Major projects

Collective works and inquiring minds

With Artistic Director Paavo Järvi, the orchestra embarked in 2004 on a multi-award-winning musical voyage of discovery. Their joint projects, in which they intensively dedicate themselves to and meticulously analyse the cyclical works of a single composer, have been crowned with resounding success around the world. The first of these collaborations produced new interpretations of the symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven, which many today still widely consider to be benchmark performances and recordings. Following Beethoven, they turned their attention to the works of Robert Schumann, which similarly took the world by storm. The orchestra’s latest project addresses the symphonic works of Johannes Brahms.

Beethoven

The »best Beethoven in the world«

Hailed as »groundbreaking«, the orchestra’s interpretations of the orchestral works of Ludwig van Beethoven were a first major milestone on this journey. Cyclic performances of all nine Beethoven symphonies electrified audiences in Tokyo, Yokohama (Japan), Lanaudière (Canada), Strasbourg, Paris, at the Salzburg Festival, the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, in Warsaw, São Paulo as well as in the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen also received numerous awards for the CD recording of their ›Beethoven made in Bremen‹ released on RCA, including the Echo Klassik 2010.

Schumann

A »phenomenal« Schumann

Following the ›Beethoven Project‹, the orchestra and its artistic director brought the same passion to their ›Schumann Project‹ – their interpretation and performance of the symphonic works of Robert Schumann, which proved to be equally successful. After sensational triumphs in Tokyo and St. Petersburg, in 2012 the orchestra also gave acclaimed cyclic performances of the Schumann symphonies at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn and Vienna’s Konzerthaus. The CD recordings of the 1st and 3rd Symphonies were listed by the music magazine Gramophone as one of the best Schumann recordings of the past five years. The French music magazine Diapason awarded the last CD recording its prestigious ›Diapason d’Or‹. In autumn 2012, the TV/DVD documentary about the ›Schumann Project‹ produced by Deutsche Welle in cooperation with Unitel, arte and Radio Bremen received several awards.

Brahms

A Brahms revelation!

Since 2015, the collaboration between Paavo Järvi and The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen has focused on Johannes Brahms’ symphonic works to similar worldwide acclaim. »A Brahm’s revelation« was how the New York Times described the fresh interpretation of the Hanseatic master. The cycle of the four symphonies has already been performed in St. Petersburg, at the Konzerthaus in Vienna and most recently in 2016 at the Rheingau Music Festival in Wiesbaden. In October 2017, the first CD of the cycle, featuring the 2nd Symphony together with the Tragic Overture and the Academic Festival Overture, was released on Sony/RCA, and was awarded the Opus Klassik in October 2018. One highlight of the ›Brahms Project‹ was the performance of the Requiem in Bremen Cathedral on 10 April 2018. Precisely 150 years to the day since the première of ›A German Requiem‹ (10 April 1868) in Bremen’s St. Peter’s Cathedral, The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and its Artistic Director Paavo Järvi paid homage to the German composer.