Neeme Järvi: All my family are fanatics
NewsThe Estonian dynastic conductor, 85 years old, opens up to Zsolt Bognar about his musical family and its incurable obsessions.
He claims that the first word uttered by son Krystian was ‘Mozart’.
His own first professional engagement came at three years old, he says.
He met his wife Lilia – ‘not a musician’ – as students in Leningrad. After 60 years ‘one same wife, all the time.’
Such fun.
Watch.
I’m also a fanatic.
A fanatic Neeme Järvi fan.
Jarvi clearly enjoys conducting and having fun. One of the most extraordinary concerts I ever attended was in Detroit with the Beethoven Eroica on the first half. There was something about how he did the first few pages of the finale that the audience was chuckling softly. He found the humor in the symphony that most more “serious” conductors completely miss. Then followed a blazing and beautifully played Schmidt 4th. Detroit sure was blessed while he was there.
Since few weeks I’am hearing every day on Youtube his Tubin box with all the symphonies of this composer shamely forgoten or unknown outisde of Estonia and Sweden. The discography of Neeme is endless for good surprises.
I’ve been a fan of his for decades. The one time I saw him live was in Seattle, when he did the Barber Piano Concerto with John Browning, and Nielsen 5. Unforgotten, 35 years later.
You must watch his Waldbühne concert it’s for the ages.
I have seen him only once 4 years ago with Orchestre de France as guest but I was just in front of him behind the orchestra. I will never forget. And I regret to never have seen him with Goteborg but I ‘am not sure that he did many tour with this orchestra outside of Sweden.
I seem to recall that the GSO’s tour to London with Neeme Järvi in the early 1980’s (Sibelius’ 2) marked the beginning of that long-standing successful relationship.
… the kind of concert I dream to see.
Met him very briefly after the commemorative concert for Rostropovich in Frankfurt. Of course I’ve got numerous CDs with him conducting. One of the few A-list conductors who never stopped programming and recording neglected music. He even did an all-Parry disc for Chandos. May he be in good health for a long time still.