Conductor Juraj Valčuha believes choral works give orchestras adaptability

When guest conductor Juraj Valčuha returns to lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in concerts May 14-16, a choral work, Poulenc’s Gloria, perhaps not surprisingly, will anchor the program.

Valčuha, music director of the Houston Symphony since fall 2022, believes that the best European orchestras routinely program opera or vocal works. He finds that it gives them adaptability, along with a sense of interconnection that audiences can hear in the music.

A native of Slovakia, Valčuha also has been music director of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, the first guest conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and was chief conductor of the Italy’s Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI from 2009 to 2016.

“There is something in the sound of these orchestras because they have to be extremely flexible,” he said in an interview with Houston’s Paper City. “Every evening, they play a different repertoire with the different singers. Sometimes the same singer might each night be in a different capacity to sing. There is a bigger flexibility to listen to each other, to accompany and play for somebody.

"They play as a group, they react as one person. They react not just to the conductor but also to the singer on stage. This idea is to be playing together to produce the same color, same phrasing.”

After just one year in the Houston post, Valčuha saw his contract extended through the 2025-26 season and last fall, through 2027-28.

“From the first time I experienced Juraj Valčuha conducting the Houston Symphony, I immediately recognized there was a special relationship between him and the orchestra,” said Houston Symphony CEO Gary Ginstling in a statement. "Juraj’s artistry, musical leadership and collaborative spirit have already transformed this organization. I am thrilled for what the future holds as we continue this extraordinary journey together.”

In Chicago, Valčuha will conduct an all-French program, also consisting of Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite and Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 (Organ), the latter with Patrick Godon as soloist. Soprano Erin Morley will be featured soloist in the Poulenc Gloria.