An hour before I heard Fabien Gabel captain the Houston Symphony through a (long) program ranging from Corigliano’s raw Conjurer Concerto to Ravel’s sumptuous Daphnis and Chloé, I was sunk into my seat listening to pianist Hannah Che, a former writing student of mine, as she steered her own vessel through the waters of Lizst, Beethoven, and Leoš Janáček in a solo recital. Her delicate performance of Janáček’s In the Mists remained with me long after she dropped her fingers from the keys, making it impossible not to listen to Ravel hours later and feel as if I were still peering through the soft haze that settles over water at dusk. Read my review at Bachtrack.
Impersonal Mendelssohn/Personal Tchaikovsky
On Thursday at the Houston Symphony, it was a mixed bag. Whether or not concerto soloists use sheet music in performance is up for debate, but it always just gives me the impression that they weren’t ready. Read my review at Bachtrack.
Sydney Boyd 