At Dvořák’s Prague, unexpected pleasures from the Tonhalle Zürich
By Frank Kuznik , 09 September 2026 The program for Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich’s appearance at the Dvořák’s Prague festival promised a night of tortured artists: Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto no. 1 , hidden away for years under Soviet oppression, and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, written when the composer was seriously ill and dealing with encroaching deafness. Instead, conductor Paavo Järvi served up a convincingly understated version of the concerto, letting soloist Josef Špaček carry the emotional weight, and a boisterous reading of the symphony that verged on explosive at times. Fresh and unexpected, it made for an exhilarating evening. Josef Špaček Jr, Paavo Järvi and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich © Petra Hajská The through thread was a finely calibrated sound that Järvi set from the opening movement of the concerto, which started with a soft glimmer and stayed clear and cool as the volume and intensity rose. A strong internal pulse ...
