By Janelle Gelfand
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WASHINGTON - The well-heeled Kennedy Center crowd leaped instantly to its feet with cheers of "Wow!" for Paavo Jarvi and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the cutoff to Ravel's Bolero, Saturday afternoon.

The CSO's hot-blooded performance of Ravel's sensuous hit was a thrilling conclusion to what, by all accounts, has been a triumphant first tour with its new music director. The concert was also a temporary goodbye between Jarvi and his musicians, their last together until September.

"I individually said goodbye to them," Jarvi said later in the Green Room. "The entire orchestra came to my dressing room to thank me, and we wished each other a good summer."

You know you're in Washington when Marine One, the President's helicopter, buzzes down the Potomac by the Kennedy Center at intermission. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, but among the signs that the country is at war were the ubiquitous cement barricades and a bomb-sniffing dog at the Kennedy Center.

Yet the hall was packed with a diverse audience, including many families. The cavernous, 2,442-seat space is a mishmash of '70s-glamorous decor and newer acoustical treatments. The orchestra was surrounded on all sides, with new onstage boxes and "chorister" seats behind it.

The CSO performed the audience-friendly program that they played in Long Island's Tilles Center on March 30 and Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Mass., on Thursday: Sibelius' Finlandia and D Minor Violin Concerto (with tour soloist Vadim Repin), Stravinsky's The Firebird Suite and Ravel's Bolero.

The musicians performed with vigor and extraordinary precision, seemingly tireless after five performances in a week, and a charter flight that morning from Boston. Each performance varied slightly because of the halls' different acoustics. The Kennedy Center's good acoustics were bright and sometimes boomy, and lacked clarity in loud orchestral passages.

Finlandia, a piece of Finnish patriotism, was the perfect showcase for the CSO's powerful brass, but even more impressive was the string ensemble, which is constantly improving under Jarvi.

It was a fitting prelude to the Sibelius Violin Concerto. Repin, visibly relaxed, projected rich, haunting color; his lower register was almost vocal. His first-movement cadenza was arresting, as he injected romantic slides between the fireworks and took his time in the more lyrical passages. Jarvi supported him with great brush-strokes of Nordic color, never overpowering the soloist.

The Firebird Suite, after intermission, glowed with life, and the audience responded with thunderous applause. Jarvi's reading had spontaneity, and orchestral soloists performed with stunning refinement.

An elated Jarvi said later, "The fact that Cincinnati is following (the tour) closely and seeing the reaction outside, helps us to develop our image and be ambassadors for good news."

E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com

Related story: CSO, Jarvi impress the press