PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA

DEBUSSY: Prélude à l’Après-midi d’un faune
CONNESSON: Concerto Da Requiem (Concerto for Organ and Orchestra) U.S. premiere
PROKOFIEV: Symphony no. 5
with Christian Schmitt, organ

“… the Estonian conductor pulled out the stops with a performance (of Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony) that gained depth and eloquence as it unfurled and raced boldly to a breathtaking conclusion.”

Concertonet.com, Linda Holt, 23 March 2024

“Järvi brought a baton dipped in acid to the Prokofiev, leading an account that dripped with sarcasm, resentment and edge. In constant motion on the podium, he produced a sound that felt refreshingly unfamiliar to longtime followers of this orchestra: an almost unbearable brightness in the violins that contrasted the despairing depths of the low strings and brass; an added sense of weight in the woodwind playing; a jolting barrage of percussion, from explosive timpani to unsettling snare. The roiling piano interjections in the Allegro marcato felt almost demonic here.”

Bachtrack.com, Cameron Kelsall, 22 March 2024

TONHALLE-ORCHESTER ZÜRICH
MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 5

“The start of a new Mahler cycle passed its baptism of fire with flying colours in Zürich …

Järvi frees the music from its predominantly highly emotional, sometimes overly obsessive and intoxicating navel-gazing. His priority is to reveal the architecture of the monstrous symphony, to show edge and texture with clear movements and clockwork precision, to understand the score as a great whole to which the individual parts must conform … The marvellous Tonhalle Orchestra and conductor are perfectly attuned, artistically congenial partners. A stirring start has been made, and we can look forward to the sequel.”

Online Merker, Ingobert Walter, 5 February, 2024

A highly personal and outstanding interpretation … quite visceral, decidedly expressive, a touch virulent, as if spoken from the gut, with all one’s soul … The Adagietto, very measured and concise, without softness, showed Järvi’s meticulous work, capable of delving into great dynamism and intensity, while at the same time being incisive in tempi. The Estonian mesmerised with the Rondo-Finale, hardly pausing for breath, breathless, overwhelming at times.

Platea, Alejandro Martinez, 11 February 2024

“Paavo Järvi and the Zurich Philharmonic gave a committed, intense and musical performance. The maestro gives meaning to this landmark work in the repertoire with a clear reading. He knows his score intimately and knows what he wants to achieve … ”

Crescendo.be, Thimothée Grandjean, 5 February 2024

ESTONIAN FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
EUROPEAN TOUR – JANUARY 2024

When Järvi performs Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 1 with his Estonian Festival Orchestra … you can enjoy the lively, gestural, springy musical style, the rhetorical power of this well-thought-out, yet extremely spontaneous interpretation … Järvi also brought the Estonian strings to golden, red and white embers in Jean Sibelius’ fervently driven “Andanto festivo”.
Die Presse, Walter Weidringer, 26 January 2024

The entire ensemble was dramatic, engaged and played as if with one bow, producing a gripping, deeply-grounded sound … Järvi gave the finale in particular full opportunity to breathe and with it his audience the chance to take in the orchestra’s lovely sound. Energetic yet grounded, dramatic yet generous, there is little more that can be asked for from a night in the Konzerthaus, or from an orchestra in it.
Bachtrack.com, Chanda VanderHart, 26 January 2024

From the phenomenally clean, contoured strings alone, you realise in the first few seconds that this is not just a good performance, but one that has been carefully rehearsed. Järvi does not rely solely on precision, but also creates an infinite palette of moods, lively, sweeping, powerfully compact … Because everyone pulls together, Paavo Järvi is able to push the extremes incredibly far apart, mystical murmurs in slow motion are cut hard against passages at ludicrous speed, in between which the music breaks off again and again in a mysterious way.
Abendzeitung, Michael Bastian Weiss, 27 January 2024