Paavo Jarvi Hoarding Jobs

[Harold Tucker]

Friday, June 1, 2007
Järvi taking over Paris orchestra
He will keep his duties with CSO

By Mary Ellyn Hutton
Post music writer





Cincinnati Symphony Music Director Paavo Järvi will pick up an additional job in 2010 when he becomes music director of the Orchestre de Paris.








Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Music Director Paavo Järvi will become music director of the prestigious Orchestre de Paris in the French capital beginning in 2010.

He will succeed current music director Christoph Eschenbach.

The announcement was made Wednesday in Paris, where Järvi led the orchestra in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 at the Salle Pleyel.

The new job will be in addition to his CSO post, which he has held since September 2001.

Järvi, 44, a native of Estonia, recently extended his CSO contract until 2011, with an "evergreen" clause for annual renewals upon agreement by both parties.

Järvi holds several positions in addition to the CSO. He is music director of the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, artistic director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and artistic advisor of the Estonian National Orchestra. He conducted the Estonian National Orchestra in Tallinn, Estonia, last weekend on a gala 70th birthday concert in honor of his father, Neeme Järvi.

Järvi's contract with the Orchestre de Paris requires 14 weeks and 26 concerts each season in Paris and on tour.

Agence France-Presse News reported that Järvi said he would have to give up something to take on his new responsibilities, but "what, I don't know yet."

As music director of the Orchestre de Paris, Järvi follows a line of stellar conductors including Charles Munch, Herbert von Karajan, Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, Semyon Bychkov and Christoph von Dohnanyi.

Based at the newly renovated Salle Pleyel - where the CSO will perform on tour next spring - the orchestra will move to a new 2,400-seat concert hall, the Philharmonie de Paris, currently under construction, in 2012.

With Järvi and Orchestra de Paris general manager George-Francois Hirsch when the announcement was made was CSO president Steven Monder.

Järvi returns to Cincinnati to open the CSO's 2007-08 season Sept. 14 and 15 at Music Hall with a program of Wagner and Beethoven.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Print | Go back | Copyright 2007, The Post

[Harold Tucker]

And Furthermore : Paavo Järvi to Succeed Christoph Eschenbach at Helm of Orchestre de Paris

By Matthew Westphal ( Playbill)
May 31, 2007

The Estonian-American conductor Paavo Järvi, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, has been named the next music director of the Orchestre de Paris. He will succeed Christoph Eschenbach, whose term expires in the summer of 2010 and who did not wish to renew his contract, according to a statement released by the orchestra today.

The appointment was announced yesterday at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the orchestra's recently renovated home, where Järvi conducted a performance last night. (The program of Sibelius and Shostakovich is repeated tonight in Caen.)

The length of Järvi's initial term as music director was not specified in the orchestra's statement, although his annual obligations were revealed: he is to conduct the orchestra for 14 weeks (28 concerts) in the French capital and on tours.

The Orchestre de Paris is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year: it was established in 1967 as the successor to the Société des concerts du Conservatoire, which formed France's first symphony orchestra in 1828. Järvi is joining a formidable succession of maestros: among the orchestra's music directors over the past four decades, in addition to Eschenbach, have been Charles Munch, Georg Solti, Herbert von Karajan and Daniel Barenboim.

Järvi's first appearance with the Orchestre de Paris was in 2004, and he told Agence France-Presse yesterday that the musicians' "strong engagement" had impressed him: "The soloists, of course, here are exceptional, without any question. But what is important is that every person in the tutti needs to have a personality, a personal involvement, and I feel that is what happens here." (The Orchestre de Paris has a reputation for being a collection of extraordinary individual musicians who have something of the independent streak typical of Parisians in general.)

Last month city officials revealed detailed plans for a new concert hall complex, called the Philharmonie de Paris and designed by Jean Nouvel, in whose 2,400-seat auditorium the Orchestre de Paris will perform beginning in 2012, two years after Järvi's arrival. The new venue, the conductor told AFP, "could reconfirm Paris as the musical center of Europe."

Earlier this month the Cincinnati Symphony, which Järvi is credited with bringing to an impressive artistic level, renewed its contract with him through the 2010-11 season. Unusually, their agreement included a clause allowing automatic renewal on a year-to-year basis thereafter.

"I am completely over the moon," Järvi told The Cincinnati Enquirer at the time. "Negotiations were very quick. It's one of those situations where, when something works, you want to make sure there's longevity and continuation. That's what [evergreen] implies."

The Paris and Cincinnati posts aren't the 44-year-old Järvi's only responsibilities: currently he is also music director of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the artistic director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and artistic advisor to the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. (Not to mention guest-conducting gigs with the likes of the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras and the Vienna Philharmonic.)

Järvi does acknowledge that he will probably have to let one or more of those posts fall by the wayside, according to AFP. Which one? "I don't know yet," he told the agency. "I feel that an orchestra like Orchestre de Paris requires much more focused attention. Of course, there is no doubt that this would be my priority above all the projects."

[Ralph]

I guess Paris has attractions that Cincinnati lacks.

[Harold Tucker]

I can't imagine what they might be.

[Ricordanza]

The Estonian-American conductor Paavo Järvi, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, has been named the next music director of the Orchestre de Paris. He will succeed Christoph Eschenbach, whose term expires in the summer of 2010 and who did not wish to renew his contract, according to a statement released by the orchestra today.

Do we really believe that Eschenbach, whose tenure as Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director ends in 2008, really "did not wish to renew his contract" with the Orchestre de Paris? Perhaps there was more than a little push from the management of that orchestra?

[jbuck919]

I guess Paris has attractions that Cincinnati lacks.

What I'd like to know--seriously--is why nobody has really heard of the "prestigious" Orchestre de Paris? Is there any particular reason in this day and age why all the orchestras that anyone really cares about have Germanic languages as their native tongue? Paris is one of the four great cities of the Western world; why isn't it in complete command in this respect?

[Chalkperson]

What I'd like to know--seriously--is why nobody has really heard of the "prestigious" Orchestre de Paris?

Well, I have a number of their recordings, Rarely performed repertoire, Modern Operas and mostly Live Performances...these people have also heard of this Orchestra...

Music Directors

Christoph Eschenbach (2000–present)
Christoph von Dohnányi (1998–2000) (Artistic advisor)
Semyon Bychkov (1989–1998)
Daniel Barenboim (1975–1989)
Sir Georg Solti (1972–1975)
Herbert von Karajan (1969–1971) (Musical advisor)
Charles Munch (1967–1968)

[Cyril Ignatius]

The Cincinnati Symphony is keeping Jarvi, regardless of the Paris position. He's a great success here and recently signed a lengthy contract renewal. And his recording discography here would be the envy of almost any conductor and orchestra in the United States.