussion Matthew Strauss and guest percussionist Svet Stoyanov, May 6, 7, and 8, 2022; and Houston Symphony Artistic Partner and violin superstar Itzhak Perlman performs and conducts two works by Mozart, and leads the orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, May 12, 14, and 15, 2022. Both concerts take place in Jones Hall, with the May 7 and May 15 performances livestreamed.
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- Matthew Strauss
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- Jennifer Higdon
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- Itzhak-Perlman Photo-Credit Lisa Marie Mazzucco
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- Svet Stoyanov – Photo-Credit Monica McGivern
The May 6, 7, and 8 concert’s centerpiece is the world premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon’s Duo Duel for Two Percussionists and Orchestra. Featured in this new work are Houston Symphony Associate Principal Timpani and Percussion Matthew Strauss and guest soloist Svet Stoyanov, with guest conductor, Atlanta Symphony Conductor Laureate, and Fort Worth Symphony Music Director Designate Robert Spano leading from the podium. Spano opens the program with Christopher Theofanidis’ Rainbow Body, which was also a Houston Symphony world premiere commission originally conducted by Spano in 2000. The concert concludes with Aaron Copland’s final symphony, his Symphony No. 3, wedding the symphonic form with Copland’s iconic Americana style, and including his monumental Fanfare for the Common Man in the fourth movement. Originally planned for spring 2020 but canceled at the onset of the pandemic, this entire program was rescheduled intact.
Itzhak Perlman continues his three-year artistic partnership with the Houston Symphony May 12, 14, and 15, leading and performing as soloist in two works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed for the celebrated 18th-century violinist Antonio Brunetti: the Adagio in E major, K. 261, and the Rondo in C major, K. 373. Perlman also leads the orchestra in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade in A minor, before capping the program with Tchaikovsky’s colorful, symphonic poem-like exploration of the theme of “Fate,” his Symphony No. 4.
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.
COPLAND 3 + HIGDON WORLD PREMIERE
Friday, May 6 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 7 at 8 p.m.*
Sunday, May 8 at 2:30 p.m.
Robert Spano, conductor
Matthew Strauss, percussion
Svet Stoyanov, percussion
- Theofanidis:Rainbow Body
- Higdon: Duo Duelfor Two Percussionists and Orchestra
Copland: Symphony No. 3
ITZHAK PERLMAN: MOZART + TCHAIKOVSKY 4
Thursday, May 12 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 14 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 15 at 2:30 p.m.*
Itzhak Perlman, conductor and violin
Mozart: Adagio in E major for Violin and Orchestra, K. 261
Mozart: Rondo in C major for Violin and Orchestra, K. 373
- Coleridge-Taylor: Ballade in A minor, Opus 33
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Opus 36
*Livestreamed at 8 p.m. CT Saturday, May 7 and at 2:30 p.m. CT Sunday, May 15
