"Watch: Andris Nelsons Conducts Beethoven's Ninth at Tanglewood [...]

It’s become an annual tradition of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a rite marking the end of summer in the Berkshires: a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in bucolic Tanglewood to send off audience members and musicians alike, humming “Ode to Joy.”

But rarely has the orchestra’s music director participated in the performance. This past Sunday, music director Andris Nelsons became the first to do so since 1969, when Erich Leinsdorf was in that position. Initially, Christoph von Dohnanyi was supposed to conduct it this season. But Dohnanyi canceled due to complications from cataract surgery. Meanwhile, Nelsons, who had committed to conducting Parsifal at Bayreuth this summer, unexpectedly pulled out of the German production, allowing him to sub in. See how Nelsons did below.”

View the entire feature via WQXR