FROM PRAGUE TO LONDON & SMETANA TO NIELSEN

Last week Paavo Järvi had the honour of conducting the Czech Philharmonic in the inaugral concert of the 71st International Prague Spring Festival and tonight he returns to the stage at the Royal Festival Hall to continue his ongoing Nielsen Symphony Cycle with the Philharmonia in London.

Tonight’s programme, which features both the Nielsen Clarinet Concerto and Symphony No.3, follows the recent CD release of the complete Nielsen Symphony Cycle which Paavo recorded with the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra. Receiving international critical acclaim, RBB Radio (Germany) commented on the cycle: “With his Estonian musical family roots he has sucked the sound and thought world of the Baltic Seas as if, so to speak, it is his mother’s milk”, Pizzicato (Luxembourg) wrote “The refined and transparent orchestral playing make these vivid and colourful performances truly gripping” and Quobuz (France) concluded “Paavo Järvi captures all the malicious nature of the work of the Danes, and gives a performance which is both incredible and full of musical relevance, constantly exciting.”

“UNMISSABLE RELEASE”

Paavo Järvi’s recording of the Elgar and Walton cello concertos with Steven Isserlis and the Philharmonia has been chosen as Gramophone’s Recording of the Month by Gramophone Magazine.

“… With his immaculate technical address and ravishingly songful, mellow tone, (Steven) Isserlis strikes precisely the right balance between classical strength and private introspection, his contribution as full of radiant spontaneity and tumbling fantasy as one could wish.

“He is also blessed in having such a scrupulously attentive partner as Paavo Järvi, who procures playing of the very highest quality from the Philharmonia. Tempi throughout are uniformly well judged. The first movement ideally combines suppleness and purpose, leading into a quicksilver scherzo that eschews any suggestion of hectic flashiness. To the glorious slow movement Isserlis and Järvi bring an unexaggerated depth of feeling, tenderness of expression and simple flow … The finale, too, is splendid.

“The Walton concerto likewise finds these sympathetic artists at the top of their game … Is this newcomer possibly the finest yet? I’m inclined to think so. After a sultry and intoxicatingly poised opening movement, the central scherzo fairly crackles with wit and ear-pricking detail … An unmissable release.”

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“A SOVERIGN TRUSTEE” TO NIELSEN

“Järvi represents the role of a sovereign trustee for the art of Carl Nielsen in this symphonic cosmos” writes Der Opernfreund’s in its review of Paavo Järvi’s new Nielsen cycle with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra . Four years in the making and released at the close of the 150th anniversary of Nielsen’s birth, further reviews from Germany follow suit in their praise:

“Paavo Järvi has just released a new recording with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and it has almost become an “historical” high point. With his Estonian musical family roots he has sucked the sound and thought world of the Baltic Seas as if, so to speak, it is his mother’s milk. What especially distinguishes the recording: A quasi natural empathy with the erratic, sometimes almost childish naitivty, but always built on a masterful craft and understanding of Nielsen … Paavo Järvi and the Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra engage so enthusiastically and selectively in this universe, that you can sit back and trust their leadership.

Udo Badelt, Kulturradio RBB, (Germany)

“The merit with Paavo Järvi is to be able to sit back as a listener and appreciate the natural spectacle of instrumental sounds, going between restful and contrapuntal rigour … Järvi’s approach and understanding of these works, written between 1891 to 1916, clearly allows the linear structures to emerge, nothing must remain on the surface … We experience a culinary luxurious sound …”

Dr. Ingobert Wahba, Der Neue Merkur (Germany)

THE DEUTSCHE KAMMERPHILHARMONIE BREMEN CHOSEN AS DEUTSCHLANDRADIO KULTUR “ORCHESTRA OF THE YEAR”.

Deutschlandradio Kultur has chosen the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen as “Orchestra of the year” citing it as “one of the world’s leading orchestras. Since 2004 its Artistic Director has been the Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi. Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen have had actively widely acclaimed successes with, among other things, their Beethoven project which has included worldwide tours, CD and DVD recordings. Currently, the orchestra is dedicated to the symphonic works of Johannes Brahms. For their cultural and musical outreach work the orchestra has already received several awards … In the following months Deutschlandradio Kultur will follow the orchestra, broadcasting concerts and introducing special artistic collaborations.”

Read more on deutchlandradio.de

BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE AWARDS INVITES YOU TO VOTE

Paavo Järvi’s recording of the Prokofiev and Shostakovich cello concertos with Steven Isserlis and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra has been nominated in the concerto category for the 2016 BBC Music Magazine Awards:

“Out of over 1,200 recordings reviewed in the magazine during 2015, 21 have been deemed the very finest by our specially assembled jury of critics and magazine editorial staff … Now we need you to help us choose the ultimate winners, and you can do just that by heading to awards.classical-music.com, listening to the excerpts and voting for your favourites (voting closes on 19 February). Everyone who votes will be able to enter a prize draw to win one of two copies of each and every nominated recording. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 5 April at Kings Place, and in the May issue of BBC Music Magazine.”

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COMPLETE NIELSEN CYCLE RELEASED ON SONY CLASSICAL

“A bumper review this week” writes Prestoclassical.co.uk. “Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi’s complete Nielsen symphonies with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, released to mark the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Listening to these has been a mammoth task, but by no means an arduous one … I can’t think of a better navigator than Paavo Järvi to guide the ear through Nielsen’s changing symphonic languages”

“DRIVEN BY DESIRE”

Paavo Järvi is reunited with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen this week for the launch of their Brahms cycle. Following their sell out Berlin concert Der Tagesspiegel  rote “When Järvi appeared as a guest conductor with his Orchestre de Paris at the Philharmonie recently he maintained the efficient upper hand as leader. With the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen however there is no music director, simply fellow musicians, and the energy currents flow and intensify with each moment. Weariness is not something that this cohesive ensemble know about. They are driven only by their desire to raise our perception of Brahms. And this is what the Bremen musicians precisely achieved in this blazing evening.”

This weekend Paavo and ensemble will be perform the complete Brahms cycle at Vienna’s Konzerthaus and ORF TV has already singled the event out as one of the city’s spotlights.

DIAPASON D’Or “ARTISTE DE L’ANNÉE”

France’s leading music magazine – Diapason – has chosen Paavo Järvi as “Artist of the Year” at their annual awards ceremony which took place in Paris last night, just two months after the Estonian conductor was also named “Artist of the Year” by Gramophone Magazine in London. On learning of the award, he commented “To be honoured by one magazine as their chosen Artist of the Year is already great news – to be honoured by two magazines is hugely flattering, and to be honoured by two magazines of such high class international calibre makes me feel both humbled and honoured”.

Paavo was unable to attend the Paris ceremony as he is currently in Germany conducting the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen at the start of a tour which sees the launch of their new Brahms Symphony Cycle in the Vienna Konzerthaus, with additional concerts in Berlin, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Paris, Baden Baden and throughout Korea.

Visit francemusique.fr

DER ELEGANTE DIRIGENT

In his ongoing series “Auktakt” on the Süddeutsche Zeitung website, Harald Eggebrecht pays tribute to Paavo Järvi as “one of the most interesting conductors of our time.”

“Paavo Järvi weiß, wie man sich den Musikern elegant und leichtfüßig mitteilt. Er ist einer der interessantesten Dirigenten unserer Zeit.”

See the video here

“SENSATIONAL” & “FRUITFUL COLLABORATION”

Paavo Järvi and the Orchestre de Paris are currently on tour with concerts this week in Essen, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt and Brussels. These concerts follow their performance this weekend in Vienna which the Wiener Zeitung summarised as “sensational” …

“It’s Paavo Järvi’s last season as chief conductor of the Orchestre de Paris and on Saturday they performed together at the Vienna Konzerthaus. Taking this performance as a yardstick, these five years together must have been a very fruitful collaboration: one rarely experiences such an immediate connection between orchestra and conductor, such an extraordinarily attentive presence on both sides so that with economical means an understanding of the most subtle shades is possible.”

Wiener Zeitung, 9 November 2015

Photo: © Kaupo Kikkas