Yuja Wang joins the BSO in works of 20th-century composers
Wang’s dazzling virtuosity shined in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2
Photo courtesy of Winslow Townson/BSO
Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from On the Town, Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Copland’s Symphony No. 3
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Domingo Hindoyan
Boston Symphony Hall
Oct. 24 – Oct. 26, 2025
On Oct. 26, the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) presented a concert of 20th-century music, including Leonard Bernstein’s suite from his musical On the Town, Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and Aaron Copland’s monumental Third Symphony. Domingo Hindoyan was the guest conductor for the BSO, and world-renowned pianist Yuja Wang was the soloist for the Prokofiev concerto.
The concert opened with Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from On the Town, a suite excerpted from the titular Broadway musical. While a staple piece for the Boston Pops Orchestra, this was the BSO’s premiere of the dance suite. Balancing jazz and popular music, Bernstein ordered each of the piece’s three narrative-driven movements for greatest contrast, beginning with the spirited “Dance of the Great Lover,” juxtaposed with the melancholic “Pas de Deux,” and ending with the bubbly “Times Square Ballet.” The ensemble played the lighthearted, jazz-like music well, though in a somewhat classical style — missing the articulatory, tonal, and rhythmic nuance characteristic of jazz music. Contrary to the ensemble’s style, trumpet Thomas Sider’s solo in the last movement was beautifully jazzy and inflected.
After the BSO’s rendition of Bernstein was Yuja Wang’s performance of Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto, which Prokofiev had written while he was still a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Yet the piece is far from a student piece; it is full of sophistication and a musical maturity that Wang brought to fruition.
The concerto opens with a relatively simple theme in the clarinets and pizzicato strings, but the solo piano quickly develops it in a dark, undulating manner. Wang’s legato playing and generous use of the sustain pedal struck a careful balance of emphasizing the melody while developing a rich sonority of the complex tonality. In fact, Wang’s interpretation was so clear that the overwhelming dissonance notable in some recordings was merely part of the emotional development of the piece. The extended cadenza was the highlight of the entire program: Wang used the entire dynamic range of the piano, and was able to execute the large jumps with ease. Her interpretation was filled with emotion, and the percussive martellato bass notes brought the cadenza to an exciting climax.
In the short but frenetic scherzo that is the second movement, the BSO failed to keep up with Wang’s vigorous pace. While the orchestra remained at the same tempo as Wang, they fell behind by a small but perceptible amount, which meant that the melodic trade-offs between the woodwinds and solo piano were unsteady. Hindoyan was not able to bring the orchestra back into time with Wang, though there were some moments where they were on the precipice of equality. Unfortunately, Wang won the “who can finish the second movement first” race.
Despite the lack of coordination in the second movement, Wang and the BSO did a wonderful job in highlighting Prokofiev’s colorful orchestration in the marche funebre-like quality of the third movement, such as the stopped horn and trills that almost sounded like sardonic laughter. The allegro tempestoso fourth movement was similar in energy to the second, but the orchestra was notably more in sync with Wang. Again, Wang played huge jumps and scintillating runs with such ease that one could easily miss the difficulty of the piano concerto. At the end of the concerto, the audience nearly leapt to their feet to give Wang a standing ovation.
Much to the delight of the audience, Wang played two encores, starting with the No. 2 in F-sharp minor from Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words, Op. 67, in which she yet again showcased her unparalleled ability to play multiple different expressive styles simultaneously, with the delicate and expressive legato melody in the right hand, and light staccato chords in the left. She ended the piece rather playfully, leaving the audience amused. Her second encore was the No. 3 Toccatina from the Eight Concert Etudes, Op. 40 by 20th-century composer Nikolai Kapustin. The piece featured a percussive ostinato that paired well with the Prokofiev concerto. Even then, Wang still managed to incorporate a sweeping phrase throughout the piece.
Following Wang’s performance was Aaron Copland’s grandiose Third Symphony, which has been described by critics as one of the great American symphonies. The Third Symphony is a more serious work than his ballets (such as Billy the Kid, Rodeo, or Appalachian Spring), but it still incorporates elements of American folk music in Copland’s sparse yet iconic harmonies. Copland’s orchestration calls for a relatively large orchestra with a sizable percussion section.
The BSO’s performance was marred by the ensemble’s literal interpretation of Copland’s (overzealous) dynamic markings of fortissimo and fortississimo: it was just too loud. The first time fortissimo in the brass and percussion had a great effect; however, each subsequent fortissimo continued to wear down the audience’s patience, and by the time the brass and percussion played the famous Fanfare for a Common Man that opens the fourth movement, it was no longer the stately fanfare that Copland intended. (To their credit, the brass section overall was spectacular during the fanfare, especially the horns, whose tone remained clear even through the extremely high passage.) In this way, the BSO’s performance lacked sophistication and took on a too-loud-high-school-band quality as the brass and percussion overpowered the rest of the orchestra.
The string section’s somewhat weak articulation did not help with the excessive volume. In the fourth movement, the bowed staccato or marcato sections were far too “mushy,” lacking a clear start to the note. This meant that in loud sections, the orchestral texture homogenized into a wall of sound in which the color of individual instruments could not be discerned. In the lighter sections, the rhythmic pulse was harder to find with the metaphorical “fuzz” at the start of notes. Perhaps the acoustics of our particular seats (in the first orchestra section on stage left) were part of the problem, and other seats in the house had a better concert.
Given that it was a notoriously difficult symphony full of unexpected accents and mixed-meter passages, some of the tempo changes, such as accelerando in the third movement, could have used another rehearsal. Hindoyan’s conducting was not always easy to follow, and there were points in which the orchestra lagged behind his dictated tempo by more than one beat.
That being said, the symphony had many excellent moments: Concertmaster Nathan Cole’s solo with artificial harmonics was ethereal; piccolo Cynthia Meyers played with near-miraculous grace and clarity, especially impressive as the part is stratospheric, sometimes at pianissimo. Principal trumpet Thomas Rolfs’s sound soared over the orchestra without being overbearing.
Overall, the first half of the concert was much better than the second half. Wang’s playing was undoubtedly the highlight of the concert. Copland’s Third Symphony was full of wonderful moments, but was so excessive in dynamics that listeners were left tired by the end.