Neeme Jarvi and the Berlin Philharmonic

There seem to be Jarvis conducting everywhere these days. Father Neeme has made hundreds of recordings and done stellar work in Gothenberg, Sweden, Detroit, Michigan and New Jersey among other places. His oldest son Paavo is set to leave the music directorship in Cincinatti and spend more time with the the Orchestre de Paris and Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and younger son Kristjan is making his mark too especially in contemporary music.

All three Jarvis are enormously talented conductors but so far Neeme deserves pride of place. He has a vast repertoire, he has championed a wide range of less familiar music especially from his native Estonia, and he has a Beechamesque flair for the often under-appreciated small gems in the orchestral literature. Here is a case in point. I can't recall hearing a more interesting or exciting performance of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Grieg's incidental music for Peer Gynt. And the members of the Berlin Philharmonic give him everything he wants and more!

- Paul E. Robinson