This year’s Pärnu Music Festival will be going ahead as planned from 16 – 23 July with a re-imagined programme, a focus on both young and established Estonian talent, a celebration of Estonian composer Lepo Sumera and the world premiere of a new work by Tõnu Kõrvits

“I am ecstatic that we will be able to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our festival in Pärnu” says Paavo Järvi. “Even though the musical celebrations will be smaller than originally planned, the spirit of Pärnu will compensate one hundred fold and I cannot wait to return to one of my favourite places to be reunited with so many friends on stage.”

Complete details of the new programme will be made public shortly but in the meantime the festival has announced that a full week of concerts will take place, live streamed on the festival website and with an audience of approx. 300 for each concert. The master-classes will also be streamed live so that young conductors who are unable to travel to Estonia can still participate.

Read more on the Pärnu Music Festival’s homepage

Paavo Järvi and The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen’s Beethoven cycle (Symphonies Nos 3-9) can now be experienced as filmed concerts. ›Klassik Cloud‹ presents a different Beethoven symphony every two days up until 8 June, all of which can be viewed for free on the orchestra’s website: www.kammerphilharmonie.com

‘The worldwide success of The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen is inextricably linked to its revolutionary Beethoven interpretations. With the cycle, the orchestra under the direction of chief conductor Paavo Järvi, set standards worldwide and has been causing a sensation and enthusiastic reviews ever since. Bremen’s Beethoven was by far the best in a Japanese music magazine’s ranking of all recordings ever recorded. The jury’s reasoning for the renowned Rheingau Music Prize awarded in 2019 stated, among other things, that the orchestra had “written history with their interpretation”. The weekly newspaper Die Zeit also recommended the Bremen Beethoven cycle earlier this year, ranking its recordings as among the five most important.’

Schedule:
25-27 May: Symphony No.3 ›Eroica‹
27–29 May: Symphony No.4
29–31: May Symphony No.5
31 May–02 June: Symphony No.6 ›Pastorale‹
02–04 June: Symphony No.7
04–06 June: Symphony No.8
06–08 June: Symphony No.9

In an article which appeared shortly after the UK went into lockdown, The Telegraph’s Ivan Hewett wrote: “Who is the classical composer who can best help us through this crisis? Step forward, Joseph Haydn. In the two centuries since his death, Haydn has more often been belittled than praised. Wagner thought he was born senile, John Keats said Haydn was basically a child because “you never know what he will do next”. For most people, he’s an also-ran to Mozart, sharing the same language, without the erotic passion. But now is the time when Hayden’s special qualities come into their own … “

Paavo Järvi couldn’t agree more. His latest project with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie has enabled him to dig deep into Haydn’s London symphonies and the revelations of this immersive project have given him much food for thought.

Join Paavo Järvi live on the virtual arts education platform, CultureNet for a discussion in re-evaluating the music of Joseph Haydn: Saturday 23 May at 3pm EDT (8pm London time / 9pm Berlin time). All Q&As can also be viewed on Paavo Järvi’s YouTube Channel.

On May 4th Paavo Järvi continues what has now become weekly online masterclasses during lockdown and is this time joined by Robert Green – the bestselling author of books like the 4″8 Laws of Power”, “ Mastery”, and “The Laws of Human Nature”. The event will be streamed live on Facebook, Youtube and twitter. Topics will include keys to leadership, what they’ve learned about success and overcoming failure, appreciating the classics, and more. Join the conversation by tuning in to comment and ask questions on Monday at 5pm New York time (10pm London time, 11pm Berlin time).