#220 The Smell of Clove

It smells of distance and adventure. Very bold, melodic, alive. It's a ship, full of spice, yet maneuvering like a frigate.

Capuçon is building great waves of melodic lines–urgent, calling, restless. Wonderful sound.

Composer: Victor Herbert
Work: Cello Concerto No 2, I. Allegro impetuoso
Recording: Gautier Capuçon, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi

#29 The Smell of Countdown

Vivid, intensive, and hasty dance. But the smell is of countdown–this will not last. Maybe it's because of its directness, especially in the middle part.

The outer theme behaves like a center piece. And the last chord in the final cyclone–the chord that should be the last one but is not–is from a different, better world.

Composer: Edvard Grieg
Work: Symphonic Dances, I. Allegro moderato e marcato
Recording: Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi

#19 The Smell of Clarity

Paavo Järvi with The Kammerphilharmonie Bremen has done for Beethoven's symphonies what John Eliot Gardiner did in 1994 with his Orchestre révolutionnaire et romantique. All the pigsty is gone, only music stays.

Bremen's Beethoven Project is a wonderful achievement and the Ninth symphony is its highlight. Clean lines, pure message. A gemstone.

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Work: Symphony No. 9, IV. Presto
Recording: Christine Oetze, Petra Lang, Klaus Florian Vogt, Matthias Goerne, Deutsche Kammerchor, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Paavo Järvi