PRESS QUOTES

NHK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA EUROPEAN TOUR – BERLIN, LUXEMBOURG, PARIS, AMSTERDAM, LONDON, VIENNA & KÖLN / MARCH 2017
Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics; Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam; NHKSO Tokyo. Would you have thought of putting the Japanese orchestra in the same league as the top Europeans? I certainly wouldn’t, at least not until last night …  This was a Mahler Six in which every detail was clearly etched, every phrase flexible but firm of purpose …  One thing’s for sure: none of us will ever hear a Mahler Sixth more confidently or trenchantly executed than this one.
The Arts Desk, David Nice, 7 March 2017

The NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo surprise with a blazing virtuosity in Shostakovich. Chief conductor Paavo Järvi smuggles the Japanese into the top league … the triumph of a dream team … The strings created an ardour that connoisseurs usually ascribe to the Vienna Philharmonic. From Berlin came the bluster with which the violas probed.  Moreover, in the lion’s mouth [of the Concertgebouw] the Japanese musicians produced an Amsterdam trump card …
Der Volkskrant, Guido van Oorschot, 7 March 2017

“… And Paavo Järvi, from his clearly accentuated opening (of Mahler Symphony no.6), took his fiercely engaged orchestra with vehemence out of the comfort zone … with Järvi the work is disciplined, with fine articulation and a soft, yet structured, sound which leads us through melancholic marches and oblique Scherzi … with an intelligent sound and individual life of its own.
Brug’s Klassiker, Die Welt, Manuel Brug, 1 March 2017]

One is impressed by the extraordinary discipline of the ensemble, section by section, the dazzling reactivity to the imperious gesture of the leader … The concentration of expression, but also of the sound itself, which produces a mattness rarely heard today, where orchestras often aim for brilliance. This corresponds ideally to Järvi’s gestures of tension and biting (in Shostakovich Symphony No. 10), which brings us back to the Stalinist context of the composition … The musicians of the NHK aim for crudity and realism, and their radical spontaneity gives the impression of a young orchestra, with the mastery of experienced training. Here is an unmistakably convincing marriage …”
Diapason, Remy Louis, 7 March 2017

… as this epic work (Mahler Symphony No.6) progressed I became engrossed, first by Järvi’s unswerving emphasis on momentum … and second by the accentuation of extreme contrasts of dynamics rather than subtle variations of timbre. That may sound unsophisticated, but in the life-and-death tumult of the finale — where a flamboyant percussionist turned the two ear-splitting hammer-strokes into a new form of martial art — the direct, almost violent clash of opposites really paid off. The ending was stunningly dramatic.
The Times, Richard Morrison, 8 March 2017

This visit by Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor, Paavo Järvi, was a rare UK showcase for an ensemble on bristlingly good form … a swashbuckling performance.
The Guardian, Erica Jeal, 8 March 2017

… one has to be grateful to have heard a Mahler Six of such skill and integrity as this.
Bachtrack.com, Roy Westbrook, 7 March 2017

Whether refined or when becoming more angular, whatever was required, the players, with chief conductor Paavo Järvi, had every expressive phrase and nuance mastered … From the first bar (of Mahler Symphony No. 6) this performance compelled, a sense of rightness established immediately … and the long silence that followed told of musicians and audience collectively caught up in something special.
Classicalsource.com, Colin Anderson, 6 March 2017

(Takemitsu’s Requiem) requires full and unwavering concentration from the players, and the NHK strings were up to its demands … A lovely and affecting performance overall … marvellously shaped by a batonless Järvi.
SeenandHeard-International.com, Colin Clarke, 8 March 2017

“Järvi, head of the orchestra since 2015, is a noble companion and much more … With the NHK Orchestra he has a cultured, technically majestic entity of sound at his disposal, which in all sections understands how to play distinctly … The abstract poetry hovered almost like cool darkness, in order to tilt into music of anxietry of merciless density. The brutality of the second movement (of Shotstakovich Symphnoy No. 10) is completed with great conciseness. In sum, it is an unvarnished performance – with intensity and without sentiment.”
Der Standard, Ljubisa Tosic, 9 March 2017

The orchestra climbs whole mountain ranges at the summit (of Sibleius’ Violin Concerto) and makes the valleys between them charmingly iridescent.”
Wiener Zeitung, Christopher Irrgang, 8 March 2017

… With Shostakovich’s tenth, Järvi concentrated on drawing out the details, leading his musicians to the highest transparency and perfection.
Walter Dobner, Die Presse, 10 March 2017

DEUTSCHE KAMMERPHILHARMONIE BREMEN  – JANUARY 2017
With Brahms’s symphonic legacy the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen shows its strengths, with its small string ensemble and muscular strong sound. Whereas the silky-smooth strings sound of big symphony orchestras often lose out, here the intricate braid of voices can be heard without it being a mere structural inter-penetration. There is little trace of old-fashioned motifs, but a sharp rebellion can be heard with all the means of contrapuntal art, which makes the scherzo and finale a breathless experience …
Jürg Huber, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 27 January 2017

Järvi’s intrepretation (of Brahms’ Symphony No.1) is refined. Impressive is the transparent, clearly differentiated sound form, exhibiting the finest subtleties. Without hustle and bustle, Järvi flows dynamically forward leaving little room for pathos.
Annkathrin Babbe, Nordwest Zeitung, 21 January 2017

TONHALLE ORCHESTRA, ZURICH  – DECEMBER 2016
Paavo Järvi stepped quietly onto the podium, the musicians of the fully-filled Tonhalle orchestra shine, and even before the performance applause has completely ebbed, the 53-year-old Estonian gives the upbeat into the first movement of Robert Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony. With full swing he launches into the main theme which seems to fly in a great arc over the first bars … The work comes together and culminates in masterly style, gradually revealed through Järvi’s interpretation – sometimes more clearly, sometimes subliminally – by showing, for example, the contrasting interrelation, recurring accompanying figures, and the dark colors of this music. The abyss of the fourth movement, with its gravitational trombones, then becomes all the more compelling and opens up into a touching moment of the sublime. All the more convincing is the light-hearted gesture of the attacca played final: a conciliatory return to light fields.
Moritz Weber, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 18 December 2016

…  Paavo Järvi took the vivacity of the Rhenish Symphony’s first movement literally, conducting with impetus … an impulsive, heart-warming lust for life and happiness  … For me this was a solid interpretation in the best sense of the word.
Rolf Kyburz, Bachtrack.com, 17 December 2016

PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA, LONDON – NOVEMBER 2016
Nielsen Symphony No. 2 “The Four Temperaments”
Absolute precision, full-bodied sound, a lethal punch — this sterling performance rejoiced in them all, right from the turbulent opening bars … Sharpness of character was the special glory of Järvi’s tour around the temperaments. The Phlegmatic movement hovered in his hands with delicious sluggishness. Impetuous anger raced through the Choleric opening allegro, the mirror of the introspective Melancholic adagio. Shoulder movements reached their height in the Sanguine finale’s reckless high spirits, punctured towards the end with slow and sad reminiscences, beautifully engineered.
Geoff Brown, The Times 15 November 2016

The latest concert in the Discover Carl Nielsen series curated by Paavo Järvi and the Philharmonia Orchestra captivated the ear with music that was strikingly original, magisterial and downright quirky … With Nielsen as good as this I look forward to the next instalment of the Discover Carl Nielsen series.
David Truslove, Backtrack.com, 16 November 2016

Paavo Järvi’s great appreciation of Nielsen was manifest in ‘The Four Temperaments’ …
[Anthony Hodgson, Classicalsource.com, 10 November 2016

Järvi’s expressive approach to the melancholy Andantino was a masterpiece of eloquent phrasing … and this contemplative reading of so serious a movement made a suitable contrast with the wild Finale …

STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN – NOVEMBER 2016
The second of the Staatskapelle Berlin’s subscription programmes of the season was memorable in many ways. Primarily this was for a towering account of Shostakovich’s “Leningrad” Symphony, whose long course from ironic semi-darkness to ambiguous light was charted with complete control by Paavo Järvi … In fact, Järvi is probably just the sort of conductor you want in this work if it’s not to spiral out of control … Against a controlled background, the big moments, such as the grand Mahlerian outburst in the Adagio, registered with especial power. The gradual build-up to the finale’s concluding climax was irresistible, too, while the transparency of the Staatskapelle’s playing helped elucidate the work’s symphonic logic … it’s difficult to imagine a more musical account of this great symphonic edifice.
Hugo Shirley, Bachtrack.com, 8 November 2016

And the Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi? He makes the Staatskapelle Berlin sound completely different. His Beethoven sounds like mature Mozart rather than late Brahms. It is historically informed and confidently tailored to the traditional symphony orchestra. It is a Beethoven with vibrato-less strings and earthy winds, a Beethoven of high transparency and attractive expressivity.

… Paavo Järvi’s interpretation (of Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony) can now be regarded as a counter-proof … It is astonishing how long Järvi manages to spin out the main theme in all its beauty and balance – which makes the mood more violent in its warlike madness. Still more surprising, however, with what self-conviction he can demand the musical tension and surrender of the musicians in the other movements.
Felix Stephan, Der Morgenpost, 9 November 2016]

MOSTLY MOZART FESTIVAL, NEW YORK – AUGUST 2016
At the close of Friday night’s Mostly Mozart concert in Geffen Hall, Paavo Järvi and the Festival Orchestra brought down the house with Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony—and how many times do you get to say that of anyone these days? … And let’s not waste words about the performance: it was magnificent in virtually every way. Järvi is musical down to his toes, and watching him work is almost as much fun as hearing the result.
Christopher Johnson, Huffington Post