Rare Jarvi CSO repeat a winner
The Cincinnati Post's Mary Ellyn Hutton found much to like about Thursday night's concert in her review Rare Jarvi CSO repeat a winner (3/11/05):
"Paavo Järvi has conducted Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 (from the New World) scores of times. This week marks the second time he has programmed it with the Cincinnati Symphony, one of the few works he has repeated since becoming CSO music director in 2001.
"One of the best-loved of all symphonies, it invariably receives a warm reception, as it did Thursday night at Music Hall.
"I found it instructive in preparing for the concert to listen to a 1993 recording of the work by Järvi and London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. There was a special poignancy, not to say pain, about his earlier thoughts, as of a homesick composer far from home (Dvorak spent three years in the U.S.). Perhaps Järvi identified with that image, since he was an exile from his native Estonia at the time.
There was little of that in Thursday's performance. The opening movement was filled with confidence and Järvi lingered lovingly on the gentle flute theme, shaped exquisitely by principal flutist Randolph Bowman.
The famous Largo (whose "Going' Home" theme was made into a spiritual and not the other way around) was deeply moving. English hornist Christopher Philpotts played with heart-stopping tenderness, but the effect was more of nostalgia than loss. Järvi had fun with the folkish scherzo, practically dancing on the podium at one point, and there was nobility and strength in the finale.
The performance was not perfect. There was some jarring intonation in the winds in the Largo and the horns faltered a couple of times in the finale, disturbing the pace of the work a bit toward the end. However, visiting principal hornist William verMeulem (Houston Symphony) acquitted himself well on his solos, and the strings played with warmth, muscle and precision.
The concert also marked the CSO debut of Latvian violinist Baiba Skride in Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2. Winner of the 2001 Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition, Skride, 24, is meticulous and eminently musical. She drew a honeyed tone from her 1708 Stradivarius, never heavy or forced, even in the finale with its bracing double stops and steeplechase-like exertions.
The emphasis was on collaboration, not her solo role, and she worked hand-in-glove with Järvi, who brought out every delicious detail in the score. The music had an almost chamber music quality at times, as her lines inter-meshed with those of the CSO players, including percussionist Bill Platt on bass drum at the end.
The concert opened with the CSO premiere of American composer Kevin Puts' 1997 Networks, a colorful, seven-minute work of a motoric, minimalist cast, reminiscent of John Adams and Steve Reich.
"Paavo Järvi has conducted Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 (from the New World) scores of times. This week marks the second time he has programmed it with the Cincinnati Symphony, one of the few works he has repeated since becoming CSO music director in 2001.
"One of the best-loved of all symphonies, it invariably receives a warm reception, as it did Thursday night at Music Hall.
"I found it instructive in preparing for the concert to listen to a 1993 recording of the work by Järvi and London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. There was a special poignancy, not to say pain, about his earlier thoughts, as of a homesick composer far from home (Dvorak spent three years in the U.S.). Perhaps Järvi identified with that image, since he was an exile from his native Estonia at the time.
There was little of that in Thursday's performance. The opening movement was filled with confidence and Järvi lingered lovingly on the gentle flute theme, shaped exquisitely by principal flutist Randolph Bowman.
The famous Largo (whose "Going' Home" theme was made into a spiritual and not the other way around) was deeply moving. English hornist Christopher Philpotts played with heart-stopping tenderness, but the effect was more of nostalgia than loss. Järvi had fun with the folkish scherzo, practically dancing on the podium at one point, and there was nobility and strength in the finale.
The performance was not perfect. There was some jarring intonation in the winds in the Largo and the horns faltered a couple of times in the finale, disturbing the pace of the work a bit toward the end. However, visiting principal hornist William verMeulem (Houston Symphony) acquitted himself well on his solos, and the strings played with warmth, muscle and precision.
The concert also marked the CSO debut of Latvian violinist Baiba Skride in Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2. Winner of the 2001 Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition, Skride, 24, is meticulous and eminently musical. She drew a honeyed tone from her 1708 Stradivarius, never heavy or forced, even in the finale with its bracing double stops and steeplechase-like exertions.
The emphasis was on collaboration, not her solo role, and she worked hand-in-glove with Järvi, who brought out every delicious detail in the score. The music had an almost chamber music quality at times, as her lines inter-meshed with those of the CSO players, including percussionist Bill Platt on bass drum at the end.
The concert opened with the CSO premiere of American composer Kevin Puts' 1997 Networks, a colorful, seven-minute work of a motoric, minimalist cast, reminiscent of John Adams and Steve Reich.
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