By Janelle Gelfand
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The reviews are in, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's five-city East Coast tour with Paavo Jarvi has won unanimous raves.

Last week, the Washington Post weighed in about the orchestra's April 5 performance at the Kennedy Center, which concluded the CSO's tour.

The CSO "made a strong case for itself Saturday as a powerful and eloquent exponent of early 20th-century romanticism," wrote Joan Reinthaler. "Its program...of Sibelius, Stravinsky and Ravel demanded color, breadth and passion, which it got in spades. What it also got, thanks to Jarvi's concentration and conducting skill, was attention to detail, not always passion's partner."

"...Jarvi, trained as a percussionist, was in his element in the Ravel (Bolero), where he kept the drum under comfortable but commanding control while unleashing his orchestral power like a fisherman letting out his line ever so slowly."

The reviewer also praised the Firebird suite as "full of unexpected pleasures - from each section of the orchestra - that raised it dramatically above the routine."

All of the CSO's concerts were well attended. The tour included New York's Carnegie Hall and Boston's Symphony Hall, as well as "run-outs" to smaller venues on Long Island and in Worcester, Mass.

Of their Mechanics Hall performance in Worcester, the Telegram & Gazette wrote "From the first downbeat, the Cincinnati musicians argued persuasively for the power of instrumental color. The concert's tour de force arrived with Vadim Repin's expressive reading of the Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius. ... The orchestra matched Repin's presence with playing that was terse, tight and, when appropriate, vivid; this was a performance that illuminated as much as it dazzled."

Concert reviews by Janelle Gefland:
CSO soars in Boston
CSO earns raves at Carnegie Hall
Washington wowed by CSO, Jarvi