neeme järvi - Chandos

neeme järvi
Highlights
from a remarkable
30-year recording
career

Neeme Järvi
© Tiit Veermäe / Alamy

Neeme Järvi (b. 1937)
Highlights from a remarkable 30-year recording career
COMPACT DISC ONE
Antonín Dvořák (1841 – 1904)
1
Carnival, Op. 92 (B 169) 9:04
Concert Overture
Scottish National Orchestra
(CHAN 9002 – download only)
Johan Halvorsen (1864 – 1935)
2
La Mélancolie 2:27
Mélodie de Ole Bull (1810 – 1880)
Melina Mandozzi violin
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
(CHAN 10584)
Antonín Dvořák
3
Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op. 72 (B 147) No. 2 5:30
Second Series
Scottish National Orchestra
(CHAN 6641)
3

Gustav Mahler (1860 – 1911)
4
Nun seh’ ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen 4:52
No. 2 from Kindertotenlieder
Linda Finnie mezzo-soprano
Scottish National Orchestra
(CHAN 9545 – download only)
Franz von Suppé (1819 – 1895)
5
March from ‘Fatinitza’ 2:26
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
(not previously released)
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)
6
Hungarian Dance No. 19 in B minor 2:23
Orchestrated by Antonín Dvořák
London Symphony Orchestra
(CHAN 10073 X)
Ferruccio Busoni (1866 – 1924)
7
Finale from ‘Tanzwalzer’, Op. 53 4:03
BBC Philharmonic
(CHAN 9920)
4

Giovanni Bolzoni (1841 – 1919)
8
Minuetto 3:58
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
(CHAN 6648)
Zoltán Kodály (1882 – 1967)
9
Intermezzo from ‘Háry János Suite’ 5:03
Laurence Kaptain cimbalom
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
(CHAN 8877)
Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)
10
La Valse 12:07
Poème chorégraphique pour orchestre
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
(CHAN 6615)
Johann Severin Svendsen (1840 – 1911)
11
Träume 3:45
Studie zu Tristan und Isolde
Arrangement of No. 5 from Fünf Gedichte für eine Frauenstimme
(‘Wesendonck Lieder’) by Richard Wagner
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
(CHAN 10693)
5

Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949)
12
Morgen! 4:03
No. 4 from Vier Lieder, Op. 27
Felicity Lott soprano
Scottish National Orchestra
(CHAN 9054)
Johan Halvorsen
13
Bojarernes Indtogsmarsch 4:26
(Entry March of the Boyars)
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
(CHAN 10584)
Carl Maria von Weber (1786 – 1826)
14
Jubel-Ouvertüre, Op. 59 (J 245) 7:44
Philharmonia Orchestra
(CHAN 9066)
Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883)
15
Huldigungsmarsch, WWV 97 5:21
Orchestrated by the composer and Joachim Raff (1822 – 1882)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
(CHSA 5097)
TT 78:25
6

COMPACT DISC TWO
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975)
1
Festive Overture, Op. 96 5:57
Scottish National Orchestra
(CHAN 10088(2) X)
Duke Ellington (1899 – 1974)
2
Solitude 3:55
Transcribed for strings by Morton Gould (1913 – 1996)
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
(CHAN 9909)
Samuel Barber (1910 – 1981)
3
The School for Scandal, Op. 5 8:55
Overture
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
(CHAN 9684)
4
Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 8:37
Arrangement of the second movement from the String Quartet
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
(CHAN 9684)
7

William Grant Still (1895 – 1978)
5
Third movement, Animato, from Symphony No. 1
‘Afro-American’ 3:05
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
(CHAN 9154)
Heino Eller (1887 – 1970)
6
Finale, Cantando espressivo, from Five Pieces 4:19
for String Orchestra
Scottish National Orchestra
(CHAN 241 – 26)
Sergey Sergeyevich Prokofiev (1891 – 1953)
7
Waltz, Scene 4 (Act II), from ‘The Tale of the Stone
Flower’, Op. 118 3:37
Scottish National Orchestra
(CHAN 10077 X)
8

Serge Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943)
8
Vocalise 6:47
No. 14 from Fourteen Songs, Op. 34
Arranged for voice and orchestra
Suzanne Murphy soprano
Scottish National Orchestra
(CHAN 10327 X)
Dmitri Shostakovich
9
Lyric Waltz from Ballet Suite No. 1 2:16
Edited by Lev Atovmyan
Scottish National Orchestra
(CHAN 10088(2) X)
10
Tea for Two (Tahiti Trot), Op. 16 3:25
Orchestration of the song by Vincent Youmans (1898 – 1946)
Scottish National Orchestra
(CHAN 2027)
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (1872 – 1915)
11
Rêverie, Op. 24 3:48
Scottish National Orchestra
(CHAN 241 – 5)
9

Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)
12
Credo 12:34
Boris Berman piano
Philharmonia Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
(CHAN 9134)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893)
Three movements from the incidental music to
‘The Snow Maiden’, Op. 12 7:55
13
7 Second Song of Lei 1:27
14
10 Melodrama 4:04
15
13 Jester’s Dance 4:23
Irina Mishura-Lekhtman mezzo-soprano
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
(CHAN 9324)
TT 78:23
10

Fritz Curzon
Recording with the London Symphony Orchestra
at All Saints’ Randall Church, Hodgkinson Tooting

On the telephone, speaking with the producer in the
control room during recording sessions
Fritz Curzon

Neeme Järvi:
Highlights from a remarkable 30-year recording career
This collection of recordings is released
to mark both the seventy-fifth birthday of
Neeme Järvi, in 2012, and his thirty years as
a recording artist with Chandos Records. To
represent in this way the recording career of
any conductor is a difficult task, but in the
case of Neeme Järvi it is an impossibility – so
comprehensive is his repertoire. His first disc
for Chandos, of Weber’s Clarinet Concertos
with the City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra, was recorded in 1981. At the time,
we had no idea of the vast range of repertoire
that Maestro Järvi could and would bring to
the label, but we might have had an inkling
in Neeme Järvi, the man himself. He is a
powerhouse of energy, which translates into
an almost manic enthusiasm for recording and
for the exploration of new repertoire. In his
zeal for this quest, he is simply indefatigable.
His own excitement rubs off on the musicians
with whom he comes into contact, and the
results are unfailingly impressive.
From a record company’s point of view,
he is the ideal recording artist. The ability
to bring a studio recording to life, to create
a real performance from a set of recording
sessions, is a rare quality, and a quality which
Neeme Järvi has in spades. The tracks on this
two-disc set have been personally chosen
by the Maestro and encompass a number of
his ‘signature’ pieces. The recordings range
across his career with Chandos, from the
vintage recordings he made with the then
Scottish National Orchestra (with which he
received two Gramophone Awards), through
his tenure with the Detroit Symphony
Orchestra. But the set also includes some
novelties and surprises – including a new
recording made with the Royal Scottish
National Orchestra, which shows that he has
lost nothing of his magical touch with that
fine orchestra.
Indeed, Chandos is proud to have been
associated with Neeme Järvi for so many
years, and extremely proud of all that we have
achieved together. At seventy-five, he is fired
by an enthusiasm that burns as brightly as
ever. Both he and we look forward to making
many more recordings, in that adventurous
tradition which has already given us – and the
music-loving public – so many outstanding
releases.
© 2012 Chandos Records Ltd
13

Chandos Records signs an exclusive contract with the Detroit
Symphony Orchestra: (l. to r.) Neeme Järvi, Music Director (D.S.O.),
Mark Volpe, Executive Director (D.S.O.), Brian Couzens, Managing
Director (Chandos Records Ltd)

The head of a musical dynasty, Neeme Järvi
is one of today’s most respected maestros. He
is Music and Artistic Director of the Orchestre
de la Suisse Romande, Artistic Director of the
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and
Chief Conductor Emeritus of the Residentie
Orchestra The Hague, as well as Music
Director Emeritus of the Detroit Symphony
Orchestra, Principal Conductor Emeritus of
the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and
Conductor Laureate of the Royal Scottish
National Orchestra. He has appeared as guest
conductor with the Berliner Philharmoniker,
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de
Paris, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen
Rundfunks, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig,
London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony
Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra,
and Wiener Symphoniker, as well as, in the
US, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and National
Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C.,
among others. He has collaborated with
soloists such as Janine Jansen, Martha
Argerich, Mischa Maisky, Vadim Repin, Evgeny
Kissin, Truls Mørk, Hélène Grimaud, and Vadim
Gluzman.
Highlights of an impressive discography
of more than 450 recordings include
critically acclaimed cycles of the complete
symphonies of Prokofiev, Sibelius, Nielsen,
and Brahms, as well as recent series of
orchestral works by Halvorsen and Svendsen,
and a cycle of symphonic arrangements
by Henk de Vlieger of operas by Wagner.
Neeme Järvi has also championed less widely
known Nordic composers such as Wilhelm
Stenhammar, Hugo Alfvén, and Niels W. Gade,
and composers from his native Estonia,
including Rudolf Tobias, Eduard Tubin, and
Arvo Pärt. Among many international awards
and accolades, he has received an honorary
doctorate from the Music Academy of Estonia
in Tallinn, the Order of the National Coat of
Arms from the President of the Republic of
Estonia, honorary doctorates of Humane
Letters from Wayne State University in Detroit
and the University of Michigan, as well as
honorary doctorates from the University of
Aberdeen and the Royal Swedish Academy
of Music. He has also been appointed
Commander of the North Star Order by
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Fritz Curzon
15
From recording sessions with the London Symphony Orchestra
at All Saints’ Church, Tooting

Recording with the London Symphony
Orchestra at All Saints’ Church, Tooting
Fritz Curzon

Celebrating Neeme Järvi’s 100th recording with Chandos Records
(the conductor seen with Brian Couzens, Managing Director of the company)
Nigel Luckhurst

Recent releases
Halvorsen
Orchestral Works, Volume 4
CHAN 10710
18

Recent releases
Saint-Saëns
Orchestral Works
CHSA 5104
19

Ralph Couzens
Listening to playback during recording sessions
You can now purchase Chandos CDs or download MP3s online at our website: www.chandos.net
For requests to license tracks from this CD or any other Chandos discs please find application forms on
the Chandos website or contact the Finance Director, Chandos Records Ltd, direct at the address below
or via e-mail at srevill@chandos.net.
Chandos Records Ltd, Chandos House, 1 Commerce Park, Commerce Way, Colchester, Essex CO2 8HX, UK.
E-mail: enquiries@chandos.net Telephone: + 44 (0)1206 225 200 Fax: + 44 (0)1206 225 201
www.facebook.com/chandosrecords
www.twitter.com/chandosrecords
20

The BBC word mark and logo are trade marks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and used under
licence. BBC Logo © 2011
Recording producers Brian Couzens, Brian Pidgeon, Ralph Couzens, Mike George, and Charles Greenwell
Sound engineers Ralph Couzens, Stephen Rinker, Dan Dene, Robert Shafer, Mitchell G. Heller, and Ben
Connellan
Assistant engineers Philip Couzens, Gunnar Herleif Nilsen (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation [NRK]),
Ben Connellan, Janet Middlebrook, Peter Newble, Phil Booth, Jeffrey Ginn, Jonathan Cooper, Robert
Shafer, and Richard Smoker
Editors Jonathan Cooper, Richard Lee, Jeffrey Ginn, Rachel Smith, Bob Mansell, Tim Oldham, Peter
Newble, Tim Handley, and Ben Connellan
Mastering Jonathan Cooper
Recording venues Various
Front cover Photograph of Neeme Järvi by Simon van Boxtel
Back cover Photograph of Neeme Järvi rehearsing with the Scottish National Orchestra © Eric Thorburn
Design and typesetting Cassidy Rayne Creative (www.cassidyrayne.co.uk)
Booklet editor Finn S. Gundersen
p 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2002, 2010, 2011, and 2012 Chandos
Records Ltd
This compilation p 2012 Chandos Records Ltd
c 2012 Chandos Records Ltd
Chandos Records Ltd, Colchester, Essex CO2 8HX, England
Country of origin UK
21

NEEME JÄRVI: HIGHLIGHTS FROM A 30-YEAR RECORDING CAREER
CHAN 241-44
neeme järvi (b. 1937 )
Highlights from a remarkable 30-year recording career
COMPACT DISC ONE
1 Antonín Dvořák: Carnival 9:04
2 Johan Halvorsen: La Mélancolie 2:27
3 Antonín Dvořák: Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op. 72
No. 2 5:30
4 Gustav Mahler: Nun seh’ ich wohl, warum so dunkle
Flammen 4:52
5 Franz von Suppé: March from ‘Fatinitza’ 2:26
6 Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 19
in B minor 2:23
7 Ferruccio Busoni: Finale from ‘Tanzwalzer’ 4:03
8 Giovanni Bolzoni: Minuetto 3:58
9 Zoltán Kodály: Intermezzo from ‘Háry János Suite’ 5:03
10 Maurice Ravel: La Valse 12:07
11 Johann Severin Svendsen: Träume 3:45
12 Richard Strauss: Morgen! 4:03
13 Johan Halvorsen: Bojarernes Indtogsmarsch 4:26
14 Carl Maria von Weber: Jubel-Ouvertüre 7:44
15 Richard Wagner: Huldigungsmarsch 5:21
TT 78:25
CHANDOS DIGITAL 2-disc set CHAN 241-44
COMPACT DISC TWO
1 Dmitri Shostakovich: Festive Overture 5:57
2 Duke Ellington: Solitude 3:55
3 Samuel Barber: The School for Scandal 8:55
4 Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings 8:37
5 William Grant Still: Third movement, Animato,
from Symphony No. 1 ‘Afro-American’ 3:05
6 Heino Eller: Finale, Cantando espressivo,
from Five Pieces 4:19
7 Sergey Sergeyevich Prokofiev: Waltz, Scene 4 (Act II),
from ‘The Tale of the Stone Flower’ 3:37
8 Serge Rachmaninoff: Vocalise 6:47
9 Dmitri Shostakovich: Lyric Waltz
from Ballet Suite No. 1 2:16
10 Dmitri Shostakovich: Tea for Two (Tahiti Trot) 3:25
11 Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin: Rêverie 3:48
12 Arvo Pärt: Credo 12:34
13 - 15 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Three movements from
the incidental music to ‘The Snow Maiden’ 7:55
TT 78:23
p Chandos Records Ltd This compilation p 2012 Chandos Records Ltd c 2012 Chandos Records Ltd
Chandos Records Ltd • Colchester • Essex • England
NEEME JÄRVI: HIGHLIGHTS FROM A 30-YEAR RECORDING CAREER
CHAN 241-44