Concert Review: They're Only Northern Songs

Paavo Järvi leads the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
by Paul J. Pelkonen
(A version of this article was originally published in Japanese translation by the Association of Japanese Symphony Orchestras, reused with permission)

Paavo Järvi (right) leads the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
Photo © 2017 NHK Symphony Orchestra

The Baltic Sea in the northeast corner of Europe is flanked by the countries of Estonia and Finland, some fair distance from Japan and its capital city of Tokyo. On Sunday, February 12, the Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi brought the sounds of the Baltic to NHK Hall in Shibuya, the bustling shopping district that is home to the NHK ((Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai) Japan's broadcasting corporation.

Concert Review: Lifting the Shroud

Paavo Järvi and Martin Fröst at Mostly Mozart.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

The man and his horn: clarinetist Martin Fröst.
Photo from MartinFrost.se

The Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra  got a chance to flex its musical muscles on Friday evening. They played the Clarinet Concerto by their namesake composer, bracketed by works from Arvo Pärt and Ludwig van Beethoven. This week’s guest conductor  was Paavo Järvi, eldest son of the conductor Neeme Järvi and (like his father) a versatile maestro with respectable international credentials.

Concert Review: We Lost the Skyline

Arvo Pärt's 80th Birthday: Sept. 11, 2015.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

(My apologies to you the reader for the relative lateness of this post. It proved very difficult to write. Normal service will resume shortly.)

The Temple of Dendur in the Sackler Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Photo © 2015 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

When you live in New York City, (and when you're from here like I am) September 11th is an inevitability. The permanently altered skyline, the terror brought by a bright, blue sky in late summer, the yearly beams of light shot above the city, the reading of the names of the victims of the terrorist attack: all can be overwhelming for those of us who've lived here all our lives and who survived the events of that lonesome day.

Concert Review: White Nights at White Light

The Estonian National Symphonic Orchestra at Lincoln Center.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Forever young: conductor Neeme Järvi.
Photo © 2013 Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi is of the old school, and not just because the conductor is now 76. On Sunday evening, he brought the Estonian National Symphonic Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir to the White Light Festival at Lincoln Center. Their purpose: a program of Sibelius, Tormis, Mozart and Arvo Pärt at Avery Fisher Hall. Billed as The Word Made Flesh, this concert was part of this year's White Light Festival.

Festival Preview: De-Lux Aeterna

A look at Lincoln Center's month-long 2013 White Light Festival.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Anna Caterina Antonacci performs Era la Notte as part of the 2013 White Light Festival.
Photo by Magalie Bouchet © 2013 courtesy of Lincoln Center.

The White Light Festival has become the signature fall offering of Lincoln Center. Once again, New York's biggest performing arts center invites artists from all over the world and from different genres and disciplines to participate in an exploration of music, spirituality and the soul.

White Light 2012 was marred by the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. That devastating storm that destroyed and shut down whole swathes of New York. (The performances went off, but the minds of New Yorkers may have been on other things than spirituality and contemplation of the soul.) This year's Festival offers a promising slate of artists, and hopefully more clement weather. The month-long offering starts with a free performance on Oct. 24 (at the David Rubinstein Atrium) and continues through Nov. 19.