Music Festival

The Coronation of Poppea

The second night of the weekend music festival was given over to Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea. This opera, written over two centuries ago, is a masterpiece, and remains the earliest opera performed with any frequency. Saturday night's production by the American Opera Society shocked some musical purists by its orchestral realization, which included the use of a piano, and by some drastic cutting. Within its limits, however, the production was highly competent. The orchestra sat in the middle of the Sanders stage, while the singers, in modern evening dress, sang on all sides of it. Aside from a reluctance to act as lustily as the text indicated, the cast, headed by Gloria Lane and Jon Crain, gave a good account of itself. The voices were sonorous and the singers pronounced Chester Kallman's translation very carefully. The opera's closing duet, "O Beloved," is one of the most lovely lyrical pieces ever written.

The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra

On Sunday afternoon, the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra joined the festival with its strongest program in years. Unfortunately, its performance was disappointing. Beethoven's First Symphony, which should be within the Orchestra's scope, never seemed to get off the ground. Although the woodwind and brass sections were unusually strong, the strings were unable to carry their weight; the violins were ragged and the cellos unnecessarily heavy. In a vain effort to keep everyone together, conductor Attilio Poto chose calm and moderate tempi, but these only made the faults more obvious.

Although Ernest Bloch's Concerto Grosso for Strings and Piano Obbligato is a modern masterwork, it showed off the Orchestra's weakest section, the strings, and the performance was uneven. Bloch's incisive rhythms give the work an excitement and a tension that make it a perfect piece to try out on people who "don't like modern music." The final fugue, especially, builds and builds until only the most blase listener can remain unmoved.

The most successful rendition of the afternoon was given Walter Piston's Symphony No. 2. It is not an easy work to perform, and there were some decidedly rough spots, but the general spirit was strong, and for much of the time the Orchestra's tone was surprisingly good. Piston's mastery of orchestral effect was in evidence throughout the Symphony, and some of the brass writing is unsurpassed anywhere. The first movement is a highpoint in modern music, with widely contrasting themes of great drive and of great beauty. The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, despite some fine playing in this work, will have to improve its string section before it can give a completely successful concert.