PRESS QUOTES
TONHALLE ORCHESTER-ZÜRICH
ELPHILHARMONIE HAMBURG RESIDENCY
November 2022
Bruckner. Symphonies No. 3, 6 & 8
”Järvi’s Bruckner performances have their very own character. Nothing escapes him in breadth, the long increases are prepared consistently and stringently, he avoids any excessive exaggeration in dynamics and sound balance. There is an organic flow of structure, a subtle gradation of the layers of sound and a sure feeling for this unique magic that only Bruckner is able to create … When listening, you breathe with the musicians and the conductor, who doesn’t need that much gesture and movement to achieve the desired results.”
Hamburger Abendblatt, Helmut Peters, 12 November 2022
”As the first movement (Bruckner Symphony No.6) builds to a climax, Paavo Järvi spreads his arms as if to embrace his entire orchestra. Horns, trumpets, trombones and tuba ignite a majestic and at the same time always warm and round sound …”
”… With his top orchestra, he exploits a wide range, from radiant fortissimo to very quiet and intimate moments. Especially in the wonderful Adagio (Symphony no. 8), in which Bruckner indulges himself in unusually voluptuous tones.”
NDR radio, Marcus Stäbler, 12 November 2022
”With any Bruckner symphony the key watchword is never to hurry. Järvi understands this so well. He controlled the ebb and flow of the melodic lines, whilst making full use of the many Luftpausen, allowing his musicians to do all the talking as he guided and shaped the musical argument without any need for fussy micro-management … Sometimes at the end of a performance you are left thinking, “Yes, this is exactly the way the music should go.”
Bachtrack.com, Alexander Hall, 11 November 2022
TONHALLE ORCHESTER-ZÜRICH
November 2022
Bruckner Symphony No. 6
“Järvi remains true to his approach … the music does not rest in itself like architecture made sound, nor is there any trace of religious consecration; rather, everything pushes forward powerfully, and so it is precisely here, in the ceaselessly pulsating rhythms of the Sixth, that a gripping dynamic develops. This is as distinguished as it is contentious, for this style stands in contrast to the still predominant Bruckner tradition from the 19th and 20th centuries, in which his symphonies are often exaggerated into monumental cathedrals of sound. Järvi avoids the weight of meaning; instead, he focuses on vividly developed details and, not least through his flowing tempi, achieves a rarely heard clarity of form.”
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Christian Wildhagen, 29 October 2022
DEUTSCHE KAMMERPHILHARMONIE BREMEN
October 2022
Haydn: Symphony No. 96
Beethoven :Piano Concerto No. 3
Soloist: Lang Lang
Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 2
“… From the precisely spotted playfulness to the great dynamic outbursts, everything is gripping to experience here (Haydn Symphony No. 96) and conductor Paavo Järvi knows how to fill every note with meaning with his sense of dramatic moments, but also with wit. A rarely experienced closeness between conductor and orchestra, which then produces such magnificent musical blossoms.”
Nordwest Zeitung, Volkmar Stickan, 11 October 2022
“This first of Haydn’s great London symphonies comes with a historically sharp sound, lively and original, with a festive shine and delicate charm. At the same time, the spirit of Sturm und Drang, self-confidently triumphant …”
Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Anke Demirsoy, 11 October 2022
”The Haydn sounded pithy, the rapid whispering of the strings in the finale was perfect. And in the Brahms symphony, after their speed recorded album of 2019, the Bremen musicians had taken out the pace, but not the explosive fire.”
Ruhr Nachrichten, Julia Gass 10 October 2022
TONHALLE ORCHESTER-ZÜRICH
SEASON OPENING
September 2022
Toshio Hosokawa: Ceremony
Soloist: Emmanuel Pahud
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 8
“The 154th Tonhalle Orchestra season opened with this splendid concert … A great start to what promises to be a great season.“
Seen and Heard International, John Rhodes, 16 September 2022
“Toshio Hosokawa’s Ceremony, dedicated to and premiered by celebrated flautist Emmanuel Pahud, is a work as enigmatic as it is demanding … While a high marker for a five-part work, Pahud and the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich rose to meet it with terrific dynamism in this season opener.”
Bachtrack.com, Sarah Batschelet, 15 September 2022
“What a memorable start (to the season)! … The overall clarity of the performance (Bruckner Symphony No. 8) – exemplified in the Scherzo, which was taken a little more fluidly than usual – have a compelling effect. All the more so as Järvi then gives space in the far-reaching Adagio to an elegiac enthusiasm and singing that seems to have fallen out of time.”
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Christian Wildhagen, 16 September 2022
PÄRNU MUSIC FESTIVAL
Estonian Festival Orchestra
July 2022
“… performances of colossal energy, passion and astounding orchestral playing. Paavo has created an ensemble to make Estonia pround.”
Gramophone, James Jolly, September 2022
”Sometimes it is the quality of the playing that bowls you over from the start. There are of course top-drawer orchestras all over the world, but hearing the Estonian Festival Orchestra at the Pärnu Festival for the first time was like finding a sparkling jewel in the most unexpected place. Drawn from the cream of European players, Paavo Järvi has created in the EFO an ensemble which is not only astonishingly flexible but which also has a depth of tonal resources not often matched elsewhere.“
Bachtrack.com, Alexander Hall, 17 July 2022
”The festival orchestra composed of top musicians brought together from the Järvi circle, exudes the joyful power that once distinguished the Lucerne Festival Orchestra: an immense will to show the conductor and the audience that you are world class.“
Scheiz am Sonntag, Christian Berzins, 6 August 2022
“… dramatic, passionate, painful, deeply touching the human heart, but not depressing. In the symphony (Tchaikovsky’s 5th), Järvi emphasizes dance-like lightness and raggedness, endless chant and sweet melancholy.“
Klasikaplus (Czech Radio), Alena Sojková, 7 September 2022
”For the epic, world-embracing final gambit, Paavo Järvi championed Sibelius’s early Lemminkäinen Suite … The adventures of the erotomanic hero of the Kalevala in a Tristanesque drama of love and death sounded so vivid, as individual a masterpiece as Sibelius ever penned; and the ppp(pp) mythic ghost of eight-part violins at the heart of what this time sounded like the most extraordinary movement, “Lemminkäinen in Tuonela”, was what the players call a “Paavo moment” … “
The Arts Desk, David Nice, 27 July 2022
BERLIN PHILHARMONIC
MAY 2022
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7
Tüür: Flute Concerto (world première)
Soloist: Emmanuel Pahud
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8
”A world premiere makes any concert a special occasion and this commission by the Berliner Philharmoniker to the Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür proved the point. His Concerto for Flute and Orchestra dedicated to, and performed by, their principal flautist Emmanuel Pahud, proved to be the highlight of this evening. The sophisticated, upbeat programme was akin to a three-course gourmet meal with Sibelius’ Symphony no. 7 in C major to start, Tüür as a hearty main dish, and Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony as a scrumptious dessert.“
Bachtrack.com, Zenaida des Aubris, 29 May 2022