From Music in Cincinnati

Paavo Järvi Talks About Estonia

Posted in: 2002

By Mary Ellyn Hutton
Sep 20, 2002 - 12:00:00 AM

   Cincinnati Symphony music director Paavo Järvi is no different from many other naturalized American citizens. His heart remains in the Old Country.
   Järvi, who is beginning his second season with the CSO, was named artistic advisor of the Estonian National Orchestra last week. The mostly symbolic position will help raise the profile of the orchestra and garner more support for it at home, he said.
   "Cincinnati is my musical home, without any question,'' said Järvi. However, hearing him speak of the Old Town in Tallinn (the capital of Estonia and his birthplace), swimming in the Baltic as he did as a child, and his deep sense of pride in his native land make it clear that Järvi's spiritual home will always be Estonia.
   Järvi wants people to know more about his country. At 8 p.m. tonight at Music Hall, for example, he will conduct the CSO in the U.S. premiere of Estonian composer Lepo Sumera's Symphony No. 6. Later this season, he will introduce works by Estonians Eduard Tubin and Erkki-Sven Tüür.
   Estonia is a country Järvi had to clarify that once at airport check-in in the northeast corner of Europe just across the Baltic Sea from Finland. Its neighbor to the east is Russia. About the size of New Hampshire and Massachusetts combined, it has a population of 1.4 million, slightly less than Greater Cincinnati. Forests cover much of the country, which includes more than 1,500 offshore islands. For over 700 years except for two periods in the 20th century, 1920-40 and since 1991, when it won independence from the Soviet Union Estonia has been under the heel of someone else.
   Estonia's identity and its product are its culture, stresses JÃ¤rvi with considerable passion. ""Everyone is making this mistake right now in Estonia. They say, "we have to find our Nokia. Finns have Nokia.' I had dinner with the prime minister (Siim Kallas) when I was there a couple of weeks ago. I said Nokia can be bought or go out of business. (Finnish composer) Jean Sibelius can't go out of business. Nobody can buy it. Looking for some sort of commercial success to tie in with our national pride is ridiculous. Volvo is not Swedish anymore. Our Volvo, our Nokia is our culture. He (Kallas) understood because he knows a lot about music and painting, and is a very intellectual man.''
   Järvi is proud of Estonia's investment in the arts. ""They are building a brand new concert hall in Pärnu. They are renovating the hall in Tallinn. Imagine, in times when most countries don't spend any money on culture.''
   Järvi immigrated to the United States with his family in 1980. He was 17. His father Neeme Järvi, conductor of the Estonian National Symphony, had incurred Soviet displeasure for performing a work (Arvo Pärt's Credo) not approved in advance by the authorities. Deciding to leave Estonia was ""very risky,'' said Järvi. "They could easily have said, 'Sorry, but we don't give you a visa.' Then he would have been out of work and unable to leave.''
   Now music director of the Detroit Symphony, Neeme has set an example for Paavo by performing and recording Estonian music and providing support to Estonian institutions.
   After graduating from Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, Paavo Järvi began his own conducting career. He was music director of Sweden's Malmö Symphony and the Norwegian National Opera (Oslo). Later, he was principal guest conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the City of Birmingham (England) Orchestra.
   Estonia's struggle for independence was couched in musical terms. Every four years, thousands of Estonians gather for a songfest on a hillside near Tallinn, a tradition that dates back to 1869. These events became nationalistic in tone, and gave the 1988-91 re-independence movement its name, ""The Singing Revolution.''
   For such a small country, Estonia has an abundance of musical talent. Arvo Pärt (who now lives in Berlin) is its best-known composer and one of the most popular contemporary composers in the world. Tubin, who left in 1944 as Soviet tanks were re-occupying the country after the defeat of the Germans, is paired with Sibelius on a just-released Telarc CD by Järvi and the CSO. Tüür's ""Exodus'' will be performed by Jarvi and the CSO at Music Hall and New York's Carnegie Hall next spring. Jarvi's sister, flutist Maarika Järvi, introduced Estonian Peeter Vähi's Flute Concerto, ""Chant of the Celestial Lake,'' to a Detroit Symphony audience in April, and has recorded it for the German label CCn'C.
   Estonia's largest city is Tallinn (420,000), whose historic Old Town, the best-preserved medieval town in northern Europe, is included on the United Nations' World Heritage List. The university town of Tartu has a modern glass "skyscraper'' rising across the winding Emajõgi River from areas leveled by Soviet bombs in World War II. Pärnu is a charming seaside resort, where the Järvi family gathers in the summer for the annual David Oistrakh Festival (Paavo led this year's opening concert in June). The largest island, Saaremaa, is home to a 14th-century castle right out of the storybooks.
   The Estonian language is difficult (for non-Estonians), but euphonious, with many vowel sounds, double letters (as in Paavo) and no less than 14 cases for nouns. ""Estonians need to preserve their language,'' said Järvi. ""It's part of the recipe of what makes a nation a nation. Nobody (else) realistically needs to learn it. It's not going to help you in Bangkok airport.''
   That Estonia has retained its identity at all is something of a miracle. It was conquered by Danes in the 13th century, then sold to the Germans, who lost it in a war with Sweden. The Swedes lost it to Russia. The Soviet regime was ""probably the most brutal,'' said Järvi. ""Every second family in Estonia has a father, grandfather, uncle, aunt or somebody who disappeared to Siberia.'' The Soviets were also ""the least sensitive'' to the natural environment. ""The toxic waste left behind by the army will take a long, long time and a lot of money to clean up.''
   Järvi calls Estonian resiliency ""stubbornness: ""I think it's sort of built in genetically. If you live under constant threat, it helps your country survive. It also makes you think what it means to you.''
   Estonia has made rapid progress in the decade since re-independence. It is slated to join the European Union in 2004, and has the fastest growing economy of any of the former Soviet republics. Tallinn's Old Town, formerly bare, is buzzing with activity, said Järvi. But the biggest difference he sees is on the faces of the people.
   ""They have smiles on their faces. They don't have that grey, depressed look. There is a feeling that anything is possible.''
(first published in The Cincinnati Post Sept. 20, 2002)