Järvi Conducts Mahler 7
February 6, 7 & 9, 2025
Overview
Estonian-American conductor Paavo Järvi’s return to Davies Symphony Hall delivers passion and pyrotechnics aplenty with Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2, which showcases the Berlin-based Russian-American pianist Kirill Gerstein. Acclaimed for its Mahler performances, the Symphony delves into the composer’s Seventh Symphony. Beginning with a slow and shadowy first movement, the Seventh concludes with a euphoric rondo finale, radiating brilliant sunshine and quoting Mozart along the way.
Sponsors
Paavo Järvi’s appearance is supported by the Louise M. Davies Guest Conductor Fund.
Paavo Järvi
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Conductor
Grammy Award-winning conductor Paavo Järvi serves as music director of the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, as the long-standing artistic director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and as both the founder and artistic director of the Estonian Festival Orchestra.
As a guest conductor, Järvi regularly appears with the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonia, and New York Philharmonic. This season, he conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Staatskapelle, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Shanghai Symphony, and Hong Kong Philharmonic. He also continues to enjoy close relationships with many of the orchestras of which he was previously music director, including Orchestre de Paris, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in April 2000.
In 2024, Järvi and the Tonhalle Orchestra received an International Classical Music Award for their recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 on Alpha Classics. Last September, the label released Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. This spring, they release Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, the first release in a complete cycle which will span the seasons to follow.
With the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Järvi has won both the 2024 Opus Klassik and 2023 Gramophone Orchestra of the Year awards, as well as the 2019 Rheingau Music Prize and Opus Klassik Conductor of the Year. Other honors include a Grammy Award for his recording of Sibelius’s cantatas with the Estonian National Symphony, Gramophone and Diapason Artist of the Year, and Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres awarded by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2015 Järvi was presented with the Sibelius Medal in recognition of his work in bringing the Finnish composer’s music to a wider public, and, in 2012, he received the Hindemith Prize for Art and Humanity. As a dedicated supporter of Estonian culture, Järvi was awarded the Order of the White Star by the President of Estonia in 2013.
As a guest conductor, Järvi regularly appears with the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonia, and New York Philharmonic. This season, he conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Staatskapelle, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Shanghai Symphony, and Hong Kong Philharmonic. He also continues to enjoy close relationships with many of the orchestras of which he was previously music director, including Orchestre de Paris, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in April 2000.
In 2024, Järvi and the Tonhalle Orchestra received an International Classical Music Award for their recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 on Alpha Classics. Last September, the label released Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. This spring, they release Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, the first release in a complete cycle which will span the seasons to follow.
With the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Järvi has won both the 2024 Opus Klassik and 2023 Gramophone Orchestra of the Year awards, as well as the 2019 Rheingau Music Prize and Opus Klassik Conductor of the Year. Other honors include a Grammy Award for his recording of Sibelius’s cantatas with the Estonian National Symphony, Gramophone and Diapason Artist of the Year, and Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres awarded by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2015 Järvi was presented with the Sibelius Medal in recognition of his work in bringing the Finnish composer’s music to a wider public, and, in 2012, he received the Hindemith Prize for Art and Humanity. As a dedicated supporter of Estonian culture, Järvi was awarded the Order of the White Star by the President of Estonia in 2013.
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