Noteworthy

Whenever a conductor of great renown is scheduled to appear with the TSO, a palpable sense of anticipation surrounds the event. And on the rare occasion that two such artists are due to lead the orchestra in back-to-back programs—as is the case in the coming weeks—the excitement is downright electric. From October 16 to 18, the Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra, Franz Welser-Möst, will conduct Mozart & R. Strauss, and from October 30 to November 2, the Music Director of Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Artistic Director of The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen, Paavo Järvi, will lead Debussy & Sibelius. 

These celebrated conductors have each appeared with the TSO once before, in the early chapters of their now-storied careers. Welser-Möst performed with us in March 1989—the same year he made his US début. And Järvi joined us in December 1997—16 years after his father, the equally famed conductor Neeme Järvi, made his own TSO début. (The orchestra achieved a “Järvi dynasty” hat-trick in October 2016, when Kristjan Järvi, Paavo’s younger brother, took the podium.) In the intervening years, Welser-Möst and Järvi have earned sterling reputations as some of the most accomplished interpreters of classical music living today—and the orchestra is eager to welcome them back.

Creative Correlations

Both hailing from Europe, and born two years apart (Welser-Möst in Linz, Austria, in 1960, and Järvi in Tallinn, Estonia, in 1962), the conductors share many additional similarities: They’ve been the artistic leaders of some of the world’s most beloved and respected ensembles for decades—Järvi began his tenure in Bremen in 2004, and when Welser-Möst steps down in Cleveland in 2027, he will have spent a quarter-century there. They’ve recorded prolifically for numerous prestigious labels. And they’re highly decorated, not just for their recordings, but also for their extensive contributions to music and culture in their home countries and beyond.

Their approaches to their craft are also analogous. While they consistently bring the highest level of artistry through meticulous study and preparation, they also embrace collaboration and spontaneity in performance. “You don’t make music…. You create circumstances where music can happen,” is how Welser-Möst articulated this philosophy to the Los Angeles Times. And when asked by Classic FM what piece of advice he wished he’d received during his training, Järvi quoted one of his mentors, Leonard Bernstein, who said, “you have to do your homework and be very prepared, but when you stand on the podium throw it all out of your head and feel.” 

When it comes to programming, Welser-Möst and Järvi regularly place contemporary works alongside time-honoured gems of the classical repertory—much like TSO Music Director Gustavo Gimeno. Moreover, they are fierce champions of music that reflects their own cultural heritage, as demonstrated by many of the pieces they’ve selected for their TSO performances.

Franz Welser-Möst: Sharing Austrian Music

“I am deeply grateful for my heritage,” said Welser-Möst of his Austrian origins. “Being born into that culture I see as a huge privilege.” Indeed, as the birthplace of many legendary composers—from Haydn and Mozart to Schubert and Schoenberg—Austria holds an unprecedented place in the history of Western classical music and is abundantly represented on concert programs. Mozart & R. Strauss is no exception, as it opens with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, K. 488, performed by the Canadian 2025/26 TSO Spotlight Artist, Bruce Liu.

But it’s Welser-Möst’s inclusion on the program of a suite from Richard Strauss’s opera Der Rosenkavalier that is truly indicative of his efforts to share the best of Austrian musical culture. Vienna was the global epicentre of opera for centuries, and, throughout his career, Welser-Möst has immersed himself in the art form, leading opera companies and festivals in Europe. He also brought opera performances back to The Cleveland Orchestra shortly after he began his tenure there—and now he brings this suite, which he himself compiled, to Toronto.

Welser-Möst described his love of Strauss in a 2022 interview with Presto Music: “We all go through phases in terms of the music that speaks most strongly to us,” he said. “My ‘Richard Strauss phase’ has lasted my whole life so far.” And when asked by Noteworthy why he decided to compile his own suite from Rosenkavalier—a multi-year project—he explained, “The existing suite [which Strauss did not compile] never satisfied me, especially the ending. And it left out so much incredibly beautiful music.” Soon, TSO audiences will hear this music restored.

Paavo Järvi: Sharing Estonian/Baltic Music

With the exception of the music of Arvo Pärt, which has been fairly widely programmed in recent years, Estonian and Baltic works are not often heard in concert halls across the globe—but this is something Järvi is working to change. “It has long been my mission to champion the music of Estonia and its neighbouring countries—Finland and the Baltic States,” he says. “Not only is it music that I am deeply invested in and relate to, but it is also music that deserves wider recognition and appreciation.”

Debussy & Sibelius perfectly aligns with the conductor’s mission. Following Debussy’s short symphonic poem Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, the program features the North American Premières of two contemporary Baltic works—Dances, a concerto for accordion and orchestra by Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits, and The Fruit of Silence by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks. It concludes with the majestic Symphony No. 5 by Finland’s most famous composer, Sibelius.

Dances was co-commissioned by the TSO and the Pärnu Festival in Estonia. “Kõrvits is one of Estonia’s leading composers,” explains Järvi, “and he really engaged with the capabilities of the accordion before writing this work. The piece is essentially a dance suite, and the soloist and orchestra seem to breathe together.” That soloist, making her TSO début, is Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorova, for whom the work was written. “Ksenija is an incredibly charismatic artist,” adds Järvi. “I have worked with her from the start of her career and it is always a delight to reunite. It is a meeting of minds.”

Vasks’s The Fruit of Silence is a short prayer for peace by Mother Teresa set to music in 2013. In 2024, Järvi and Sidorova commissioned British arranger and conductor George Morton to create a new version of the piece for accordion, vibraphone, and string orchestra. Järvi notes that, in this arrangement, the piece “becomes a song without words and has that wonderful, spiritual quality that makes Vasks such a popular composer today—and something of a national hero in his native Latvia!”

Discovering a World of Sound

When the TSO’s 2025/26 season was first revealed, Beck Family CEO Mark Williams announced that the international focus of the programming highlighted “the power of music to transcend borders and transform listeners.” With the long-awaited return of esteemed conductors Franz Welser-Möst and Paavo Järvi to the TSO stage, bringing music that embodies and celebrates the cultures of their respective European homelands, these performances certainly promise to be transformative.

Join your TSO for Mozart & R. Strauss, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and featuring pianist Bruce Liu, on October 16, 17 & 18, and Debussy & Sibelius, conducted by Paavo Järvi and featuring accordionist Ksenija Sidorova on October 30, November 1 & 2 at Roy Thomson Hall.