A Busy Number Eight: Paavo Järvi's Eighth Season in Cincinnati

(part eight of a continuing series)

Järvi conducting Brahms Requiem at 2008 David Oistrakh Festival in Pärnu, Estonia

Before returning to Cincinnati in the fall of 2008, Järvi had a full plate of conducting activities in Europe, with the David Oistrakh and Leigo Lakes Festivals in Estonia and the Launadiere Festival in Montreal.  He also taught conducting master classes at the Neeme Järvi Summer Academy in Pärnu, Estonia.

Järvi coaching Jean Philippe Dambreville, Pärnu, Estonia

Coaching French conductor Jean Philippe Dambreville in Pärnu, Estonia

Järvi conducting at 2008 Leigo Lakes Festival, Estonia

Candles on the lake and bonfires on the shore add to the summer atmosphere at the annual Leigo Lakes Festival near Otepää, Estonia each August.

CSO program cover, 2008-2009 season

The 2008-2009 season was a busy season for Paavo Järvi in and out of Cincinnati.  He was in Frankfurt with his third "Music Discovery Project," this one with electronic dance music DJ Paul van Dyk in music of the planets, in New York with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and in the summer preceding the season, teaching a conducting master class in Pärnu, Estonia.



Järvi's February, 2009 "Music Discovery Project" with the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra involved electronic dance music DJ Paul van Dyk in "The Planets Reloaded."  Centerpiece for the HRSO (Hessische Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester) was Gustav Holst's "The Planets."

Paavo Järvi rehearsing the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (photo by Julia Baier)

In March, 2009 Järvi brought the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen to New York's Alice Tully for a "marathon" traversal of Beethoven symphonies.  (They didn't make it to Cincinnati for lack of a sponsor.)  Their cycle of the complete Beethoven symphonies (in progress since 2007) began getting major attention as a fresh new voice in the Beethoven canon.



Meanwhile, CSO recordings with Järvi were also getting attention.  Their 2008 all-Mussorgsky CD for Telarc won a 2009 Grammy for "Best Surround Sound."



In February, 2009 Telarc released Järvi and the CSO's pairing of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10 and the Overture No. 2 by Estonian composer Veljo Tormis.

Järvi with (left) Estonian composer Veljo Tormis, Tallinn, June, 2007

Here he is with Tormis (left) in Tallinn in June, 2007.



And in Cincinnati, Järvi and the CSO's popular, grass roots community concert series continued in January, 2009 with a concert at Walnut Hills High School.