“The Brahms Code”, a documentary film about The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Paavo Järvi’s latest project dedicated to the music of Johannes Brahms, has been presented with the Silver Award by the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards in the documentary / music category. The jury, comprising experts from around the world chose ›The Brahms Code‹ out of submissions from over 50 countries. The TV documentary released in Autumn 2019 is a co-production between Deutsche Welle and Unitel.

Director, Christian Berger, accompanied The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and Paavo Järvi for their third project together, creating an insightful portrait of the musicians’ intension collaboration and interspersing interviews with musical highlights, to illustrate the work of this musical “dream team” (NDR Kultur). Previous projects include ›The Beethoven Project‹ (2010) and ›Schumann at Pier2‹ (2012)

Paavo Järvi and The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen’s goal has been to make Brahms’ symphonies appear alive and relevant to today’s audience. Complete Brahms cycles have been performed in Tokyo, Vienna, St. Petersburg, at the Rheingau Music Festival and at the Festival de Lanaudière (Canada). Another cycle was presented in Spring 2018 at the Théatre des Champs Elysées in Paris. Meanwhile, the symphonies have all been released on CD and “The Brahms Code”, was released on DVD in Autumn 2019. A highlight of the entire project was the special performance of Brahms’ Requiem in Bremen Cathedral in 2018, now also available on DVD (C major).

Available on DVD and/or BluRay from:
prestomusic.com
jpc.de
amazon.com
hmv.co.jp

Join Paavo Järvi for a Facebook Live Q&A on Saturday 25 April at 3pm EDT (9pm CET). Hosted by virtual arts education platform, Culturenet, this is the third in the start of a new series of Q&As with Paavo Järvi which will also feature on his YouTube channel.

Since his professional debut in 1985 when he conducted Sibelius’ First Symphony, Paavo Järvi has continuously performed and promoted the Finnish composer’s works throughout the world. In 2003 he won a Grammy Award for his recording of Sibelius Cantatas and in 2019 Sony Classical released the complete symphony cycle which Järvi recorded with the Orchestre de Paris during his tenure as Music Director. For his role in promoting Sibelius’ music to a wider public, the Sibelius Academy awarded Paavo Järvi the prestigious Sibelius Medal in 2015.

“For an Estonian conductor, performing and recording the Sibelius symphony cycle is a very important project for many reasons” commented Paavo Järvi. “ Firstly because we “Northerners” still have a mission of making Sibelius more familiar to music lovers and orchestras around the world; secondly, as an Estonian there is a certain sense of “ownership” and “belonging” to this music. Finland and Estonia have always been very close to one another – not just geographically but also culturally – Sibelius means just as much to Estonians as he means to Finns; and most importantly, because I absolutely love these symphonies.“

Watch Paavo Järvi’s performances of Sibelius symphonies with the Orchestre de Paris (Nos. 1 & 2), Estonian Festival Orchestra (No. 2) and Berlin Philharmonic (No. 5) on YouTube and join him for the live Q&A this Saturday.

Paavo Järvi is inviting young conductors around the world to join him for a Facebook Live Q&A – this time with a focus mostly on Brahms – on Saturday 11 April at 3pm EDT (9pm CET). Hosted by virtual arts education platform, Culturenet, this is the second in the start of a new series of Q&As with Paavo Järvi which will also feature on his YouTube channel.

Introducing this weekend’s Q&A Paavo Järvi commented: “I would like to take the opportunity of the current lockdown to give personal guidance to young conductors on any burning questions they might have about performing Brahms in particular. I’ve chosen Brahms as a starting point for this weekend’s Q&A for two reasons …”

“Firstly, this Easter weekend there will be a 48 hour screening of our performance of The Brahms Requiem on the The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen’s website. This was a special concert, filmed on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Requiem’s world premiere, conducted by Brahms himself in the Bremen Cathedral on Good Friday in 1868. Despite the fact that Brahms called his work a Requiem, he never meant it as primarily a mass for the dead. Instead it is intended as a comfort for those who mourn, a mass for the living to help them back on the path to new hope. It is a work full of spiritual optimism that feels particularly relevant for the times that we live in.”

“Secondly Brahms reminds me of an experience I had as a student in LA which I think is also relevant to all conductors no matter age or experience. Sitting in the car on the way to a dinner party with my brother, we were listening to Brahms Symphony no.3, not knowing who was conducting. It was one of the most unusual, exaggerated, self-indulgent and emotional interpretations I had ever heard, yet totally captivating and impossible to switch off. We arrived at the restaurant very late and sat for another 20 minutes in the car, parked in front. We had to find out who it was, who had dared to take so many liberties and had re-imagined this Brahms symphony from what we used to know. At the end the announcer said that it was Bernstein with the Vienna Philharmonic. The reason why it was so important, was because it gave me courage as a young musician to dare to follow my intuition and not be “intimidated” by legendary interpretations from the past. In that way this recording remains very important for me. Now with a little time on my hands, I want to listen to it again and see if time has changed my perception.”

On Good Friday, April 10, 1868, Johannes Brahms conducted the world premiere of A German Requiem in Bremen Cathedral. Exactly 150 years later, in April 2018, Paavo Järvi and The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen returned to the Cathedral to give a special anniversary performance of the work together with the Latvian State Choir and soloists Valentina Farcas and Matthias Goerne. The performance, which was broadcast on German State TV, has just been released on DVD for the first time by C Major.

This year Good Friday falls once again on April 10 so to honour the day The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen is offering a free streaming of its performance with Paavo Järvi for 48 hours on the orchestra’s website. Starting at 10am CET, the concert will be available until Sunday morning, offering viewers a moment of reflection and hope over the Easter weekend. > www.kammerphilharmonie.com

The anniversary concert was also recently released on disc (DVD or Blu-Ray formats) by C Major.

“Despite the fact that Brahms called his work a Requiem, he never meant it as primarily a mass for the dead. Instead it is intended as a comfort for those who mourn, a mass for the living to help them back on the path to new hope. This is a work full of spiritual optimism that feels particularly relevant for the times that we live in. A time when many are mourning the loss of someone close to them and everyone is anxious about both the present and the future. Brahms’ music gives us an opportunity to reflect and replenish our spirits at precisely the moment when it is most needed.”
Paavo Järvi

> More about this release

CultureNet, a new virtual arts education platform based in LA, presents an exclusive discussion with Paavo Jarvi on Facebook Live this Sunday, April 5th at 3pm EDT (9pm CET). The live discussion is augmented by free screenings of the documentary Maestro film up until April 8th at noon PST (9pm CET.)

“Since it’s initial release several years ago, Maestro has aired all over the world and streamed on various digital platforms, but still, many people were not able to watch it. Now, CultureNet will offer the film via Facebook LIVE for a limited period. In the midst of endless concert cancellations, we hope a film that celebrates and preserves the path to musical mastery will bring joy and a dose of inspiration during these challenging times. Whether you are a fan of classical music already or simply curious about it, we hope you’ll tune into the CultureNet Facebook LIVE stream for this exclusive screening and live Q&A with Maestro Järvi.”