“This week the Houston Symphony released its first recording in five years, and first under the guidance of conductor and music director Andrés Orozco-Estrada,” reports Andrew Dansby in Wednesday’s (3/2) Houston Chronicle. “The album features Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 and Symphony No. 8; both pieces were performed at Jones Hall between April 2014 and March 2015. This is the first in a series of Dvořák recordings to be made by the symphony and marks the beginning of a partnership with Pentatone, a Dutch classical music label. May 1 brings the release of a three-disc Dvořák series.… A third release, which includes Symphony No. 9 with two additional Slavonic Dances, will be released later this year. ‘The Houston Symphony has a strong connection with romantic composers, so from the very beginning we were excited to feature Dvořák’s symphonies in this first recording,’ Orozco-Estrada said.… A Music of the Americas program scheduled for Jones Hall in early 2017 will be recorded for release. It includes pieces by George Gershwin, Astor Piazzolla and Leonard Bernstein. The Houston Symphony Chorus will be featured on a future recording of Haydn’s The Creation, as will a Rachmaninoff piece with pianist Denis Kozhukhin.”
Posted March 3, 2016
