Financial Times CD REVIEWS

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January 5, 2008

Beethoven

Symphonies 3 & 8 Paavo Järvi

RCA ****

Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen bring out the con brio component in the explosive opening allegros of both symphonies, each peppered with moments where accents, ritardandos and fermatas have clearly been rethought without disrupting the natural flow of Beethoven's argument. These are performances I will happily return to.

August 18, 2007

Tüür: Magma

Evelyn Glennie/Paavo Järvi

Virgin Classics 

The symphonic music of Estonian composer Erkki- Sven Tüür (b.1959) evokes the hard edge of rock, the textural colours of post- Impressionism and the tonal imagination of Nordic modernism. It's a tempting cocktail, though the music's atmosphere always seems more alluring than its argument. Magma is the title of Tüür's half-hour Fourth Symphony: it's really a many-splendoured percussion concerto for Glennie, who responds with dazzling virtuosity. The CD includes two less interesting choral works and a moody string tribute to Tüür's compatriot Arvo Pärt.

Andrew Clark