This disc won a Grammy Award for "Best Surround Sound Album" over ten years ago. David Hurwitz wrote a review with 9/10 results. But just 11 of 18 recommend this. Why?

Most of Jarvi's Telarc recordings, including this one, are played very safe. I've owned this since it came out, even recommended it at the time, and haven't played it in years. At least a couple of his Telarc discs stay in my collection for the Martinu and Tubin couplings, the the principal works, by Dvorak and Sibelius, like the Mussorgsky, lack passion. His Beethoven and Bruckner for BMG are much better. And yes, it's now 10 of 18 recommendations.

The Paavo Jarvi of the Cincinnatti Symphony just doesn't seem to be the extraordinary, very alive, very intelligent Paavo Jarvi of the Deutsche Kammerphilarmonie and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. We heard Jarvi and the kammerphilharmonie with Lars Vogt in Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood a couple summers ago. It was all Brahms consisting in part of a magnificent 1st Piano Concerto and the Second Symphony. I did't at the time see how anything could follow that 1st Piano Concerto. But following intermission the performance of the Second Symphony was out of this world! The encores simply delighted. This was one of those concerts you remember forever! Jarvi has seemingly undergone an amazing transformation!

Is he not with the NHK Symphony now? They are scheduled to appear in London at the RFH, South Bank on 6 March 2017 with Mahler 6. Needless to say my tickets are in the post.

In passing, another date for your international diaries is 23/05/17 when Ivan Fischer will perform Duke Bluebeard's Castle with his BFO at the RFH.

Ivan's recently staged version of Magic Flute in London was not a great success, sadly and was panned by UK press reviews. It ran way over time so we missed our last train home! Hope you didn't mind me sharing that with you :-)