Synergy Is the Thing at the BSO

The synergy between musical director Andris Nelsons and the musicians of the Boston Symphony Orchestra has never felt stronger than it was this past Thursday night at Symphony Hall.

By Robert Nesti

The synergy between musical director Andris Nelsons and the musicians of the Boston Symphony Orchestra has never felt stronger than it was this past Thursday night at Symphony Hall. But that remarkable rapport didn’t happen overnight as anyone who has been attending performances by the orchestra under Nelsons’ direction can attest, and it is something of an achievement that should be celebrated.

Instead the recent dismissal of Nelsons by the BSO’s Board of Trustees that occurs at the end of the 2027 season has suggested an orchestra in free-fall. The New York Times was particularly aggressive in claiming that Nelsons relationship with the orchestra had worsened over his 13-year tenure. When the announcement of his dismissal was made on a Friday afternoon, the next morning the Times posted a postmortem on Nelsons’ Boston years claiming he had overextended himself and that “(s)ome of the Boston players look oddly disengaged” under his leadership.

Others, though, have come to Nelsons defense, including members of the orchestra themselves who are far from disengaged. Principal flute Lorna McGhee called the firing “the greatest squandering of artistic capital I have ever witnessed” and compared it to “firing Karajan from the Berlin Philharmonic.” For her, working with Nelsons was “the artistic highlight of my life.” Concluding with: “The decision not to renew Andris’ tenure is a form of artistic suicide.” Double-bass player Tom Van Dyck wrote to the board: “The breakdown in trust that has resulted from this action is in all likelihood irreparable.”

For an idea of the support given the conductor over the past month, read the comments posted on Boston Musical Intelligencer. Clearly Nelsons is a beloved figure in Boston’s cultural scene and his dismissal has perplexed many.

This has made his recent concert appearances highly dramatic to say the least. When the orchestra arrives on stage in unison with most wearing red carnations in solidarity with Nelsons, they received a heartfelt standing ovation from the audience, many of whom wore carnations given them by grassroot supporters of the conductor outside the hall prior to the concert. On Thursday night, that ovation was repeated when Nelsons and guest artists, soprano Renée Fleming and baritone Thomas Hampson came onto the stage, which marked two standing ovations before any music was played.

This was one of the more anticipated BSO concerts of the season as it brought together two of the great opera stars of the past three decades and the first time the orchestra was to play music from John Adams’ seminal 1987 opera Nixon in China. As it turns out, Hampson had just completed playing the title role in a production at the Opéra national de Paris (Opéra Bastille) two weeks ago, and he brought his sly impersonation to his performance. Fleming, stunning in a tomato red gown, played Pat Nixon, who had a subordinate role in the presentation that was arranged by Adams. It consisted of three scenes: the opening that has a chorus of Chinese citizens welcoming the arrival of the President and his wife in Bejing in 1972 and Nixon’s meeting of Prime Minister Chou En Lai (sung in the concert by the men of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus). Next came Pat Nixon’s second act aria, “This is prophetic!,”; before returning for the first act’s frenetic banquet that ends the first act.

Earlier in the season, Hampson dropped out of the BSO’s production of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa for health reasons, but his voice was in fine form on Thursday night. Fleming as well was commanding in her aria, and Nelsons balanced the use of synthesized and orchestral instrumentation carefully as not overwhelm both soloists and the splendid Tanglewood Festival Choir. These excerpts only whetted an appetite for a complete performance of the piece by the orchestra at a future date.

The concert’s programming was something of an extension of the E Pluribus Unum: From Many, One series from last January, which celebrated American composers. Not that Anton Dvorak was American, but his Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” is a great hybrid – European in its expression of the Romantic orchestral tradition and American in its use of themes and motifs the composer found during his stay in America in from 1892 – 1895 when he taught music in New York City. The most famous of which is a melody from the second movement that later became the spiritual “Goin’ Home” written by one of the composer’s American students. It was beautifully played Thursday night by English horn soloist Robert Sheena.

That synergy came to play as the orchestra responded to Nelsons with first-rate playing in a sleek, well-proportioned reading of a work that could be routinely played in other hands. The first movement had drama, the second pathos, and the final two power and speed. As good as the performance was, the tumult that followed that was close to extraordinary: a ten-minute-or-so ovation, replete with synchronized hand-clapping and foot-stomping that likely did damage to the hall itself. Standing alone near its conclusion, Nelsons was visibly moved by outpouring of support.

For upcoming concerts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, visit the orchestra’s website.