ABOUT THIS CONCERT
After Shostakovich’s music was publicly denounced for failing to conform to the Soviet ideal, his Fifth Symphony was a work on which his life depended—literally. The monumental creation he produced was a crashing success, appeasing the establishment, thrilling audiences, and crackling with covert defiance. Music Director Juraj Valčuha draws out every nuance of this all-time-great masterpiece, superstar Joshua Bell performs Sibelius’s sparkling Violin Concerto, and the concerts open with a world premiere from one of today’s most celebrated American composers, Nico Muhly.
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Before the concert: Learn more about the program.
RUN TIME: 1 hour, 45 minutes
PRICE RANGE: $29 – $144
Listen: Shostakovich 5 clip
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PROGRAM
N. MUHLY Bright Idea (World Premiere, Houston Symphony Commission)
SIBELIUS Violin Concerto
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5
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.
With a career spanning almost four decades, Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated artists of his era. Having performed with virtually every major orchestra in the world, he maintains engagements as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, conductor, and music director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Joshua’s highlights in the 2022-23 season include leading the Academy of St Martin in the Fields on tour in South America to Sao Paulo, Bogotá, and Montevideo as well in Europe, in Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. He appears in guest performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Sofia Philharmonic, and Franz Schubert Filharmonia as well as a European tour with pianist Peter Dugan. In the United States, in addition to these concerts, he performs alongside the New York Philharmonic, as well as the San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and New Jersey Symphony Orchestras.
Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Joshua began the violin at age 4, and at 12, began studies with his mentor, Josef Gingold. At age 14, he debuted with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and made his Carnegie Hall debut at 17 with the St. Louis Symphony. At age 18, he signed with his first label, London Decca, and received the Avery Fisher Career Grant. In the years following, Joshua has been named 2010 “Instrumentalist of the Year” by Musical America, a 2007 “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum, nominated for six Grammy awards, and received the 2007 Avery Fisher Prize. He has also received the 2003 Indiana Governor’s Arts Award and a Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 1991 from the Jacobs School of Music. In 2000, he was named an “Indiana Living Legend.”
Joshua has performed for three American presidents and the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. He participated in President Barack Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ first cultural mission to Cuba, joining Cuban and American musicians on a 2017 Live from Lincoln Center Emmy-nominated PBS special, Joshua Bell: Seasons of Cuba, celebrating renewed cultural diplomacy between Cuba and the United States.
Joshua’s highlights in the 2022-23 season include leading the Academy of St Martin in the Fields on tour in South America to Sao Paulo, Bogotá, and Montevideo as well in Europe, in Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. He appears in guest performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Sofia Philharmonic, and Franz Schubert Filharmonia as well as a European tour with pianist Peter Dugan. In the United States, in addition to these concerts, he performs alongside the New York Philharmonic, as well as the San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and New Jersey Symphony Orchestras.
Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Joshua began the violin at age 4, and at 12, began studies with his mentor, Josef Gingold. At age 14, he debuted with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and made his Carnegie Hall debut at 17 with the St. Louis Symphony. At age 18, he signed with his first label, London Decca, and received the Avery Fisher Career Grant. In the years following, Joshua has been named 2010 “Instrumentalist of the Year” by Musical America, a 2007 “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum, nominated for six Grammy awards, and received the 2007 Avery Fisher Prize. He has also received the 2003 Indiana Governor’s Arts Award and a Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 1991 from the Jacobs School of Music. In 2000, he was named an “Indiana Living Legend.”
Joshua has performed for three American presidents and the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. He participated in President Barack Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ first cultural mission to Cuba, joining Cuban and American musicians on a 2017 Live from Lincoln Center Emmy-nominated PBS special, Joshua Bell: Seasons of Cuba, celebrating renewed cultural diplomacy between Cuba and the United States.
