By Janelle Gelfand
The Cincinnati Enquirer

When Paavo Jarvi plunged the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra into Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G Minor for an encore Thursday night, the audience cheered and clapped along. Jarvi turned and looked back in amazement - then milked it for all it was worth.

It was just the right touch to cap off a virtuosic performance of Sibelius' Symphony No. 2, in what was a thrilling sendoff to the orchestra's Japan tour in the coming weeks. The evening included a luminous performance by Garrick Ohlsson of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat Major, K. 482, and Charles Coleman's jazzy Streetscape, which Jarvi performed on his first program as music director.

Sibelius' symphonies have an epic quality, and a coolness that characterizes the Nordic landscape. Jarvi projected the power of Sibelius' Second, whether urging his players ahead with momentum, or sweeping them up in great waves of sound. Perhaps most impressive was his sense of direction, making sense of Sibelius' fragmented writing and illuminating detail, while never losing sight of the scope.

The string sound was atmospheric and unified; in the slow movement, the basses dug in wonderfully to add dark color. There was no lack of tenderness; one of the most serene moments was Philip Collins' trumpet solo in the Andante.

The transition from the scherzo - which was fleet, intense and driving - into the finale was simply spectacular. The conductor animatedly felt every note, as timpanist Eugene Espino's vigorous drum rolls erupted through the high-voltage Cincinnati brass.

In the first half, Ohlsson's Mozart was a joy. He's a bear of a man with a featherweight touch. The first movement was engaging, and Ohlsson executed its rippling runs and arpeggios with finesse. He infused each phrase with character, and his cadenzas, by Wanda Landowska, were interesting and inventive.

The slow movement was as profound as the others were bubbly. The finale had echoes of Mozart's operatic humor. Jarvi and the orchestra supported the pianist well, though the winds lacked their usual polish.

Walks around New York inspired Coleman's Streetscape, which opened the concert. It was urban and edgy, with intense rhythmic drive and a gorgeous elegy for cello and violin at its center.

E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com