Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich New Mahler Cycle with Paavo Järvi

Lorena Jimenez 

Encuentros Reportaje

Zürich, the capital of the Swiss canton that bears its name, is much more than the financial engine of the small Alpine country. It is the city that saw the birth of Dadaism in the famous and now defunct Cabaret Voltaire, and where Alban Berg's stunning Lulu and Paul Hindemith's revolutionary Mathis der Maler were premiered. The Swiss city where the river Limmat flows northwest into the lake (Zürichsee) is also the home of the iconic Tonhalle-Orchester, Switzerland's oldest symphony orchestra, which has been thrilling music lovers from all over the world since 1868 and is based in the Tonhalle on Lake Zürich.

In the renovated Grosser Saal, the central concert hall internationally renowned for its acoustic excellence, the Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi, the eleventh chief conductor and current music director (who has renewed his contract until 2029), inaugurated the new cycle of Mahler's symphonies with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich (TOZ) this February.

" In Mahler the subtext is very important, i.e. what happens between the notes, as well as the text, which needs to be carefully studied. Mahler was surely the best conductor of his time and he knew perfectly well how to indicate everything in the score from the conductor's perspective, so the first option is always to trust and follow his indications".

With these words Järvi describes some of his Mahlerian philosophy, a composer with whom he began his relationship by listening to the versions of Szell, Reiner, Karajan, Bernstein and Furtwängler on the vinyls his father brought home, before experiencing first-hand the live performance of his music when he was studying at the Curtis Institute of Music in the United States. "Ever since I first conducted a Mahler cycle in Frankfurt, I always have the feeling that I can go a step further and explore another level. And now, with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, I have musicians at my side who can really take this step, because they understand this kind of depth and virtuosity, and they understand the aglogic to approach Mahler's inner world," adds Järvi, who will be immersed in this new symphonic project with the Swiss orchestra until 2029.

Tonhalle Zürich - Grosser Saal 

Coinciding with the start of this new Mahler-Zyklus with Paavo Järvi, Ilona Schmiel, Intendantin since 2014 of the Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich, also used the meeting with the invited international journalists to tell us about the sonic possibilities that the current Tonhalle offers the orchestra with its renewed acoustics:

"Two and a half years after the reopening of the hall, we can now really experience this increasingly transparent and open acoustics, which allows us to easily hear a piano or a pianissimo, as well as reaching a great sound level. And I believe that the orchestra is in a moment of partnership with Paavo to offer a new and personal interpretation of Mahler, in its own concert hall".

And the Intendantin is not without reason, because in the reading of Mahler's Fifth that Paavo Järvi presented on 2 February, even the Tonhalle musicians were arranged differently from the American-style arrangement used by David Zinman. Järvi opted for a more German approach to the Besetzung and was able to make the most of all the sonic possibilities offered by this European orchestra with a unique and extraordinary Klang, making all the sections shine, especially the brass in the Trauermarsch and the strings (truly excellent) in the Adagietto.

This evening's programme also included a performance of Mozart's Oboe Concerto, with a smaller orchestra and Cristina Gómez Godoy as soloist. The Spanish oboist, who has been principal oboe of the Staatskapelle Berlin since 2013, gave a brilliant performance, displaying great technical mastery, stylistic knowledge and expressiveness. And, at the audience's insistence, he returned to the stage to play an arrangement of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice as a tip.

Mahler's Fifth with Järvi, much applauded by the audience, was recorded live by Alpha's technicians for a subsequent recording release in spring 2025, but, before then, further releases with Mendelssohn, Bruckner and Orff will follow. And last but not least: the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich will be on tour in Spain next October, with concerts in Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Alicante... https://www.ritmo.es/encuentros/tonhalle-orchester-zurich