November 28, 2025
Jones Hall
Houston, Texas – USA
Houston Symphony, Juraj Valčuha, conductor; Behzod Abduraimov, piano.
Ľubica ČEKOVSKÁ: Toy Procession (World Premiere)
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto in B-flat minor, Op. 23 (1875)
Richard STRAUSS: Ein Heldenleben (“A Hero’s Life”), Op. 40 (1898)
Lawrence Wheeler | 25 NOV 2025
Saturday evening, Houston Symphony music director Juraj Valčuha returned to Jones Hall to conclude the Composer as Hero Festival. The program featured a world premiere, the most popular piano concerto, and an orchestral warhorse. Musically, it was in stark contrast to the previous week’s dark-shaded program of Britten and Shostakovich, offering brightly colored tones and optimistic themes. These two weeks showed the range and depth of Valčuha’s musical understanding while furthering the stature of the Houston Symphony as a premier ensemble.
Composer Ľubica Čekovská. (credit: Nelya Agdeeva)
Slovakian composer Ľubica Čekovská has a long-standing artistic dialogue with fellow countryman Juraj Valčuha. This performance of Toy Procession was a world premiere and marked the composer’s first visit to the United States. Čekovská explains, “Though the title suggests playfulness, the piece carries a deeper meaning. It explores the transformation of childhood wonder into adult reflection. Listeners are invited to consider how imagination, memory, and the joy of discovery evolve with time.”
Given this description, perhaps the piece would be better named Toy Progression, so as not to be confused with something from The Nutcracker. It begins with an undulating rhythm highlighted by a pair of marimbas. Gradually growing in volume, an extended loud section is punctuated by bass pizzicatos. Consisting of gestures and non-melodic fragments, this continued to the point of forte fatigue. It then quickly became quiet again before closing. Very well orchestrated and energetic, this piece may require a second hearing to better understand its musical content.
This was Behzod Abduraimov’s third appearance with the Houston Symphony. In 2009, he won first prize at the London International Piano Competition with Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Four years later he recorded that concerto with Valčuha, along with tonight’s Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1—a fact that is curiously missing from his HSO program bio.
Juraj Valčuha (jurajvalcuha.com)
Soloist and conductor were well matched for a successful collaboration, with both giving attention to dynamics, phrasing details, and beautiful sounds. The iconic first four notes were nobly presented by the French horns, followed by fortissimo chords in the full orchestra. As the piano entered with forte-only chords, Valčuha shaped the famous string melody at a mezzo-forte dynamic, as written. It became immediately clear that this would not be a showpiece performance, or a competition between piano and orchestra, but rather an exercise in good musical taste.
Despite its popularity—or perhaps because of it—this concerto can easily migrate between the bombastic and the trivial. Eschewing both, Abduraimov danced through the first-movement triplets and rapid octaves with technical ease and beautiful tone. Musically astute, he was quick to explore the softer range of dynamics, along with associated delicate tones. Valčuha supported these with sensitive dynamics and finely shaped phrase endings.
Lovely wind solos and dual cellos highlighted the lighter second movement. Notable were the expressive and perfectly tuned high-register oboe solos played by Anne Leek. The piano was mostly in accompanying mode, including a circus-like melody in violas and cellos that was later repeated in the violins. The piano finally has a turn with the opening lyrical theme, tenderly played by Abduraimov and echoed by the French horn.
The third movement was a dazzling display of piano virtuosity. There seemed to be no limit to Abduraimov’s capabilities, including a stream of thunderous octaves at blurring speed. The triumphant conclusion was a team effort with a winning score. The Houston Symphony is an excellent accompaniment ensemble because the musicians listen closely to the soloist and to each other.
Abduraimov stands alone as a world-famous classical musician from Uzbekistan. As I have mentioned before, we Americans are generally ignorant when it comes to the countries of Central Asia and the Turkic peoples who populate them, such as Uzbekistan. As shown this evening, the universal language of music can be received and understood anywhere, and the talent to express it knows no boundaries.
Strauss worked on Ein Heldenleben (“A Hero’s Life”) concurrently with another tone poem, Don Quixote. He regarded the two as complementary, saying they were conceived as “direct pendants” to one another and suggesting they should be performed together. While Don Quixote is about an anti-hero tilting at windmills, Ein Heldenleben is a musical self-portrait in which the hero combats his critics, enjoys the companionship of his wife, contemplates his own earlier music, and ultimately finds a peaceful escape in his domestic life. Strauss describes the nature of the hero’s struggle: “Finally the hero rises up, in order to confront [his] inner enemies (doubt, disgust) and outer enemies: battle (C minor), reinvigorated from this battle—accompanied by his beloved—all his inner, spiritual, and artistic powers increasingly developed and presented to the world.”
The charge of egotism against Heldenleben was easy for critics to make. This seemingly autobiographical work was the longest, largest-orchestrated tone poem yet written, closing with an extensive survey of Strauss’s earlier music in its coda. Strauss was delighted that the critics recognized themselves in—and were offended by—his gibes in the “Hero’s Adversaries” section, with its nasty woodwind chattering and academically-forbidden parallel fifths in the low brass. He chose the same “heroic” key of E-flat major that Beethoven used for his Eroica Symphony. He also provided titles for the six main sections: 1. “The Hero,” 2. “The Hero’s Adversaries,” 3. “The Hero’s Companion,” 4. “The Hero’s Deeds of War,” 5. “The Hero’s Works of Peace,” and 6. “The Hero’s Retreat from the World and Fulfillment.”
Strauss said, “It does have lots of horns, horns being quite the thing to express heroism.” That being the case, the hero of Ein Heldenleben was principal French horn William VerMeulen. He led the fabulous Houston Symphony horn section while contributing multiple stellar solos throughout the work.
The heroine of the evening was concertmaster Yoonshin Song. Assuming the musical role of Stauss’s wife, Pauline, she played that most difficult solo part with passion and the accuracy of Joseph Silverstein. Song was recently absent for three weeks while performing as guest concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic—the only violinist in the country so invited. Upon her return to Houston three weeks ago, the Jones Hall audience gave her a standing ovation. Such was also the case tonight when given a solo bow.
As one of the most challenging works in the orchestral repertoire, Ein Heldenleben requires a virtuoso orchestra led by a superb conductor. Both were in attendance this evening. Virtually every section and each instrument had exposed parts, all of which produced excellent results. It was another triumph. Of note were colorful clarinet solos played by Mark Nuccio, expressive English horn solos by Adam Dinitz, and gleaming flute solos from Matthew Roitstein, among many others. Valčuha led a detailed and balanced performance, maintaining clarity even in the most complex and multi-layered sections. He gave precise cues in the manner of Lorin Maazel or Yoel Levi as he shaped orchestral color and injected passion. While he still holds the musical reins tightly, he is increasingly guiding the music with trust in himself and the musicians before him. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Houston Symphony: houstonsymphony.org
- Juraj Valčuha: jurajvalcuha.com
- Behzod Abduraimov: harrisonparrott.com/artists/behzod-abduraimov
- Ľubica Čekovská: cekovskalubica.com
Read more by Lawrence Wheeler.
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