This winter and spring: Paavo Järvi guest conducts SFS and LA Phil; releases Mahler 5 with Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich; & tours with Tonhalle, London Phil & Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen

(December 2024) — On the heels of his November return to the New York Philharmonic, 2019 Opus Klassik Conductor of the Year Paavo Järvi leads performances in the U.S. in February with the San Francisco Symphony (Feb 6–9) and Los Angeles Philharmonic(Feb 13–16). With the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich – where he is in his sixth season as Music Director – Järvi follows up the recent release of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony on the Alpha Classics label with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, the first release in a complete cycle that will span the remaining four years of his Zürich tenure. An interview with Järvi discussing Mahler is available here. The conductor also tours China this winter with the London Philharmonic (Dec 30–Jan 5), and tours Europe with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, of which he has been Artistic Director for more than two decades (May 5–18). Järvi is also founder and Artistic Director of the Pärnu Music Festival and its resident ensemble, the Estonian Festival Orchestra; this coming summer the festival celebrates the 90th birthday of one of the conductor’s fellow Estonians: composer Arvo Pärt.

U.S. dates

This winter, Järvi leads the San Francisco Symphony and soloist Kirill Gerstein in Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto, complemented by Mahler’s Symphony No. 7, “Song of the Night” (Feb 6–9). Shortly thereafter, he conducts a program with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and pianist Seong-Jin Cho featuring Ravel’s jazz-inflected Piano Concerto in G, 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).

Mahler 5 release and tour with Tonhalle Orchester Zürich

With the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Järvi focused on Bruckner in 2023, with releases of the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, and last month they released their account of the Ninth, all on Alpha Classics. Their recording of the Eighth received an International Classical Music Award, and in a five-star review of the Ninth in Classical Music, Michael Jameson praised the “spellbinding orchestral playing,” concluding: “Järvi’s Ninth seems to penetrate new realms of consciousness in a reading as intellectually searing and musically uncompromising as any I’ve heard.”

For his sixth season as Music Director in Zurich, Järvi turns to another Viennese giant with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, the first release of a complete Mahler cycle. Järvi comments:

“A Mahler cycle is something that every conductor somehow wants to do, needs to do, and the trick is to find the right partner: an orchestra that has an affinity for and experience with this music. I have found the Tonhalle to be that perfect partner. The orchestra is incredibly well suited for it, and has a long tradition of performing Mahler with people like Haitink and Solti and Honeck. I also feel that I, myself, am at the age where I have so much experience with this music, and I have changed my mind so many times, trying various options, that now I know what I want and how to do it.”

The exact release date for Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, plus details of other upcoming recordings, will be announced soon.

European and Asian dates

As a guest conductor this winter, Järvi tours China with the London Philharmonic for performances in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing that featureTchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 and overtures by Smetana and Weber. Cello concertos by Dvořák and Haydn, performed in repertory by cellist Julia Hagen, round out the programs (Dec 30–Jan 5). Later in the spring, he has guest conducting engagements with the Shanghai Symphony (March 30) and Hong Kong Philharmonic (April 4 & 5), before leading the NHK Symphony – of which he is Honorary Conductor Laureate – in five performances around the Tokyo region that feature pianist Benjamin Grosvenor in Britten’s Piano Concerto along with music of Berlioz, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky (April 12–20). European guest conducting engagements include the Staatskapelle Berlin (Feb 24 & 25), London Philharmonia (Feb 27), and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (April 30; May 1–3).

In the spring, Järvi and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich are joined by pianist 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 on tour 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 in Europe in the spring. On the program are two Schubert symphonies and Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, with Janine Jansen as soloist (May 5–18). These performances follow the release this past November on RCA/Sony Classical of Volume 2 of the Haydn London Symphonies, the fourth major composer tribute of Järvi’s tenure with the orchestra, after their internationally acclaimed recordings of the complete symphony cycles of Beethoven, Brahms, and Schumann.

Pärnu Music Festival

July 16–25 will mark the 15th anniversary season 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 monumentalCredo for piano, chorus, and orchestra, which was premiered under the baton of Järvi’s father, Neeme, in 1968.

Paavo Järvi: winter/spring 2024–25

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, “After the Fall” (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 (March 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, “After the Fall”
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 & 5
Hong Kong Philharmonic
Bomsori Kim, violin
Arvo PÄRT: Silhouette – Hommage à Gustave Eiffel
PROKOFIEV: Violin Concerto No. 2
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 4, Op. 112
April 4: Hong Kong, China (Hong Kong Cultural Centre)
April 5: Guangzhou, China (Guangzhou Xinghai Concert Hall)

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: Rotterdam (De Doelen)
May 16: Frankfurt (Alte Oper)
May 18: Munich (Isarphilharmonie)

May 28
Zurich, Switzerland
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
VERDI: Overture from Nabucco
Pēteris VASKS: Concerto for English Horn
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 3 in D, “Polish,” Op. 29
J. 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 (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

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