Neeme Järvi delivers riveting performance of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony in his New Jersey Symphony return
Neeme Järvi made his return to NJPAC to deliver two resounding performances with the New Jersey Symphony on March 25 & 26, and he and the orchestra did not disappoint. Reviewing the performance for NJ Advance Media, James C. Taylor heaped praise on Järvi for his successful return to the Symphony, and even compared his conducting of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony to that of current Music Director Xian Zhang.
It was fascinating to hear Jarvi lead the NJS in this piece—last performed by the orchestra under its current music director back in 2016. Xian Zhang’s Tchaikovsky is bright, precise and detailed; Jarvi’s is loose, relaxed, more impressionistic. If they were painting, Zhang’s 4th resembled the bold, French Romantic school of Eugène Delacroix, whereas Jarvi’s called to mind the hazy, late style of J.M.W. Turner. Luckily, the 1878 symphony is complex enough to flatter both interpretations.
James C. Taylor of NJ Advance Media