Reviewed by: David M. Rice
Reviewed: 7 July, 2025
Venue: Tanglewood, Massachusetts
In this concert in the Koussevitzky Shed, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, comprised of Instrumental Fellows, performed works by Bedrich Smetana and, Johannes Brahms. Conducting Fellows Leonard Weiss and Yiran Zhao each led a segment of Smetana’s Má Vlast (My Country), and Andris Nelsons took the podium after intermission for an exciting performance of Brahms’s Second Symphony.
Weiss began the concert by leading the Tanglewood Music Center Fellows in ‘Vyšehrad’ (The High Castle), the first of the six sections that comprise Smetana’s Má Vlast. It began with Raquel Nisi’s spectacular harp solo, on which woodwinds and trumpets commented before the strings finally swept in. Weiss appeared poised and self-assured on the podium and was quite effective in using his baton to shape phrases as well as to maintain control of tempos. He kept his arms tight to his sides as the music’s tension built up, then spread them wide at the climactic moment, and the players responded accordingly.
Yiran Zhao took the podium next to conduct ‘Vlatava’ (Die Moldau), the second and best-known section of Má Vlast. Calvin Mayman’s superb swirling opening flute solo, soon joined by Javier Morales-Maertinez’s clarinet in contrary motion, aptly depicted the eponymous river that flows through the Czech capital, and the swirling continued in. the strings as the violins announced the famous principal theme. Zhao kept the ensemble coordinated and in dynamic balance. A folk-dance episode exuded rustic charm, and Smetana’s depiction of moonlight, again featuring persistent figures on flute and clarinet, came through with appropriate delicacy. Zhao’s management of tempos and dynamics in a stormy interlude and the ensuing outpouring of jubilation was quite effective.
Following intermission, Nelsons led the Tanglewood Music Center Fellows in a performance of Brahms’s Symphony No.2 in D, Op.73 that demonstrated their virtuosity and coherence as an ensemble, a remarkable accomplishment at this early point in the summer season. Outstanding contributions came from woodwind principals Ryan Clever on flute, Kelley Osterberg on oboe, Yejin Ahn on clarinet, and Peter Ecklund on bassoon, as well as Dena Levy on horn. The strings, led by concertmaster Maria Espino Codes, were terrific, and the combination of Ritvik Yaparpalvi’s timpani and the brass, headed by principals Jesdelson Vasquez on trumpet, Devin Drinan on trombone and Vivian Kung on tuba, produced a powerful sound, especially in the symphony’s final movement