Tomáš Hanus and Welsh National Opera offer a bracing opening for Prague Spring

When the president of your country is standing and applauding after your performance, you’ve hit all the right notes. And when everyone else in a packed Smetana Hall is on their feet, clapping and cheering like soccer fans, you have achieved certifiable star status. 

In truth, Tomáš Hanus was well down that road before taking the podium to open this year’s Prague Spring festival. Hanus is part of a new generation of Czech conductors doing their country proud abroad – Jakub Hrůša as Chief Conductor of the Bamberg Symphony and soon-to-be Music Director of The Royal Opera, Petr Popelka as Chief Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Tomáš Netopil just finishing a 10-year tenure at the helm of the Essen Philharmonic and Aalto Musiktheater.

Hanus has been Music Director of Welsh National Opera since 2016, and seldom seen in his homeland during this time, so the Prague Spring opener was a homecoming for him, as well as an opportunity to show what he’s accomplished with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera. The frisson of anticipation was palpable in the hall before he even walked onstage, and the excitement only grew as the familiar strains of Má vlast took on epic proportions.

Hanus brought a craftsman’s approach to Smetana’s six-movement love letter to his homeland, working in broad, dramatic strokes for the battles of Šárka and Blaník, drawing out the fine details in Vyšehrad and Z českých lůhu a hájů (From Bohemia’s Woods and Fields) and expertly invoking the rippling waters of the Vltava. This was one of the most nuanced performances of the piece in recent memory, with evocative atmospherics and an opera orchestra’s sense of pacing and narrative flow. And the ensemble’s range extends well beyond the pit, with Hanus expanding the sound to full symphonic dimensions in a fiery rendition of the final marching movements.

If the emotional content was lacking at times, that’s not unusual for a visiting orchestra – and, in fact, the point of inviting foreign ensembles is to hear fresh interpretations of Má vlast. The Welsh play in a clean, crisp style, more cool than warm, at least in this performance. Hanus managed to inject some flashes of patriotic pride in the Tábor–Blaník tandem, but mostly his treatment of the material was straightforward, showcasing the orchestra’s strengths – a radiant violin section, colorful woodwinds, explosive percussion.

Perhaps more than anything, Hanus showed himself to be a master technician. The sound was transparent and perfectly balanced, no small accomplishment in the cavernous Smetana Hall. The music had momentum and a pulse, fueled by powerful, gripping dynamics. Hanus could be painterly, using colors and a light touch to create delicate imagery, or come on like a streamroller, hammering home the martial motifs. Even for an audience deeply familiar with the piece it was an irresistible reading, energetic and enthusiastic, bursting with mythic grandeur.

Má vlast can be endearing, heroic, intimate, majestic – but rarely all those things at once. Hanus and his players brought a unique chemistry to the piece that captured its full sweep and enduring emotional appeal, making it nearly impossible not to stand in celebration. Even for a president.