Paavo Järvi embarks on a 2024–25 season featuring guest appearances at NY Phil, SF Symphony and LA Phil; release of box set of complete Warner recordings; and new albums with Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
(October 2024) — 21C Media Group is thrilled to announce that it now represents 2019OPUS KLASSIK Conductor of the Year Paavo Järvi in the U.S. Now entering his sixth season as Music Director of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Järvi is also the longstanding Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, which he has led since 2004, and founder and Artistic Director of the Pärnu Music Festival and its resident ensemble, the Estonian Festival Orchestra. After engagements with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and Philadelphia Orchestra last season, Järvi returns to the U.S. in 2024–25 for another program with the New York Philharmonic(Nov 20–23), as well as engagements with the San Francisco Symphony (Feb 6–9) and Los Angeles Philharmonic (Feb 13–16). The conductor also tours Japan and South Korea this season with his Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (Dec 7–22); and tours China with the London Philharmonic (Dec 30–Jan 5). Järvi and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich released Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony on the Alpha Classics label in September, coinciding with the composer’s 200th anniversary year; they will follow that up in spring 2025 with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, the first release in a complete cycle that will span the remaining four years of Järvi’s Zürich tenure. The conductor also looks forward to the release of a box set documenting all of his Warner recordings to date, for a total of 31 CDs (Nov 8), as well as Volume 2 of Haydn’s London Symphonies with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in late November.
U.S. dates
Returning to the stage of the New York Philharmonic for his second fall performance in as many years, Järvi leads pianist Yefim Bronfman in Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto on a program with Nielsen’s Symphony No. 5 (Nov 20–23). As a native Estonian, the conductor has always had a special affinity for Nordic composers, and he released a recording of Nielsen’s complete symphonies with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony in 2015, the same year he was named Artist of the Year at the Gramophone Awards.
In February, Järvi leads the San Francisco Symphony and soloist Kirill Gerstein in Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto, complemented by Mahler’s Symphony No. 7(Feb 6–9). He then moves down the coast for a program with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and pianist Seong-Jin Cho featuring Ravel’s jazz-inflected Piano Concerto in G major, the Concerto for Strings by Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz, and Brahms’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, as arranged for orchestra by Schoenberg(Feb 13–16).
European and Asian dates
This season, Järvi guest conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin (Feb 24–25), London Philharmonia (Feb 27), and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (April 30; May 1–3), besides returning to Tokyo as Honorary Conductor Laureate of the NHK Symphony Orchestra (April 12–20), where he was Music Director from 2015–21.
Järvi tours Spain this season with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, with concerts in Alicante, Barcelona, Madrid and Zaragoza, performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 7, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 6, and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with soloist Lisa Batiashvili (Oct 27–31). In the spring, they are joined by Víkingur Ólafsson for a two-day residency at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie (March 15–16), featuring Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and John Adams’s Piano Concerto “After the Fall,” with further concerts in Paris, Frankfurt, Cologne and Essen (March 18–22).
Järvi also leads the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen – recently named Orchestra of the Year both by Gramophone (2023) and OPUS KLASSIK (2024) – on tour toJapan and South Korea (Dec 7–22). Reviewing a Mozart performance this past spring, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung raved that after twenty years, the partnership between conductor and orchestra was “an extremely fruitful and apparently still inspiring liaison. Even Mozart’s well-known ‘Jupiter’ and ‘Paris’ symphonies seem to have been born in the moment.” Both symphonies will be featured in the rotating repertoire for the upcoming tour, along with Schubert’s “Unfinished” and Beethoven’s Violin Concerto played by three-time Grammy winner Hilary Hahn.
Soon thereafter, Järvi will be joined in China by the London Philharmonic for performances in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing that featureTchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 and overtures by Smetana and Weber (Dec 30–Jan 5).
Pärnu Music Festival
July 16–25 will be the 15th anniversary of Estonia’s Pärnu Music Festival, which Järvi founded in 2011 along with its resident ensemble, the Estonian Festival Orchestra. The festival will focus on the music of Järvi’s fellow Estonian, Arvo Pärt, who celebrates his 90th birthday next year. Central to the tribute will be Pärt’s monumental Credo for piano, chorus and orchestra, which was premiered under the baton of Järvi’s father Neeme in 1968.
Album releases
With the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich the conductor embarked on a Bruckner focus in 2023, with releases of the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, and last month they released their account of the Ninth, all on Alpha Classics. Meanwhile, their recording of the Eighth received an International Classical Music Award, and a five-star review from the BBC Music magazine, which declared: “Very few Bruckner outings compel from start to finish, but this one does. It marks out Paavo Järvi as one of our greatest living Bruckner interpreters.”
For his sixth season as Music Director in Zürich, Järvi turns to another Viennese giant with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, the first release of a complete Mahler cycle. During the current season, Järvi and the orchestra give live performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 (Jan 22–24) and Symphony No. 7 (Oct 30; Nov 8–10).
On November 8, a box set of Järvi’s complete Warner recordings will be released, numbering 30 CDs plus a bonus recording of the Franck Symphony in D minor he made last September with Orchestre de Paris, of which he was Music Director from 2010–16. Many other orchestras are also well represented, including the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, of which he was principal guest conductor from 1995–98; the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where he was also principal guest conductor from 1996–99; Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France; Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, of which he was Principal Conductor from 2006–14; and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, including a recording of Sibelius cantatas featuring the Estonian National Male Choir and Ellerhein Girls Choir that won a Grammy Award in 2004.
Also in November, RCA/Sony Classical releases Volume 2 of the Haydn London Symphonies, the fourth major composer tribute of Järvi’s tenure with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, following their internationally acclaimed recordings of the complete symphony cycles of Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann.
Paavo Järvi: 2024–25 engagements
Oct 23–24
Zurich, Switzerland
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Lisa Batiashvili, violin
MOZART: Overture to Don Giovanni
PROKOFIEV: Violin Concerto No. 2
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 6
Oct 27–31
Spain Tour with Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Lisa Batiashvili, violin
MOZART: Overture to Don Giovanni (except Oct 30)
PROKOFIEV: Violin Concerto No. 2 (except Oct 30)
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 6 (except Oct 30)
MAHLER: Symphony No. 7 (Oct 30 only)
Oct 27: Alicante
Oct 28: Barcelona
Oct 29 & 30: Madrid
Oct 31: Zaragoza
Nov 8–10
Zurich, Switzerland
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
MAHLER: Symphony No. 7
Nov 14, 15, 17
Hamburg, Germany
Elbphilharmonie
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester
PROKOFIEV: Love for Three Oranges Symphonic Suite –
Erkki-Sven TÜÜR: Oboe Concerto (world premiere)
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
Nov 20, 21, 23
New York, NY
New York Philharmonic
Yefim Bronfman, piano
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 5
Nov 28–Dec 2
German dates with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Akiko Suwanai, violin
HAYDN: Symphony No. 94, “Surprise”
DVOŘÁK: Violin Concerto
MOZART: Symphony No. 41 in C major, “Jupiter,” K551
Nov 28: Hamburg (Elbphilharmonie)
Nov 29–Dec 1: Bremen (Die Glocke)
Dec 2: Berlin (Schloss Bellevue)
Dec 7–22
Asia tour with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Rafał Blechacz, piano
Hilary Hahn, violin
Repertoire selected from:
MOZART: Overture from Don Giovanni, K527
MOZART: Concerto for Piano No. 23, K. 488
MOZART: Symphony No. 41 in C, “Jupiter,” K. 551
SCHUBERT: Overture in the Italian Style, D591
BEETHOVEN: Concerto for Violin in D, Op. 61
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 8 in B minor, “Unfinished,” D759
MOZART: Symphony No. 31 in D, “Paris,” K. 297/300a
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 7 in E, D729
Dec 7: Kumamoto, Japan (Kumamoto Prefectural Theatre)
Dec 8: Yokohama, Japan (Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall)
Dec 9: Tokyo, Japan (Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation)
Dec 10: Bunkyo City, Japan (Bunkyo Civic Hall)
Dec 12: Tokyo, Japan (Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation)
Dec 13: Tokorozawa, Japan (Muse Tokorozawa – Civic Cultural Centre)
Dec 14: Nishinomiya, Japan (Hyogo Performing Arts Centre)
Dec 15: Oita, Japan (Iichiko Culture Center)
Dec 17: Incheon, South Korea (Incheon Culture & Arts Center)
Dec 18 & 19: Seoul, South Korea (Seoul Arts Centre)
Dec 21: Daejeon, South Korea (Daejeon Culture & Arts Center)
Dec 22: Seoul, South Korea (Lotte Concert Hall)
Dec 30–Jan 5
China tour with London Philharmonic
Julia Hagen, cello
Repertoire selected from:
SMETANA: Bartered Bride Overture
DVOŘÁK: Cello Concerto in B minor
ELGAR: Enigma Variations
WEBER: Overture to Oberon
HAYDN: Cello Concerto No.1 in C
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 4
Dec 30 & 31: Guangzhou (Guangzhou Opera House)
Jan 1: Shenzhen (Shenzhen Concert Hall)
Jan 2: Shanghai (Shanghai Grand Theatre)
Jan 4 & 5: Beijing (National Centre for the Performing Arts)
Jan 22–24
Zurich, Switzerland
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Víkingur Ólafsson, piano
John ADAMS: Piano Concerto (Swiss premiere)
MAHLER: Symphony No. 1 in D, “Titan”
Jan 30–Feb 2
Zurich, Switzerland
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Anna Vinnitskaya, piano
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93
SCHUMANN: Concerto for Piano in A minor, Op. 54
Feb 6, 7, 9
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Symphony
Kirill Gerstein, piano
SHOSTAKOVICH: Concerto for Piano No. 2, Op. 102
MAHLER: Symphony No. 7 in E minor, “Song of the Night”
Feb 13–16
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Seong-Jin Cho, piano
BACEWICZ: Concerto for Strings
RAVEL: Concerto for Piano in G
BRAHMS (arr. SCHOENBERG): Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 (for orchestra)
Feb 24–25
Berlin, Germany
Staatskapelle Berlin
María Dueñas, violin
SIBELIUS: Tapiola, Op. 112
KORNGOLD: Concerto for Violin in D, Op. 35
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 6, (“Sinfonia Semplice”)
Feb 24: Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin
Feb 25: Philharmonie Berlin
Feb 27
London, England
Royal Festival Hall
Philharmonia Orchestra
Nicolas Altstaedt, cello
STRAVINSKY: Petrushka (1947 version)
Erkki-Sven TÜÜR: Concerto for Cello
STRAVINSKY: Firebird Suite (1919 version)
March 5–7
Zurich, Switzerland
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Christian Tetzlaff, violin
Tanja Tetzlaff, cello
LIGETI: Concert Românesc
BRAHMS: Concerto for Violin and Cello A minor, Op. 102 (Double Concerto)
SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, “Rhenish,” Op. 97
March 12–13
Zurich, Switzerland
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Víkingur Ólafsson, piano
BRAHMS: Concerto for Piano No. 2 in B-flat, Op. 83
LUTOSŁAWSKI: Concerto for Orchestra
March 15–22
Germany and France tour with Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Víkingur Ólafsson, piano
Anna Vinnitskaya, piano (Mar 22 only)
Repertoire to be selected from:
BRAHMS: Concerto for Piano No. 2 in B-flat, Op. 83
SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, “Rhenish,” Op. 97
LIGETI: Concert Românesc
John ADAMS: Piano Concerto
LUTOSŁAWSKI: Concerto for Orchestra
SCHUMANN: Concerto for Piano in A minor, Op. 54
March 15 & 16: Hamburg
March 18: Paris
March 19: Frankfurt
March 20: Düsseldorf
March 21: Cologne
March 22: Essen (w/ soloist Anna Vinnitskaya)
March 30
Shanghai, China
Shanghai Concert Hall
Shanghai Symphony
STRAVINSKY: Petrushka (1947 version)
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 4, Op. 112
April 4
Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong Philharmonic
Bomsori Kim, violin
PÄRT: Silhouette – Hommage à Gustave Eiffel
PROKOFIEV: Violin Concerto No. 2
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 4, Op. 112
April 12–20
Tokyo, Japan
NHK Symphony
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano
BERLIOZ: Harold in Italy, Op. 16
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 4, Op. 112
STRAVINSKY: Petrushka (1947 version)
BRITTEN: Concerto for Piano No. 1, Op. 13
PROKOFIEV: Love for Three Oranges Symphonic Suite (April 12 only)
April 12 & 13: NHK Hall
April 17 & 18: Suntory Hall
April 20: Bunkamura Orchard Hall
April 30; May 1, 2, 3
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
MÄGI: Poem (Vesper) for Strings (1990)
KHACHATURIAN: Concerto for Piano
STRAVINSKY: Petrushka (1947 version)
May 5–18
European tour with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Janine Jansen, violin
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 7 in E, D729
BEETHOVEN: Concerto for Violin in D, Op. 61
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 4 in C minor, “The Tragic,” D417
May 5 & 6: Bremen (Die Glocke)
May 7: Cologne (Kölner Philharmonie)
May 8: Luxembourg
May 10: Bremen (Die Glocke)
May 11: Hamburg (Elbphilharmonie)
May 12: Budapest (Müpa/Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
May 13: Vienna (Musikverein)
May 15: De Doelen
May 16: Frankfurt (Alte Oper)
May 18: Munich (Isarphilharmonie)
May 28
Zurich, Switzerland
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
VERDI: Overture from Nabucco
VASKS: Concerto for English Horn
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 3 in D, “Polish,” Op. 29
STRAUSS: Mein Lebenslauf ist Lieb’ und Lust, Op. 263
June 4–6
Zurich, Switzerland
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
MOZART: Symphony No. 39 in E-flat, K. 543
MOZART: Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
MOZART: Symphony No. 41 in C, “Jupiter,” K. 551
June 12
Zurich, Switzerland
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
KHACHATURIAN: Concerto for Piano
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39
June 13
Open air concert
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
BIZET: Carmen Suite
KHACHATURIAN: Concerto for Piano
KODÁLY: Dances of Galánta
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World,” Op. 95
June 14
Open air concert (Munsterhofplatz)
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
BIZET: Carmen Suite
KHACHATURIAN: Concerto for Piano
KODÁLY: Dances of Galánta
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World,” Op. 95
July 16–25
Pärnu Music Festival