JoAnn Falletta & Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra: A Hero's Life
Beau Fleuve Records

There are many reasons why this recording warrants attention, starting with the performers involved. The conductor's the renowned JoAnn Falletta, a multiple Grammy recipient whose discography lists more than 135 titles and who became the first woman to lead a major American Orchestra when she was appointed Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic. The orchestra's distinguished too: founded in 1935, the company's also been honoured with Grammy nominations and awards (two) and since Falletta's 1998 appointment has issued over sixty-five albums. Featured as the soloist on its latest release is violinist Nikki Chooi, Concertmaster of both the BPO and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and former Concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

With respect to the composers, Richard Strauss needs no introduction, but a few details might be mentioned about Tehran-born Behzad Ranjbaran (b. 1955), who came to the United States in 1974 and after attending Indiana University received his doctorate in composition from Juilliard, where he's taught since 1992. As any artist would, Ranjbaran draws from his cultural roots, and the effects of that are heard in the tone poems of his “Persian Trilogy,” a recording of which was made by the London Symphony Orchestra and, lo and behold, Falletta. He's also written a song cycle for soprano and orchestra and separate concertos for flute, double bass, piano, and, as featured on this recording, violin.

Recorded live at the BPO's permanent home, Kleinhans Music Hall, in spring 2025, A Hero's Life appears on the BPO's own Beau Fleuve imprint and pairs the epic sweep of Strauss's Ein Heldenleben (1898) with a stellar world-premiere recording of Ranjbaran's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1994). If at first the pieces seem strange bedfellows, Falletta argues otherwise, describing them as “portraits of their artistic worlds: the extraordinary culture of ancient Persia, filtered through the composer's love of the 20th-century Western orchestra, and the fin-de-siècle extravagance of Strauss's late Romanticism.” She further notes that Ranjbaran's interest in the Persian bowed instrument, the kamancheh, lends his piece intoxicating exoticism and makes it, in her estimation, “one of the great violin concertos of our time.” Chooi's charismatic presence is front and centre on the Ranjbaran work, of course, but he also elevates Strauss's.

Preceded by other tone poems, Ein Heldenleben was of the ten he created the most autobiographical. The titular hero is, of course, Strauss himself, with the long-form piece structured to reflect the vicissitudes of his life and culminating in victory. Consistent with that plan, the violin is seen as representing his beloved wife of fifty-five years, the soprano Pauline de Ahna, in a portrait that captures her in all her tempestuous glory. While the forty-five-minute piece is performed without breaks, Strauss did provide descriptive titles for its sections, including “The Hero's Adversaries” (the composer's dig at his critics), “The Hero's Companion” (the affectionate paean to his wife), “The Hero at Battle,” “The Hero's Works of Peace” (which explicitly identifies Strauss as the protagonist by incorporating quotes from others works by him), and “The Hero's Retirement from this World and Completion.”

Surprisingly, the performance by Falletta and the BPO opens less dynamically than some (consider the vitality with which Herbert von Karajan's 1975 recording with the Berliner Philharmoniker begins, for example), but the rendition gains in strength and power soon enough. The hero's theme rings out with authority as the music, immediately identifiable as Strauss's, casts out out on its adventurous odyssey. With Falletta expertly putting the orchestra through its paces, the BPO's horns and strings execute the material with conviction before the intensity subsides and the woodwinds chatter like nattering critics. With the advent of “The Hero's Companion,” Chooi's singing violin makes its lyrical presence felt with playing that's assured, romantic, and expressive but also coy, coquettish, and playful. Aggressive snares and blustery horns announce the segue to “The Hero at Battle,” the triumphant theme resonating loudly again, after which things ease up for the placid fifth movement, “The Hero's Works of Peace,” before turning tumultuous again. Eventually, the protagonist reaches his destination, battle-scarred but triumphant and serene.

Structured in three parts and two-thirds the length of the tone poem, Ranjbaran's concerto appeals for venturing into different stylistic territory and for offering a terrific stage for the violin soloist. Marked “Andante – Allegro con brio,” the opening movement begins stormily but settles when Chooi enters, his phrases exuding dignity and eloquence. Unfolding across fifteen minutes, it wends its way mercurially, lyrical and plaintive at one moment and restless and passionate at another. The Persian influence asserts itself in the soloist's playing but also in the exotic harmonies of the orchestral writing. After the emphatic flourish with which the opening movement ends, the central adagio entrances with dark, alluring mystery and sinuous melodies. Chooi's artistry is fully evident in the control with which he articulates his solo part's long lines and dramatic declarations. The closing “Allegro moderato” is, not surprisingly, a vertiginous whirlwind and a bravura showcase for the soloist. Prepare to be dazzled by Chooi's fingerwork during this blazing finale. A vivid impression of cohesiveness is established when the three movements, despite being fundamentally contrasting in character, share themes, the third's primary idea a transformation of the first's major one, for instance.

February 2026