The Music Box

The Adams House dining hall was jammed Wednesday night as the Adams House Musical Society opened its season with a concert of Mozart's rarely-performed orchestral and chamber music. The orchestra, under the direction of William P. Perry, rendered a group of selections comparatively less interesting technically and subjectively than typical Mozartiana. But the ensemble and soloists provided an audience of over 600 with a group of seldom-heard compositions adequately, if not expertly, performed.

The outstanding features of the program were the two concert: No. 1 in D Major for horn and orchestra and No. 6 in B-Flat for piano and orchestra. In the first of these, Jaroslav Hulka displayed excellent control and brilliant articulation throughout the sometimes lyric sometimes lilting solo passages.

In the larger, pianoforte work, Russell A. Ames demonstrated a complete familiarity with Mozart, maintaining throughout the delicacy and grace of this early concerto. Particularly enjoyable was the sparkling rondo section the cadenza of which was written for the occasion by Mr. Perry. Both here and elsewhere Perry's cadenzas fit the spirit of the movement so that it was difficult to tell where Mozart ended and Perry began. To low point of the evening was the downright sloppy performance of the Divertimento in C Major for the fantastic combination of flutes, trumpets, and drums. Only the poker-faced comedy act of Caldwell Titcomb, kettle-drummer, saved the piece from complete disgrace.

The Adagio for Piano in B Minor presented by Joseph Ponte was played with genuine feeling and a high level of technical competence. This was not the case in his treatment of the two piano fugues earlier in the program.

The evening ended with six charming German dances expressively conducted by Mr. Perry. As the first of a series of six concerts by this group, Wednesday night's program predicts a delightful, albeit unusual, music season.