The Contenders

Now don't get me wrong.

The Houston Symphony does not need a white knight on a stallion to ride to its rescue.

Nor does it need the "genius with a thousand helpers" to motivate people to excellence.

White knights and geniuses do not create sustained greatness.

But those are posts for another day. This post is just to set out a list of potential candidates for the post of Music Director. Later on, I'll put it up as a permanent page on the blog for you to refer to.

After the jump a list of the guests. You can follow the links to their websites. In future posts, expect more detailed information on each.

Here, they are, in order of appearance:

September 28, 29, 30, 2012

John Storgårds, conductor
Jonathan Biss, piano
Program D – September 28, 30, 2012
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Brahms: Symphony No. 3

Program E – September 29, 2012
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Brahms: Symphony No. 2



October 26, 2012 – Friday ACCESS concert
October 27, 28, 2012 – Standard concert format

Andrés Orozco-Estrada, conductor
William VerMeulen, horn
Berlioz: Roman Carnival
R. Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique






November 1, 3, 4, 2012

Juanjo Mena, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin
Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, Pathétique



November 16, 17, 18, 2012

Thomas Dausgaard, conductor
Stephen Hough, piano
Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4, The Inextinguishable

January 31, February 2, 3, 2013

Christoph Koenig, conductor
Mendelssohn: Octet for Strings –
for Full String Orchestra
Mahler: Symphony No. 1

February 14, 16, 17, 2013

Gilbert Varga, conductor
Vilde Frang, violin
Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5
Prokofiev: Suite No. 2 from Romeo and Juliet



March 15, 16, 17, 2013

Hannu Lintu, conductor
Houston Symphony Chorus
Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme of
Thomas Tallis
Haydn: Symphony No. 98
Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast



April 5, 6, 7, 2013

Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Pablo Sainz-Villegas, guitar
Haydn: Symphony No. 20
Ginastera: Variaciones concertantes
Rodrigo: Fantasia for a Nobleman – for Guitar
and Orchestra
Falla: Suite No. 2 from The Three-Cornered Hat

 Are all of these on "The List?" Is there anyone on "The List" who is not listed here? What is really "The List?"

Who can know for sure? I don't (yet) have a source within symphony administration, though I'd welcome input from anyone associated with the orchestra either on or off the record. (criticalchoicehouston at gee mail dot com).

What I do know is that the Symphony's "renew your subscription" e-mail boasts that subscribers will get to see the contenders for music director among the invited guest conductors. So here is where we must start.

Use the comments or e-mail me with your thoughts or your background knowledge on The Contenders.

To come, a post about why, if this is the list, it is both too long and too short.