Neeme Järvi has conducted more works by Eduard Tubin than any other conductor. He studied Tubin’s music already in the 1950s and immediately understood its greatness and wealth of meaning. In 1961, when Tubin visited Estonia, Järvi met him personally. From this time, Tubin has been one of the most performed composers in his repertoire.
Tubin highly appreciated Järvi’s interpretations and wrote his Symphony No. 8 with Järvi in mind. It’s first performance took place in Tallinn on 24 February 1967, by the Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra with Neeme Järvi conducting.
In the 1980s Järvi recorded all of Tubin’s symphonic works on the Swedish BIS label, which brought the breakthrough for Tubin’s music. From year 2000, Järvi is chairman of the honorary presidium of the Eduard Tubin International Society.
Neeme Järvi’s recordings as conductor of Tubin’s works:
Symphony No. 6; Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Tallinn, Melodija (1963), LP/mono
Music for Strings; Estonian Radio Chamber Ensemble. Riga, Melodija (1966) LP/mono
Symphony No. 4 “Sinfonia Lirica”; Musikselskabet “Harmonien” Bergen, BIS (1984), LP/stereo
Symphony No. 9, Estonian Dance Suite, Toccata; Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, BIS (1984), LP/stereo
Prélude Solennel, Suite on Estonian Dances, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No.1; Mark Lubotsky, violin, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, BIS (1984), LP/stereo; (1985), CD: DDD
Symphony No.2 “The Legendary”, Symphony No.6; Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BIS (1985), LP/stereo/CD
Symphony No.5, Suite from the Ballet “Kratt”, Bamberger Symphoniker, BIS (1985), CD: DDD
Requiem for Fallen Soldiers, Symphony No.10; Lund’s Choral Society, JanÅke Larsson, organ & piano, alto solo: Kerstin Lundin, baritone solo: Roland Rydell, timpani: Helmut Sitar, drum: Peter Wallin, Gothenburg S.O., BIS (1985/1986), LP/stereo/CD: DDD
Symhony No.4 “Sinfonia Lirica”, Symphony No.9, Toccata; Musikselskabet “Harmonien” Bergen, Gothenburg S.O., BIS (1986), CD: AAD
Double Bass Concerto, Valse Triste, Ballade for Violin and Orchestra, Violin Concerto No.2, Estonian Dance Suite; Håkan Ehrén, double bass, Gustavo Garcia, violin, BIS (1987) CD: AAD/DDD
Symphony No.1, Balalaika Concerto, Music for Strings, Emanuil Sheynkman, balalaika, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BIS, (1987), CD:DDD
Symphony No.3, Symphony No.8; Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BIS (1987), CD: DDD
Sinfonietta on Estonian Motifs, Piano Concertino, Symphony No.7: Roland Pöntinen, piano, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, BIS (1988), CD: DDD
Long Anglaise, Serf’s Dance (from Estonian Folk Dances) – Encore live from Orchestra Hall, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall (1997), CD
Violin Concerto No.1, Andante sostenuto; Xiang Gao (violin), Pärnu City Orchestra – Pärnu 2001: David Oistrakh Festival: Pärnu Oistrakh Festival (2001), CD
The Symphonies; No 1, No.5, No.3, No 2, No. 6, No. 3, No.8, No. 4, No. 9, Toccata, No. 7, No.10, Suite from the Ballet “Kratt”; Swedish Radio S.O., Bamberg S.O., Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg S.O., BIS (2002). 5 CDs: DDD, AAD (reissue)
Archive recordings
Music for Strings, Piano Concertino, Symphony No.2 “Legendary”; Estonian State S.O.; Eesti Raadio, CD (Neeme Järvi conducts, CXV)
Symphony No.5, Symphony No.10; Estonian State S.O., Eesti Raadio, CD (Neeme Järvi conducts, CXVI)
Symphony No. 8, Symphony No. 9; Estonian State S.O., Eesti Raadio, CD (Neeme Järvi conducts, CXVII)
Double Bass Concerto; Leopold Andrejev, double bass, Soviet Union Radio Symphony Orchestra, Eesti Raadio, CD (Neeme Järvi conducts, LXXXIV)
Further information: www.nlib.ee/ESTER