“Soon after Andrés Orozco-Estrada arrived in Houston from Colombia for his first season as music director at the Houston Symphony, he started noticing the ads for ‘The Nutcracker.’ The following year, the same thing,” writes Andrew Dansby in Monday’s (11/22) Houston Chronicle. “ ‘ “The Nutcracker” was never a big thing in theaters in Colombia,’ he says…. ‘I’ve come to appreciate it as a beautiful piece of work.’ .… His history with Tchaikovsky’s music allows him to see it ‘the opposite of how many people know it. I approached the music first.’ … This weekend … he leads the Houston Symphony through a program anchored by excerpts from ‘The Nutcracker.’ … Orozco-Estrada has also [programmed] a trio of works before the Tchaikovsky excerpts: ‘Dances in the Canebrakes,’ by Florence Price; Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto [with soloist Gil Shaham]; and Giovanni Bottesini’s Gran duo concertante…. The Bottesini work will feature Houston Symphony principal bass Robin Kesselman…. The show is part of Orozco-Estrada’s farewell season with the Houston Symphony…. The Houston Symphony last week announced plans for ‘Andrés Fest: A Symphonic Celebration,’ running March 18-27…. The symphony will perform pieces closely connected to Orozco-Estrada’s tenure here along with some world premiere commissions.”
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