HE'S ALL SHOOK!

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The review of the Concerto Contest in the Crimson for Monday, January 15 leaves much to be desired. People who attended the contest must in general rank the contestants in the opposite order to that your reviewer chose.

The review attributes "a near-perfect technical mastery" to Seth Carlin's playing. I, for one, could not judge his fingerwork, because of the overall blur his heavy footwork gave the music. And no clear overall understanding of the piece came through to redeem the technical haze.

The "warm sound and Romantic lyricism" of Alan Summers' rendition of the Tchaikovsky First Concerto can be heard on three out of four recordings of the piece. But the Harvard musical world, when it hears this concerto played with the HRO, should expect an originality and thoughtfulness of interpretation and a technical mastery that Mr. Summers did not display.

"James Richman's performance of the Mendelssohn Concerto in G Minor lacked the necessary technical expertise." On the contrary, this is what it had above all else. Mr. Richman also showed a fine intellectual understanding of the piece; all that I found lacking was a sensitivity to its musical content.

The reviewer describes Tonu Kalam's playing of the Beethoven First Concerto as "superficial." In actuality, it was the performance I found myself listening most carefully to in order to pick out the subtle, sometimes eccentric, nuances and the intelligent ideas about the musical nature of the piece. Surely this sort of original music-making most deserves to be heard with the HRO.

Finally, the review suggests that any bias on the part of the judges against large Romantic concertors calls into question the validity of the whole competition. I am sure there is such a bias; but it is certainly not because these concertos are "too difficult for the HRO." It is simply a reflection of a bias in the Harvard community; and the judges must decide on the basis of both musical values and box office attractiveness. Prospective contestants must simply be aware of this bias.

I hope that this inaccurate review has no adverse effect on what is sure to be an excellent HRO concert in May. Spencer Roedder '69