Review: Andrés Orozco-Estrada, The Real Deal

Andrés Orozco-Estrada

Saturday evening, our Houston Symphony performed Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture and Symphonie Fantastique around the Strauss First Horn Concerto with William Vermeulen as soloist and Andrés Orozco-Estrada on the podium.

Anyone who doubts whether a conductor really makes a difference or who wonders what impact a conductor can have need only have attended listened to our Houston Symphony for the last two weeks.

It did not even sound like the same orchestra. Indeed, our Houston Symphony has not sounded this good, this capable, this powerful, this transparent, this precise or this exciting in a very, very long time.

Orozco-Estrada invited this orchestra into the type of musical collaboration in which conductor and orchestra influence each other to make spontaneous musical decisions in real time. He connected with the orchestra, and out of the resulting music, he made a warm connection with the Houston audience.

***UPDATE*** Sources tell me that the Sunday matinee was even better than Saturday night's performance. That is a very special thing indeed when an orchestra raises its game in the sonnaumbulistic forum of Sunday afternoon.

This conductor is the genuine article, and right now he should be at the top of an extremely short list. After the jump, a detailed review.

Profile: Andrés Orozco-Estrada

Andrés Orozco-Estrada

This week brings another contender to our Houston Symphony for a series of four performances to include Strauss' First Horn Concerto with principal hornist William Vermeulen and Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique.

That contender is Andrés Orozco-Estrada. I don't mind saying I'm a little excited, and its not just because I have a thing for Vienna and its musicians. 

My excitement is not quite the Chris Matthews thrill up my leg. Unlike Matthews, I'm not looking for a messiah. But there are lots of traces in this contender's background that give me reason to hope that he's the real deal. And if he is the real deal, he ought to be topping the short list. 

After the jump, some pros, some cons and some examples of why Orozco-Estrada's conducting that make me sit up and take notice. 

The Contenders -- Now

Last spring I wrote a post on the old blog setting out the list of guest conductors for this season. These men are the presumptive contenders to be the Houston Symphony's new music director.

Since that time, one of their number spurned his engagement with the Houston Symphony for a guest conducting gig in Boston. This in turn caused a shifting in the repetoire to be covered by the remaining guests and by Hans Graf.

So after the jump, a quick look at the updated list of the contenders and their repetoire.