ABOUT THIS CONCERT
It’s every violin-lovers dream: Itzhak Perlman—undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin—takes on one of the supreme masterpieces of the violin repertoire in Beethoven’s beloved Violin Concerto. Also hear Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s vibrant The Bamboula, inspired by colorful Caribbean dance music. And, opulent Viennese waltzes fill Jones Hall as Music Director Juraj Valčuha leads glittering music from Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier.
Before the concert: Learn more about the program.
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RUN TIME: 1 hour, 30 minutes
PRICE RANGE: $29 – $144
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PROGRAM
BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR The Bamboula, Rhapsodic Dance No. 1
R. STRAUSS Suite from Der Rosenkavalier
ARTISTS
Conductor Juraj Valčuha is recognized for his effortless expressiveness and depth of musicianship. With sharp baton technique and natural stage presence, the impressive ease of his interpretations translate even the most complex scores into immersive experiences. His profound understanding of composer and score, taste, and naturally elegant style make him one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation.
Since 2016 Valčuha has been Music Director of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples and First Guest Conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He was Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI from 2009 to 2016.
The 2005–06 season marked the start of his international career with exciting concerts on the podium of the Orchestre National de France followed by remarkable debuts in the U.K. with the Philharmonia London, in Germany with the Munich Philharmonic, and in the United States with the Pittsburgh Symphony. His Italian debut took place at Teatro Comunale in Bologna with a sensational production of La Bohème.
He has since led the Berlin Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, hr Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Vienna Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, BBC Symphony, Philharmonia London, Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala, Montréal Symphony, and NHK and Yomiuri orchestras in Tokyo. His active career in the U.S. has taken him to the orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Utah. He enjoys regular collaborations with orchestras in Houston, Minnesota, New York, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco.
International touring with the Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI took them to the Musikverein in Vienna and the Philharmonie in Berlin, as well as Cologne, Düsseldorf, Zurich, Basel, and Munich, and to the Enesco Festival in Bucharest, and to Abu Dhabi Classics. He has also toured with the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin to Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn to mark the 100th anniversary of the Baltic nations.
Valčuha champions the compositions of living composers and aims to program contemporary pieces in most of his concerts. He has conducted world premieres including Christopher Rouses´s Supplica with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Steven Mackey’s violin concerto with Leila Josefowicz and the BBC Symphony in Manchester, and Nico Muhly´s Bright Idea with the Houston Symphony. In 2005 he conducted, in the presence of the composer, Steve Reich´s Four Sections at the Melos-Ethos Festival in Bratislava. Other composers he has supported and continues to follow with interest are Bryce Dessner, Andrew Norman, Luca Francesconi, James MacMillan, and Steven Stucky, among others.
On the opera stage, he has conducted Madama Butterfly, Elisir d‘amore, and Marriage of Figaro at the Bavarian State Opera Munich; Elektra and Turandot at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Faust and The Love for three oranges in Florence; Jenufa, Peter Grimes, Salome, Tristan und Isolde, and Ariadne auf Naxos in Bologna; Peter Grimes in Venice; and Elektra, Carmen, Bluebeard’s Castle, Die Walküre, The Girl of the Golden West, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Katja Kabanova, and Pique Dame in Napoli.
Juraj Valčuha was awarded the Premio Abbiati 2018 from Italian Music critics in the category Best Conductor.
His engagements in the 2022–23 season will take him to the Houston, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco Orchestras, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra dell´Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and the Orchestre National de France. He will conduct Verdi´s Don Carlo at Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and La Boheme and Tristan & Isolde at the Bavarian State Opera Munich.
Born in Bratislava, Slovakia, he studied composition and conducting in his birth place, then at the Conservatory in St Petersburg (with Ilya Musin), and, finally, at the Conservatoire Supérieur de la Musique in Paris.
Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world who respond not only to his remarkable artistry, but also to his irrepressible joy for making music.
Having performed with every major orchestra and at concert halls around the globe, Itzhak was granted a Presidential Medal of Freedom–the nation’s highest civilian honor–by President Obama in 2015, a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003, a National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 2000, and a Medal of Liberty by President Reagan in 1986. He has been honored with 16 Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Genesis Prize.
Itzhak currently serves as Artistic Partner of the Houston Symphony in a partnership that commenced in the 2020-21 season and culminates at the end of 2023-24. He performs nine programs across three seasons that feature him in versatile appearances as conductor, soloist, recitalist, and presenter.
In the 2022-23 season, Itzhak conducts the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and the Houston Symphony on Mozart’s Requiem, and is joined by an illustrious group of collaborators—Emanuel Ax, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and the Juilliard String Quartet—in a special Itzhak Perlman and Friends program appearing in only three locations: Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall, UMS Ann Arbor, and Carnegie Hall. He continues touring An Evening with Itzhak Perlman, which captures highlights of his career through narrative and multi-media elements intertwined with performance, to Boston, Philadelphia, Long Island, Akron, Austin, Tallahassee, and Naples (Florida). He plays season-opening concerts for the Colorado Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, and Florida Orchestra, and recitals across the United States with longtime collaborator Rohan De Silva.
Itzhak Perlman has an exclusive series of classes with Masterclass.com, the premier online education company that enables access to the world’s most brilliant minds, including Gordon Ramsay, Wolfgang Puck, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Helen Mirren, Jodie Foster, and Serena Williams, as the company’s first classical-music presenter.
