Symphonic Dances Festival: Valčuha Conducts Rachmaninoff

Conductor <a href=”https://houstonsymphony.org/juraj-valcuha-music-director-designate/”>Juraj Valčuha </a>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 <em>La Bohème</em>.

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 <em>Supplica</em> with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Steven Mackey’s violin concerto with Leila Josefowicz and the BBC Symphony in Manchester, and Nico Muhly´s <em>Bright Idea</em> with the Houston Symphony. In 2005 he conducted, in the presence of the composer, Steve Reich´s <em>Four Sections</em> 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 <em>Madama</em> <em>Butterfly</em>, <em>Elisir d‘amore</em>, and <em>Marriage of Figaro</em> at the Bavarian State Opera Munich; <em>Elektra</em> and <em>Turandot</em> at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; <em>Faust </em>and <em>The Love for three oranges </em>in Florence; <em>Jenufa,</em> <em>Peter Grimes</em>,<em> Salome, Tristan und Isolde</em>, and<em> Ariadne auf Naxos</em> in Bologna; <em>Peter Grimes </em>in Venice; and<em> Elektra</em>, <em>Carmen, Bluebeard’s Castle, Die Walküre, The Girl of the Golden West</em>, <em>Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Katja Kabanova, </em>and <em>Pique Dame</em> in Napoli.

Juraj Valčuha was awarded the Premio Abbiati 2018 from Italian Music critics in the category <em>Best Conductor.</em>

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 <em>Don Carlo</em> at Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and<em> La Boheme</em> and<em> Tristan &amp; Isolde</em> 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.

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Behzod Abduraimov’s performances combine an immense depth of musicality with phenomenal technique and delicacy. He performs worldwide with renowned orchestras and prestigious conductors.

In addition to these performances with the Houston Symphony, 2023-24 Season performances include the Chicago Symphony, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, including a tour of Spain and Belgian National Orchestra. Behzod will return to Israel Philharmonic and appear with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

In recital, Behzod has appeared in the world’s leading venues. This season, he will perform twice at Carnegie Hall–returning the Stern Auditorium for a solo recital, followed by a duo recital with Daniel Lozakovich at the Weill Auditorium. The duo will present recitals elsewhere, including Bing Hall, Stanford, and the Vancouver Recital series. Behzod will also perform in recital at the Seoul Arts Centre, Shanghai Concert Hall, Amare Hall, Hague, and the Tuesday Evening Concert Series, Charlottesville. Regular festival appearances include Aspen, Verbier, Rheingau, La Roque Antheron, Lucerne, and Ravello.

Behzod’s second recital recording (Alpha Classics) will be released in March 2024 featuring works by Ravel, Prokofiev, and the Uzbek composer, Dilorom Saidaminova. In 2021, he enjoyed the highly successful release of his first recital album (Alpha Classics) based on a program of Miniatures, including Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. In 2020, recordings included Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra under James Gaffigan, recorded on Rachmaninoff’s own piano from Villa Senar (Sony Classical) and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Concertgebouworkest (RCO Live). Both recordings were nominated for the 2020 Opus Klassik awards in multiple categories. His 2012 debut CD of Liszt, Saint-Saëns, and Prokofiev (Decca) won the Choc de Classica and Diapason Découverte.

Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 1990, Behzod began the piano at age five as a pupil of Tamara Popovich at Uspensky State Central Lyceum. In 2009, he won first prize at the London International Piano Competition with Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. He studied with Stanislav Ioudenitch at the International Center for Music at Park University, Missouri, where he is artist-in-residence.