Havard-Radcliffe Orchestra

With Attilio Poto's appointment as conductor, the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra has inadvertently switched the emphasis of its concerts. After Russell Standger's histronics and Mr. Burgin's formidable reputation, a relatively unknown and reserved director has deliberately turned attention away from himself and onto his ensemble.

The result is as gratifying for the listener as it must be for the players. A new sensitivity to intonation is one of the most outstanding-and welcome-changes Mr. Poto has brought. And from the opening of Handel's Water Music suite, his insight into rhythmic details and emphasis of interplay between instruments testified to rare artistic insight.

The effect of this spirit became most apparent in a reading of Bruckner's Symphony No. 4. Murmurings of renewed interest in this contemporary of Brahms have come from several quarters in the past year; whether this will develop into a full-scale revival remains to be seen. Evaluations of Bruckner's work range from the sneers of "Stravinskyites" to the gauche adulation of New Yorker critic Winthrop Sargent. The score exhibits many virtues of late Romantic music-a large yet skillfully employed orchestra, unhackneyed melodies, profound knowledge of traditional form and its potential for variation. Yet Bruckner's fondness for symphonic rhetoric and undeniable long-windedness try the patience of many. He writes too many thundering climaxes, too many horn calls, too many notes. The limited expressiveness of his melodies simply fails to justify their colossal setting.

But Mr. Poto's interpretation of the symphony certainly showed it to best advantage. Taking special care to clarify the complex yet essentially conventional form, he began crescendi long in advance of their final culminations. Thus a sense of gathering sonority and mass brought the structure more clearly into focus. And by avoiding the extremely show tempi some conductors favor, he made overall textures far less turgid.

Of course, Friday's program was not a flawless undertaking. The HRO brass section still needs intensive work, and Debussy's Afternoon of a faun received unnecessarily metrical treatment. But polished ensembles cannot be made-or-remade-in a month. With additional time, Mr. Poto and his orchestra will undoubtedly fulfill the promise of their concert.