Juraj Valčuha

The world premiere of a new creation by Philip Perocco opens an evening dedicated to Slavic musical tradition, conducted by a specialist in this fascinating repertoire as Juraj Valčuha. After the passionate Symphony no. 8, composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1889 and famous for the waltz of the third movement, is the turn of the Galánta Dances. Commissioned in 1933 by the Budapest Philharmonic Society for his eighty years from the foundation, they are the wonderful hommage of Zoltán Kodály to the city where he spent his childhood, a mix of Hungarians, Austrians, Slovaks and Gypsyies. The task of closing the program is entrusted to the festive Sinfonietta which Leoš Janáček dedicated in 1926 "to the Czechoslovak armed forces", a symphony that eighty years later will become an integral part of the novel IQ84 by Haruki Murakami.

Program

Filippo Perocco
del color del fiore

Antonín Dvořák
Symphony n. 8 in G major op. 88, B163

Interval

Zoltán Kodály
Galántai tàncok (Galánta dances)

Leóš Janáček
Sinfonietta

Artists

Conductor
Juraj Valčuha

Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Juraj Valčuha

Born in 1976 in Bratislava, the city where he undertook to study composition and conducting; then subsequently in St. Petersburg and Paris. In 2006 he made his debut with the Orchestre National de France and the Comunale of Bologna with La Bohème. He was invited by major international orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Dresden Staatskapelle and the Washington National Symphony. In 2011-2012 he debuted with the Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Boston Symphony and the Academy of Santa Cecilia. In the 2012-2013 season he debuted with the New York Philharmonic and the Filarmonica della Scala.  In 2009 he was principal conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI. In Florence he directed Madama Butterfly in February 2014.