Critic’s Choice
Music of Haydn and Mahler. Dallas Symphony Orchestra/Fabio Luisi. October 2-5
Music director Fabio Luisi leads the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in performances of Haydn’s Symphony No. 92, “Oxford,” and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, featuring soprano soloist Sofia Fomina. The DSO’s performance of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony complements their performance of the composer’s Symphony No. 2 during the 2024-2025 season and anticipates the upcoming performance of Symphony No. 8 in May 2026. dallassymphony.org (WM)
Bizet: Carmen. Dallas Opera. October 17-26
The Dallas Opera opens their season with Marina Viotti as the free-spirited Carmen, Saimir Pirgu as the soldier Don José, who sacrifices everything after coming under her spell, and Gihoon Kim as Escamillo, Carmen’s toreador paramour. This co-production with Opéra Royal de Château de Versailles recreates the original staging from the 1875 premiere at the Opéra Comique in Paris. dallasopera.org (WM)
Music by Schubert. Matthias Goerne and Daniil Trifonov/DA CAMERA. October 29
Houston presenter DACAMERA opens a three-concert Schubert Perspectives series with a concert by baritone Matthias Goerne and piano star Daniil Trifonov, who collaborated on a lieder recording for the Deutsche Grammophon label. Trifonov will open the program with Schubert’s meditative Sonata in G major, D. 894, and Goerne will join him for the haunting Schwanengesang, from the short-lived composer’s final year. dacamera.com (SB)
Puccini: Il Trittico. Houston Grand Opera. October 30-November 14
Houston Grand Opera finally gets around to its first complete staging of Puccini’s triple bill: the thriller Il Tabarro, tearjerker Suor Angelica and comedy Gianni Schicchi. American soprano Corinne Winters will make her company debut as the heroines in all three operas. The casts also include HGO favorites mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and bass-baritone Ryan McKinny. houstongrandopera.org (SB)
Puccini’s Madame Butterly. Dallas Symphony Orchestra/Fabio Luisi. January 9 & 11, 2026
The DSO follows their 2024 semi-staged presentation of Wagner’s Ring cycle with a similarly conceived performance of Puccini’s tragic story of love and betrayal starring soprano Jennifer Rowley and tenor Evan Leroy Johnson. dallassymphony.org (WM)
The Little Prince. Dallas Opera. February 6-14
The Dallas Opera offers the regional premiere of the acclaimed opera by Academy Award-winning composer Rachel Portman with libretto by Nicholas Wright. (WM)
Handel: Aci, Galatea e Polifemo. Ars Lyrica. March 14.
The Houston period-instrument group Ars Lyrica has a history of zesty revivals of neglected Handel, and it’s going back to the well once again. Aci, Galatea e Polifemo is Handel’s first treatment of the legend he returned to in his better-known English masque Acis and Galatea. Ars Lyrica’s cast includes the compelling soprano Lauren Snouffer, who brings flair and commitment to baroque music and new works alike. arslyricahouston.org (SB)
Music of Jalbert, Bacewioz and. Mozart. Dover String Quartet with Romie de Guise-Langlois. CMSFW. March 21
The Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth hosts the Grammy-winning Dover Quartet along with renowned clarinet soloist Romie de Guise-Langlois for the regional premiere of Equilibrium, co-commissioned by the CMSFW from composer Pierre Jalbert. The group also performs the String Quartet No. 4 of Grażyna Bacewicz and Mozart’s celebrated Clarinet Quintet. cmsfw.org (WM)
Music by Ives, Copland and Adams. Houston Symphony Orchestra/John Adams with Víkingur Ólafsson. April 18-19.
Composer-conductor Adams returns to the Houston Symphony to put his own music alongside that of two great forebears. Adams will showcase his new The Rock You Stand On—which the Philadelphia Orchestra premieres in October—and pianist Ólafsson will join in for Adams’ rousing piano concerto Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? Ives’ The Unanswered Question and Copland’s Appalachian Spring round out the American panorama. houstonsymphony.org (SB)
Mahler: Symphony of a Thousand. Dallas Symphony Orchestra/Fabio Luisi. May 15 & 17.
Fabio Luisi leads the Dallas Symphony in Mahler’s mammoth Eighth Symphony during his final program of the season. The DSO, eight vocal soloists, the Dallas Symphony Chorus and the Dallas Symphony Children’s Chorus will no doubt add up to a transcendent concert experience. dallassymphony.org (WM)
Leave a Comment
