Arvo Pärt
Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten
Britten
Violin Concerto, Op.15
Berlioz
Overture Le Corsaire, Op.21
Saint-Saëns
Symphony No.3 in C minor, Op.78 (Organ)
Janine Jansen (violin)
Thierry Escaich (organ)
Orchestre de Paris
Paavo Järvi
Reviewed by: Mark Valencia
Reviewed: 1 September, 2013
Venue: Royal Albert Hall, London
With autumn still on leave of absence, here was a Prom of contrasting summer moods: lowering and sepia before the interval, sunny and primary-colour-saturated thereafter. Estonian Paavo Järvi and the Orchestre de Paris, of which he is music director, presented an attractive, predominantly Anglo-French programme to a packed audience whose entente was never less than cordiale.
Many of us first encountered the music of Arvo Pärt in a 1979 Prom that was also televised, in which Gennadi Rozhdestvensky and the BBC Symphony Orchestra gave the UK premiere of Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten. Järvi eased his way into a superbly controlled account of his fellow-countryman’s short requiem with the stillest of passing bells. These gave way to the music’s haunting and repeated descending figure that finally came to rest on a low, sustained tonic chord. Dignified and devastating, it felt like a burial.
This enchanting concert was brought to a crowd-pleasing conclusion with ‘Galop’, the final movement of Jeux d’enfants by Georges Bizet, the evening’s third purveyor of Gallic warmth. The nights may be drawing in now that September is here, but our long summer of music never felt warmer.