{"id":215528,"date":"2026-03-22T15:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T15:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/215528\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T15:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T15:06:07","slug":"harth-bedoya-leads-fw-symphony-in-spiffy-gershwin-beethoven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/215528\/","title":{"rendered":"Harth-Bedoya leads FW Symphony in spiffy Gershwin, Beethoven"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT WORTH \u2014 Like a returning hero, Miguel Harth-Bedoya had only to walk onstage at Bass Performance Hall Saturday night to get a rousing standing ovation. There were ovations after each of the concert\u2019s three selections, too, and scattered applause after the first two movements of Beethoven\u2019s Fourth Symphony.<\/p>\n

As music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2020, Harth-Bedoya dramatically transformed a provincial outfit into the very fine ensemble it is today. Now with the title of music director laureate, he was subbing for the originally scheduled Jane Glover, the orchestra\u2019s principal guest conductor, who\u2019s sidelined by an undisclosed injury. Fortunately, Harth-Bedoya was as near as Houston, where he\u2019s now director of orchestras and professor of conducting at Rice University.<\/p>\n

Mutual affection was also evident onstage, especially in a dazzling account of Gershwin\u2019s American in Paris. Here was an orchestra engaged in every nerve and sinew \u2014 and heart \u2014 at one with its conductor, audibly relishing every minute. There was also seductive tenderness in the work\u2019s bluesy episodes.<\/p>\n

I was sorry that this was to replace Glover\u2019s programmed Sea Interludes from Britten\u2019s Peter Grimes. But only sorry until the Gershwin got so irresistibly underway. If this wouldn\u2019t put a smile on your face, nothing would. I\u2019d complain only that the famous French taxi horns needn\u2019t have been so loud.<\/p>\n

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The rest of the program, although reordered, was as Glover planned. Opening the concert, the Beethoven was given a big-band treatment, not a chamber-orchestra performance more in line with early 19th-century norms.<\/p>\n

But there was nothing overstuffed or leaden about Harth-Bedoya\u2019s interpretation. If he didn\u2019t always match Beethoven\u2019s lively metronome markings, he kept the music aptly animated for a sizable orchestra in a big, modern hall.<\/p>\n

At tempos both exhilarating and more relaxed, the music was always going somewhere, with purpose and strategy. Dynamic contrasts were boldly drawn, but phrases and passages were also beautifully tapered, up and down, when they were meant to. Pianissimos got very quiet indeed, but they had energy.<\/p>\n

Haydn\u2019s B-flat major Sinfonia concertante, for violin, cello, oboe and bassoon, was compromised by repeated balance issues. Some, though, may be baked into disparities between modern versions of the solo instruments and those of Haydn\u2019s day.<\/p>\n

All four of the soloists Saturday were expert and expressive musicians; all four played beautifully. But guest violinist Nick Eanet\u2019s instrument too often disappeared in combinations, especially with fairly bold projection from interim principal bassoonist George Sakakeeny. Principal oboist Jennifer Corning Lucio and principal cellist Allan Steele found a happy medium in between, Steele dispatching flashy writing with particularly impressive aplomb.<\/p>\n

There were balance issues with the orchestra, too, even with appropriately reduced string sections. Horns were repeatedly too prominent, and even winds and strings could have used lighter touches here and there.<\/p>\n

But tempos were fitting, the playing skilled and well sprung.<\/p>\n

Details: Repeats at 2 p.m. Sunday at Bass Performance Hall, Fourth and Commerce, Fort Worth. $30 to $107. 817-665-6000, fwsymphony.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT WORTH \u2014 Like a returning hero, Miguel Harth-Bedoya had only to walk onstage at Bass Performance Hall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117,23058,5351],"class_list":["post-215528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-fort-worth-symphony-orchestra","tag-performing-arts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}