Dvořák’s New World Symphony
September 12, 13, 14, 2008
Is Dvořák’s music American or Bohemian in character? No matter—music lovers respond with delight to its electricity, warmth, grace and majesty.
Hans Graf, conductor
Jonathan Biss, piano
Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
Joan Tower: Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman
Schumann: Piano Concerto
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, From the New World

Gil Shaham Plus Mozart
September 18, 20, 21, 2008
Hear a jewel of brilliant intellect and humor in Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto, played by virtuoso Gil Shaham on his 1699 Countess Polignac Stradivarius.
Hans Graf, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin
Mozart: Symphony No. 29
Stravinsky: Violin Concerto
Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin
Mozart: Symphony No. 35, Haffner

Mozart and Shostakovich
September 26, 27, 28, 2008
In the sixties poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko played a crucial role in denouncing Soviet policy through his most famous poem, Babi Yar. His works inspired Shostakovich to write his Symphony No. 13. You’ll experience the rare chance to hear Yevtushenko read his poetry and then hear the powerful music it inspired.
Hans Graf, conductor
Lars Vogt, piano
Yevgeny Yevtushenko, poet
Mikhail Svetlov, bass
Men of the Houston Symphony Chorus
Charles Hausman, director
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar

Beethoven 2 & Tchaikovsky’s Rococo
October 16, 18, 19, 2008
Tchaikovsky provided soloists brilliant and dramatic material in his famous piano and violin concertos. In his exquisite cello concerto—the Rococo Variations—you’ll not only hear this virtuosity but also Mozart...dance...charm...and love.
James Gaffigan, conductor
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Beethoven: Symphony No. 2
Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme
Respighi: Adagio with Variations
Debussy: La Mer

Schubert’s Mass
November 7, 8, 9, 2008
Schubert wrote his final, glorious mass just months after bearing a torch at Beethoven’s funeral. Your spirit will lighten at this concert of heavenly music.
Hans Graf, conductor
Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano
Houston Symphony Chorus
Charles Hausmann, director
Kernis: Musica Celestis for String Orchestra
Mahler: Kindertotenlieder
Schubert: Mass No. 6

Tchaikovsky’s Second Plus Jon Kimura Parker
November 13, 15, 16, 2008
Tchaikovsky’s joyous Second Symphony develops enchanting Ukrainian folk songs with energy and technical mastery—all to dazzling effect. Opening the program is Shostakovich’s Tahiti Trot, a charmingly sophisticated arrangement of Vincent Youmans’ Tea for Two.
Hans Graf, conductor
Jon Kimura Parker, piano
Mark Hughes, trumpet
Shostakovich: Tahiti Trot (Tea for Two)
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1
Picker: Old and Lost Rivers
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2, Little Russian

Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto
November 28, 29, 30, 2008
21-year-old pianist Yuja Wang bowled over Houston audiences two years ago with her granite technique. In the Rachmaninoff Concerto you’ll luxuriate in her ocean of sound as she plays its sumptuous melodies and harmonies. Popular culture has drawn on the Rachmaninoff whenever passion is called for. In the movie, The Seven Year Itch, Tom Ewell played a recording to woo Marilyn Monroe.
Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano
Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5

Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
January 16, 17, 18, 2009
Tchaikovsky wrote, “Tonight I was seized quite unexpectedly with fiery inspiration. I couldn’t resist my desire to sketch a concerto, and I was carried away...” You’ll be carried away as well.
Hans Graf, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
Weber: Overture to Oberon
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Schumann: Overture to Manfred
Schumann: Symphony No. 4

Mahler’s Fourth Symphony
January 22, 24, 25, 2009
The joyous Fourth Symphony, Mahler’s most elegant and compact, celebrates song within an orchestral texture. You’ll hear a light touch in its sleigh bells and bird calls, spice in a sinister concertmaster solo and a childlike vision of paradise in the final notes.
Hans Graf, conductor
Paula Page, harp
Twyla Robinson, soprano
Thomas: Double Concerto for Harp and Soprano (Houston Symphony Commission)
Mahler: Symphony No. 4

Hélène Grimaud’s Beethoven 4
February 20, 21, 22, 2009
The exquisite French musician, Hélène Grimaud, while known for her expressive pianism and impeccable technique, has also written two books, including Wild Harmonies: A Life of Music and Wolves. Hear her with Chinese conductor Xian Zhang, recently named the first Arturo Toscanini Associate Conductor of the New York Philharmonic.
Xian Zhang, conductor
Hélène Grimaud, piano
Ravel: La Valse
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
Falla: Suite from The Three-Cornered Hat

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18
February 26, 28, and March 1, 2009
Supreme Mozart interpreter Christian Zacharias will both lead the orchestra and play the piano—simul­taneously! He’ll manage the concerto’s interplay between woodwinds, piano and full orchestra, then enthrall you with its ecstatic finale.
Christian Zacharias, conductor and piano
Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 18
Schubert: Symphony No. 6

Bronfman’s Brahms Second
March 12, 14, 15, 2009
Brahms’ magnificent second concerto is grander in scale than his four symphonies as well as any concerto written before its time. Hear German romanticism at its greatest depth and excitement, “played with commanding virtuosity.” (The New York Times)
Hans Graf, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Houston Symphony Chorus
Charles Hausmann, director
Bruckner: Mass in E minor
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2

Sir André Previn Returns
March 20, 21, 22, 2009
Houston concertgoers get their first opportunity to see Previn on the podium since his tenure as Conductor-in-Chief from 1967 to 1969. Sir André appears annually with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic, and has held the chief artistic posts at the London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony. He has won both Academy® and GRAMMY® Awards.
Sir André Previn, conductor
Mozart: Symphony No. 39
R. Strauss: Symphonia domestica

John Williams and Rachmaninoff
April 2, 4, 5, 2009
You can hear John Williams’ life-long love of the horn in his concerto, which was written as he was completing the music to the third Harry Potter film. Imagine your own picture to the concerto’s movements—Angelus, The Battle of the Trees, Pastorale, The Hunt and Nocturne.
Peter Oundjian, conductor
William VerMeulen, horn
Vaughn Williams: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
John Williams: Concerto for Horn and Orchestra
John Williams: Celebration Fanfare
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances

Leila Josefowicz Plus  Brahms’ First
April 17, 18, 19, 2009
Composer John Adams says, “The violin commands incredible lyric intensity and has a fantastic capac­ity to deliver a white-hot message.” The second movement of his concerto was inspired by the Pachelbel Canon.
Thomas Dausgaard, conductor
Leila Josefowicz, violin
Nielsen: Prelude to Act II of Saul and David
Adams: Violin Concerto
Brahms: Symphony No. 1

Slatkin’s Beethoven Eighth
April 30, and May 2, 3, 2009
Leonard Slatkin premiered the Sierra Missa Latina at the Kennedy Center and now brings it to Houston with the same soloists. The Washington Times said, “Mr. Sierra’s new work is, quite simply, shockingly brilliant.” In 2008-2009 Slatkin be­comes Music Director in Detroit and Principal Guest Conductor in Pittsburgh. His more than 100 recordings have earned five GRAMMY® Awards and more than sixty nominations.
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano
Nathaniel Webster, baritone
Houston Symphony Chorus
Charles Hausmann, director
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8
Roberto Sierra: Missa Latina

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto
May 8, 9, 10, 2009
When the Bartók Concerto was premiered in 1944, legendary Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Serge Koussevitzky called it “the best orchestral work of the past twenty-five years.”
Hans Graf, conductor
Christian Tetzlaff, violin
Beethoven: Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra

Respighi’s Pines of Rome
May 14, 16, 17, 2009
Colorful and evocative, The Pines of Rome will spur your imagination with images of the Borghese Gardens filled with children playing, a Roman temple under the stars and a Roman legion’s thundering march along the Appian Way.
Hans Graf, conductor
Eugene Ugorski, violin
Rossini: Overture to La scala di seta
Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 1
Puccini: Preludio sinfonico
Respighi: The Pines of Rome