“If it sounds a little bit immodest and grand — that's not my intention,” says Paavo Jarvi, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. “But the goal is to take the orchestra from where it is, and, by its quality, convince the musical world that this is one of the great orchestras.”

        Mr. Jarvi, 39, was taking stock of progress made during his first year with the CSO, even as he forms goals for the future. He plans to make the CSO a household name. At the same time, he is still getting to know his orchestra, and the organization behind it.

Paavo Jarvi leads a recent rehearsal of the CSO. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        “It's like being on a high and slowly coming down,” says Mr. Jarvi, who will lead his second concert of his second season Friday and Saturday at Music Hall. “I'm still in the process of coming down, because it superseded any expectations of how I was hoping it would be.”

        He's encouraged by the feedback he is getting from the international music community. For instance, James Levine, artistic director of the Metropolitan Opera (and a native Cincinnatian), complimented him while the two were in Switzerland in July, saying, “I hear you're doing miracles in Cincinnati.” Excerpts from Mr. Jarvi's second CSO album for Telarc, featuring symphonies by Sibelius and Tubin, were streamed with an audio review on The New York Times Web site.

        “I am so aware of the fact that it is the honeymoon (period), and it is way too early to declare any kind of major victories yet,” he says. “The only thing that we should feel from the first year is an incredible sense of encouragement.”

        When he accepted the post, he remarked that “chemistry” with the musicians was a chief reason for his decision. But what surprised him last year was how well they clicked, confirming his belief of the unspoken chemistry that goes into the formula of making great music.

        “The incredible willingness to just go for it and find what's behind the notes — that's absolutely thrilling,” he says. “It's a state of mind where people are really out for the same things. That was something, I must say, I have not encountered before.”

Community presence

        Mr. Jarvi's life has changed since taking over the CSO. He's still a jet-setting maestro, flitting from his native Estonia to concerts in Paris, Israel or Cologne, Germany. But he aims to be something of a throwback to the old-fashioned music director and maintain a strong presence in the community.

IF YOU GO

What: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Jarvi, conductor; Lars Vogt, pianist    When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday    Where: Music Hall    The program: Lepo Sumera, Symphony No. 6; Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major; Nielsen, Symphony No. 5    Tickets: $12.50-$52.50; 381-3300 or cincinnatisymphony.org    Paavo Jarvi on Lepo Sumera: “He was a professor at the Musical Academy in Tallinn. I started championing his music when I was music director in Malmo (Sweden). I've commissioned three of his six symphonies, and premiered symphonies nos. 4, 5 and his cello concerto. (Mr. Jarvi's final recording in the series of all six Sumera symphonies will be released this season on BIS.)    “He was a close friend of mine, and he died (of a heart attack) at the age of 50 on his birthday two years ago. (The Sixth Symphony) is a piece I find very touching. You almost feel he knew that he had a very short time on this earth. His music combines minimalism, serialism and on occasion, as with the Sixth Symphony, it can sound downright romantic.”    On the Web: www.paavojarvi.com; www.paavoproject.com (a fan site)

        Except for a few choice engagements, Mr. Jarvi has given up guest conducting in the United States. He's racking up more frequent flyer miles between his European commitments so he can spend more time in Cincinnati.

        “I am trying to be in Cincinnati every three weeks at least, so I can be involved in not only the life of the orchestra, but also a little more involved in the life of the city,” he says.

        That attitude couldn't come at a better time for the orchestra, when the challenge of filling the nation's largest orchestra hall (3,417 seats) has intensified in the sagging economy and the aftermath of 9-11. Mr. Jarvi plans repeat visits to the University of Cincinnati and its College-Conservatory of Music. Still scandalized that a show of hands in an orchestra class indicated that few music students had attended a CSO concert, he hopes to change that with more student promotions.

        “We are nothing without the audiences,” he says. “If we can't get music students who want to spend their life in music to come to the CSO, what are we good at? That's why I went to the schools. It's the feeling that I had, that (the orchestra) had this unapproachable image. It's something I'm very much trying to change.”

        He's also learning to prioritize. Issues such as attendance, redesigning Music Hall's interior (an interest of the board) or acoustics are not on his immediate agenda.

        “I would love to see every seat filled,” he says. “But you have to prioritize things. Otherwise you end up not sleeping.”

Jarvi's programs

        As he gets to know his new orchestra, he has definite ideas on the role of the music director. Take programming, for instance, that tricky, often difficult task of putting repertoire together to make attractive concerts.

        Unlike previous seasons, where programs went through several committees, Mr. Jarvi's programs show a distinctive personality — such as next week's pairing of two Nordic symphonies with Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto.

        “That's in my contract and something that I insisted — programs are my business,” he says.

        His connections to the international music scene are giving a new look to the CSO's roster of artists.

        “I'm thinking for the future,” Mr. Jarvi says, mentioning names such as Piotr Anderszewski, the Polish-Hungarian pianist who won the 2002 Gilmore Artist Award in April.

        “Relationships with younger people — not teenage sensations, but younger established artists or artists who are about to break — gives us an incredible pool of people that we can call allies later when nobody else can get them, but we can,” he says.

        The most important item on his agenda is to develop the sound quality of the orchestra.

        “Every second word out of my mouth is sound, sound,” he says. “It's not a question of only lush sound; sometimes it is an effect that has nothing to do with a traditional beautiful sound. But it is constantly thinking about the quality of sound that one is producing.”

        He would like to convince his players to take more risk, a difficult task when an entire section is playing a phrase. Without a certain amount of risk-taking, music is safe — and boring, he believes.

        “These magic moments, when suddenly you have the whole group making a rubato (a spontaneous give-and-take) as if it's a solo player — that's very risky, because it can go very wrong,” he says. “But not to take a risk, just be content and not try it, would be a cop-out. It's that feeling when you have the Vienna Philharmonic playing a Strauss waltz, and they're all playing this incredible rubato. Somehow they manage to execute it together and with charm, because they were willing to go for it.”

Insisting on excellence

        Above all, it's the music director's job to keep playing from becoming routine — the symphony's biggest enemy on a week-to-week basis. “The worst thing you can ever hear from an orchestra is, "this is the way we always do it.' The question is, why?” he says.

        Mr. Jarvi is heartened that his tenure has started with well-received recordings and touring plans. He'll make his Carnegie Hall debut with the CSO during an East Coast tour to several major venues March 30-April 5. A Japan tour is planned for November 2003. But he knows that building a reputation doesn't come in a season or two. He has analyzed how orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic and Cleveland Orchestra built theirs.

        “How did they build it? By constantly insisting on excellence, constantly thinking of how to upgrade their image,” he says. “There are superficial ways, such as an aggressive (public relations) campaign. But that won't be ultimately enough if the musical result is not living up to the hype.”

        So the goal, he says, is to “live up to the hype that we're creating. It's competing with ourselves, so to speak. It's not easy. You can't buy this. But the only real success worth having is gradual success.”

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