By Janelle Gelfand
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Symphony European tour

Oct. 29 - Konzerthaus; Vienna, Austria Oct. 30 - Alte Oper; Frankfurt, Germany Oct. 31 - Liederhalle; Stuttgart, Germany Nov. 2 - Cologne Philharmonie, Cologne, Germany Nov. 3 - Alte Oper; Frankfurt, Germany Nov. 4 - Mozartsaal Rosengarten; Mannheim, Germany Nov. 5 - Theatre du Chatelet; Paris Nov. 6 - Muziekcentrum; Enschede, the Netherlands Nov. 8 and 9 - Auditorio Nacional de Musica; Madrid, Spain Nov. 10 - Palau de la Musica; Barcelona, Spain

Paavo Jarvi is taking the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra to Europe this fall.

Jarvi will take his first European tour with the orchestra, performing 11 concerts in nine cities in Austria, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain, Oct. 29-Nov. 10.

French pianist Helene Grimaud is the tour soloist.

"Performing in the important capitals of Europe is a test for any orchestra," Jarvi said.

The tour will be Jarvi's second international tour with the orchestra. He led a tour of Japan in November. The announcement comes during a period of financial troubles for the orchestra, which projects a $1.45 million deficit this year.

The tour will be underwritten by Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America Inc., which also sponsored the Japan tour, as well as an anonymous donor

The orchestra will make its debut in the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris and will perform for the first time in Vienna's Konzerthaus. Other highlights are the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Germany, the Cologne Philharmonie and Madrid's Auditorio Nacional de Musica.

Tour repertoire includes Mahler's Symphony No. 5, Dvorak's Symphony No. 7 and Sibelius' Symphony No. 5. The orchestra will also play music by Nielsen, Kodaly and Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tuur. Grimaud will perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 and Schumann's Piano Concerto.

The orchestra's last European tour was in 2001, when then-music director Jesus Lopez-Cobos toured Spain and Poland. Previously, the orchestra performed in 18 European cities in 1995.

E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com