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.”

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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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“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”

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.

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.

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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.”

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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

As Japan prepares for Paavo Järvi’s inauguration as Chief Conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, billboards across Tokyo herald his arrival and Record Geijutsu features him as “Artist of the Month” in their October cover issue.

Paavo’s first concert in Tokyo is on October 3rd when he will lead the NHK Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection.”

His first recording with the orchestra of works by Richard Strauss has just been released by Sony Japan.

Tonight, at the Gramophone Magazine’s annual awards ceremony Editor-in-Chief, James Jolly, announced that Paavo Järvi has been voted by the public as Artist of the Year stating “One of the most sought-after conductors of today, and one of the most recorded, Paavo Järvi continues the family tradition. An interpreter of imagination who brings something fresh to everything he tackles, he is a musician well worth listening to.”

Receiving the award in London, Paavo Järvi commented ”When I am in the recording studio all thought is of the “here” and “now” – the music and the musicians.  It’s easy to forget that the audience is as important a part of the whole experience because they will be the ones who decide whether your recording should stand the test of time … or not! So from now on I shall go into the studio reminding myself of the music, the musicians and audiences around the world who voted for me to receive this award. Its a humbling thought to be chosen as Gramophone’s Artist of the Year and I am hugely proud to be standing here today to receive this.”

Last week Paavo Järvi was presented the Sibelius Medal by Finland’s Ambassador during the opening concert of the Orchestre de Paris’s season at the Philharmonie – his final season with them as Music Director – and the previous week it was announced that their recording of Dutilleux was voted best recording of contemporary orchestral music by Germany’s ECHO Klassik Prize. 

The governors of the Sibelius Society have elected to award the prestigious Sibelius Medal to the Estonian Paavo Järvi, Musical Director and Chief Conductor of the Orchestre de Paris.

The Sibelius Medal will be presented to Paavo Järvi in Paris by the Finnish Ambassador to France, Mr. Risto Piipponen, at the opening concert of the new season of the Orchestre de Paris on September 9^th, on which occasion the orchestra will perform Sibelius Symphony no. 5, conducted by Paavo Järvi.

On dedicating the medal, the Sibelius Society commented “Paavo Järvi has promoted the music of Sibelius with great talent in concerts which he has conducted throughout the world and particularly in France. With his passion and drive he is making history by recording the complete Sibelius symphony cycle with the Orchestre de Paris – a project so far never undertaken by any other French orchestra. His existing discography includes important Sibelius recordings which have gained international critical acclaim, including the release of the Cantatas with the National Estonian Orchestra and Estonian choirs on Erato which received a Grammy Award.”

This is the second time the Sibelius Medal is awarded to a conductor this year which celebrates the 150^thanniversary of the composer’s birth. Sir Simon Rattle, chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, received the medal in May in Berlin.