Monday, September 25, 2000
Jarvi demonstrates great skill
Maestro inspires Indianapolis orchestra
By Janelle Gelfand
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDIANAPOLIS — Paavo Jarvi knows how to galvanize an orchestra to play to new heights, as he demonstrated in a concert with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra on Saturday.
It's easy to see why a critic wrote “One of the great conducting careers of the 21st century is now, unquestionably, under way” following Mr. Jarvi's Proms debut in Royal Albert Hall in July. The busy music director-designate of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, guest conducting seven major American orchestras this season, worked magic over the weekend with the ISO.
His leadership in Saturday's concert in the Hilbert Circle Theatre resulted in inspired playing by the musicians, and twice had the audience of about 1,000 on its feet.
Mr. Jarvi's program included two works that were less familiar to the Indianapolis players: Arvo Part's Fratres (in a first performance here) and Brahms' Piano Quartet in G Minor, orchestrated by Schoenberg. The French pianist Helene Grimaud was soloist in Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor.
The 1,835-seat Hilbert Circle Theatre is a beautifully restored movie palace from 1916. The acoustics were warm, clear and particularly favorable to the strings.
Mr. Jarvi, 37, cultivated a refined, almost vocal sound in fellow Estonian Arvo Part's Fratres (Brothers), which he led without a baton. Inspired by medieval and Renaissance music, it was mystical and sustained, colored by drum taps and a low bass drone. Mr. Jarvi created a hushed, sonorous canvas, and the strings played with wonderful homogeneity.
Ms. Grimaud is an engaging pianist who has a secure technique and a lovely touch. Her Schumann was deeply personal. After a forceful opening, she took a relaxed tempo in the first movement, with liberal use of ritards and rubatos, yet Mr. Jarvi stayed with her sometimes unpredictable turns every inch of the way.
Her cadenza was a free mix of brilliant figures and stretched-out lyrical passages, with a heavy dose of pedal. She continued to pull back in the slow movement, projecting a lovely singing tone, while Mr. Jarvi brought out gorgeous color in the cellos. Only in the finale did she push ahead, displaying the power and imagination of her pianism.
Mr. Jarvi reveled in the big tutti sections, adding verve to their impressive collaboration.
The Indianapolis Symphony has not played the Brahms/Schoenberg Piano Quartet in G Minor in 25 years, which explains why a first reading I heard on Wednesday was a bit ragged. Saturday's performance, though, told a much different story: the orchestra rose to the occasion with moments of truly brilliant playing.
The chamber piece was orchestrated in 1937 by Schoenberg and includes instruments Brahms never used, such as glockenspiel and xylophone.
Mr. Jarvi has a clear, elegant technique. But he also shows a real joie de vivre on the podium, crouching to dig into a phrase with the violins, or using big, circular motions to inspire full-blown sonorities. He captured the rich, Brahmsian textures while bringing out Schoenberg's colorful touches with absolute clarity.
Indeed, it was almost like hearing chamber music: the first movement was warm and exceedingly musical; every phrase breathed, and every line of the counterpoint was clear. The second and third movements featured fine contributions from the ISO's principal wind players.
Mr. Jarvi and the ISO players captured the Hungarian idiom of the finale with memorable spontaneity. The music swaggered with an improvisatory abandon that had audience members on the edges of their seats and brought them cheering to their feet.
In this 14th and final year of Raymond Leppard's distinguished tenure as music director, the ISO is presenting 17 guest conductors, some of whom are likely music director candidates. The orchestra, which has a $21 million operating budget, benefits from a vital downtown. During the two days I visited, large crowds packed the Circle Mall and many downtown restaurants, partly due to Formula One, United States Grand Prix.
CSO music director-designate Paavo Jarvi will make his only Music Hall appearance Oct. 5-7. Tickets: 381-3300.
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