Juraj Valčuha and Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Firenze 

Slovak conductor Juraj Valčuha proposes in this concert in Florence a quite refined program

Conductor Juraj Valčuha

Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

at

Opera di Firenze, Italy

2015 September 26^th

Program:

Filippo Perocco
Del color del fiore, – création.

Antonín Dvořák
Sinfonia n
. 8 in sol maggiore op

. 88, B163

Zoltán Kodály
Danze di Galánta

Leóš Janáček
Sinfonietta

Review by Fabio Bardelli

FIRENZE/ITALY: Slovak conductor Juraj Valčuha proposes in this concert in Florence a quite refined program that includes music not quite familiar to the public, not even the beautiful Symphony n
. 8 by Antonin Dvorak, with its natural charm, its spleen, its pastoral notes and inexaustible melodic vein. Serenity and balance are its main characteristics, and in this sensitive rendition conductor Valčuha shows its most dreamy and peaceful side, including interesting instrumental refinements as required by the author quite well performed by very good first parts of the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

Slovak conductor Juraj Valčuha proposes in this concert in Florence a quite refined program.

The sound of the orchestra is always smooth and accurate, the phrasing of strings always supple and sensitive, the first parts soar with absolute mastery. The only slight remark that I make about this really beautiful rendition is a sort of vagueness in the moments where a stronger and more expressive power is required, in forteand fortissimo, where the sound of the orchestra becomes less personal and conductor’s intentions less inquisitive.

The second part of the concert seemed to be chosen to extoll the gifts of the beautiful florentine Orchestra, really in a state of grace.

The rendering of Kodály’s Dances of Galanta was rightly whirling and technically irreproachable, narrow paced but with a considerable flexibility in phrasing
. This interesting composition, a real virtuoso test for all the orchestras, comes from the childhood memories of the author, who lived many years in the eponymous locality of Slovakia, a town that was a melting pot of ethnicities, rhythms and dances. Conductor extolls rhythms and bright colors, wonderfully performed by the orchestra that follows him perfectly.

Juraj Valčuha proposes in this concert in Florence a refined program. By Fabio Bardelli

Also Leóš Janáček’s Sinfonietta has never reached in Italy a great popularity. That is a pity, because the composition is quite enjoyable and characterized by surprising vitality and brilliance, and not only for the massive use of brass and for repeating insistently some themes, so to become easy to store. Juraj Valčuha gives a really fascinating, brilliant, extroverted and virtuosistic rendering very appreciated by the florentine audience.

The technical mastery of the still young Slovak director (born in Bratislava in 1976) and his perfect knowledge of the technical and expressive qualities of the orchestra are truly surprising. His gesture is strong and secure, the feeling that seems to establish with the musicians really great. He is a conductor to follow carefully in next decades and that will surely give us a lot of satisfaction in the course of his career.

Opening the concert Valčuha conducted a new evocative composition by italian contemporary musician Filippo Perocco commissioned by the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Del color del fiore.

The absence in the program of this concert of a great repertory simphony influenced the presence of the audience, the House wasn’t sold out at all, but there was a real triumph for the conductor and the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

By Fabio Bardelli