Jaap van Zweden’s pandemic-interrupted tenure with the New York Philharmonic came to a close at Bravo! Vail over the weekend. The disciplinarian Dutch conductor, who was hired in 2018 after his intense style revived the Dallas Symphony, looked right at home in Vail on Friday night. “He has brought one extraordinary performance after another,” said Anne-Marie McDermott, Bravo! Vail’s artistic director, before van Zweden took the stage for performances of Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn.
The orchestral series concert began with Symphony No. 1 in D major. Prokofiev’s short and sweet symphony offered no point for even the most naive listener to dare nod off.
It’s brevity (14 minutes) and non-stop action —from every trill and grace note and sudden shift of volume — encapsulated the pre-Beethoven classical sound the composer intentionally embedded. Throughout, van Zweden drove the ensemble, establishing the forward-movement of phrase as an ever-present reality. The violins were the stars in style and boldness — for the first three movements — and in sheer speed in the Finale: molto vivace.
Sounding like one instrument through every scintillating passage, not a single note was lost in even the most breathtaking runs. “I’ve never heard of a 14-minute symphony,” remarked one concertgoer. “But I think I kind of like it.
” Russian sounds filled the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in the second work as well, as Chris Martin and Inon Barnatan — filling i.