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We will begin the program with "A Symphony of Life": These are the words used by Slovak composer Ľubica Čekovská to describe her piece "Toy Procession," which was created in 2025 through a deep artistic connection with our guest conductor, Juraj Valčuha. This work is a study of memory: it involves revisiting childhood imagination and the carefree simplicity that is often forgotten in adulthood. The piece is composed in a beautifully rhythmic form, in which figures are gradually brought to life, culminating in a frenetic parade. Appropriately, we are pairing this fascinating music with two works that were born from youthful energy: Rachmaninoff began his first piano concerto in 1890 at the age of 17 while studying in Moscow – and even in this refreshing Opus 1, his characteristic melodic qualities and rich melancholy are evident. Lukáš Vondrácek will perform the solo part, which a fellow student of Rachmaninoff described as "a stormy surge of energy." Shostakovich was also a 17-year-old student when he worked on his first symphony in St. Petersburg, which he later submitted as his final exam piece. The examination committee immediately recognized it as "an expression of the highest talent." For the young composer, however, it must have been even more moving to hear what the conductor of the premiere, Nikolai Malko, said about this remarkably mature musical flow in 1926 – because he spoke of "the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the symphony" and the "discovery of a new great composer."
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