![\"Andr\u00e9s](\"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/rathbunOrozcoEstrada.jpg\")
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By ANDREW POWELL MUNICH \u2014 Judging from reports around the country here, the Houston Symphony Orchestra<\/a> today returns to Texas mission-accomplished. The clarity of its tone colors, the exuberance of its brass section, the articulate luster of its strings \u2014 all have been remarked upon during an eleven-day tour to busy German cities (plus Brussels, Vienna and Warsaw) already awash in art music. Last night\u2019s concert in the Gasteig<\/a> certified the plaudits, although the advance acclaim had not filled every seat. Stronger programming might have helped. Music director Andr\u00e9s Orozco Estrada<\/a> opened with the so-called Overture to West Side Story<\/em> (1956), \u201ca compilation of tunes not made by [Bernstein]\u201d (Jack Gottlieb), when he could have chosen the work\u2019s tense and authentic Prologue and thrown a cleverer light on his musicians. A heavily pregnant Hilary Hahn<\/a> then meandered in good taste and with pure intonation through the same composer\u2019s conceited Serenade after Plato\u2019s Symposium (1954), unable to do much about its weak structure but sensitively supported by harpist Megan Conley<\/a> and six astute percussionists. Dvo\u0159\u00e1k\u2019s D-Minor Seventh Symphony (1885) received a brilliantly flowing, sunny performance, with smooth work from the Houston horns and much soft, detailed playing. The Vienna-based, Colombian-Austrian maestro, who learned music at a school next to the rainforest<\/a> east of Medell\u00edn, and first conducted there, will be with the 105-year-old HSO until at least 2022. An ideal appointment, on the evidence.<\/p>\n Photo \u00a9 Anthony Rathbun<\/p>\n Related posts:
Published: March 20, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n
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