In Thursday’s (4/30) Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey), Bradley Bambarger writes, “Neeme Järvi’s tenure as music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra ends next week after five seasons. For many, the abiding memory will be his winks and shimmies from the podium, or the quirky loop he walked around the stage as he built anticipation for his beloved encores. … The Estonian-born Järvi, who turns 72 in June, leaves an indelible mark on the orchestra—one of the country’s top 20 and one of the few to perform across its state as a mission, playing each season to about 87,000 people in 70 subscription concerts in seven cities. Having directed orchestras from Detroit to Sweden, he also instilled a new spontaneity in the NJSO, as well as a far more adventurous palette of repertoire. … Järvi’s final concerts as music director run Friday through Tuesday in Princeton, Newark and New Brunswick, with the program of Beethoven and Bruckner designed to send him off with a note of grandeur. … NJSO concertmaster Eric Wyrick said a hallmark of Järvi’s relationship with the orchestra has been his penchant for taking the group out of its comfort zone.”
Posted May 1, 2009
