Scott Cantrell

12:00 AM CST on Wednesday, December 28, 2005

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra,

Claus Peter Flor

March 17

Now in his sixth season as the DSO's principal guest conductor, Mr. Flor keeps shaping one stunning performance after another. "Flor is a force of nature," says Roy Cherryhomes, one of the DSO's recording engineers, "fire, storms, water, wind." His Bruckner Ninth Symphony was a masterpiece of visceral energy and elegant expressivity.

The Meadows Symphony Orchestra

April 21

Southern Methodist University's superb student orchestra has a deeply musical conductor in Paul Phillips – and some fine teachers behind the scenes. The orchestra's performance of Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra had it all: mystery and playfulness, tenderness and terror and giddy exuberance.

Adkins String Ensemble

Feb. 18

These six Denton-bred siblings, now scattered among several symphony orchestras, play with a polished unanimity that can only come from shared DNA. Their concerts in the acoustically sumptuous Mesquite Arts Center are some of the area's chamber-music highlights. A program including a Piano Quintet by Frank Bridge and works by Britten, Mozart and Hummel was particularly outstanding.

Orpheus Chamber Singers

Oct. 1

It's hard to imagine a Top 10 list without Dallas' world-class chamber choir, led by Donald Krehbiel; the problem is picking just one concert. But a program of music by and about women, sung with suppleness and finesse, stands out in memory.

Walden Piano Quartet

Feb. 13

Three DSO string players and pianist Jo Boatright team up for imaginative combinations of music and eloquent performances. Among the year's prizes was a deeply felt Piano Quartet by the late Englishman Herbert Howells, sharing a program with works by Mozart and Rebecca Clarke.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra,

Philippe Jordan

Nov. 3

Movie-star handsome, this 31-year-old Swiss conductor propelled himself into the front-runners for the DSO's music director job. His Brahms Second Symphony was beautifully proportioned and lovingly shaped, and he brought a real personality to Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks and Four Last Songs (passionately sung by Helen Donath).

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra,

Miguel Harth-Bedoya

Feb. 4

Mr. Harth-Bedoya has the FWSO playing on a level unimaginable when he arrived five years ago. And, although this year's lineup is noticeably more conservative, he's been doing some imaginative programs. A "south of the border" program included hauntingly beautiful Osvaldo Golijov songs and selections from Canteloube's Songs of the Auvergne (all gorgeously sung by Dawn Upshaw), plus snazzy orchestral pieces by Alberto Ginastera and Darius Milhaud.

The Dallas Opera: 'Tales of Hoffmann'

Dec. 10

Even by operatic standards, it's a crazy story. But Offenbach's music is fun, and music director Graeme Jenkins patched together a taut, sensible version. Marcus Haddock hadn't the elegance one wants for Hoffmann, and Dean Peterson's bass-baritone waned audibly from one villain to the next. But Mary Dunleavy sang up a storm as the four inamoratas.

Orchestra of New Spain

April 19

This Dallas-based orchestra and chorus don't always perform on the highest level, but director Grover Wilkins keeps unearthing remarkable Spanish music straddling the baroque and classical periods. Their account of the Mass Exultabunt sancti in Gloria by Francisco Courcelle revealed a long-lost masterpiece.

Cliburn losers

May 20-June 5

The judges' picks in the first two rounds of the quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition were even more inscrutable than usual. The most memorable performances came from pianists who didn't even make it into the final round: Stephen Beus, Jie Chen, Ying Feng, Mariya Kim, Gabriela Martinez and Alexandre Moutouzkine.

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