Harvard's Musical Ambassador Visits Roxbury

Last week, the Boston Symphony Orchestra performed at the Roxbury Community College to celebrate conductor Seiji Ozawa's 25th Anniversary. Roberta Flack hosted the event, with Joseph Lin '00 joining them as a featured soloist for the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D, Opus 35. The grand affair, whose ambitious program featured famed excerpts from the likes of Strauss, Beethoven and Gershwin, kicked off a new BSO initiative called "Symphony in the City" the aim of which is to offer free music to the city neighborhoods of Boston.

The setting was certainly unique for the BSO. The tuxedoed musicians were far away from the world of the black tie connoisseurs who frequent Symphony Hall, and instead the audience was refreshingly casual with gleeful five-year-olds running the aisles and jean-clad parents in pursuit. And though the level of musicianship was phenomenal, the BSO's sound was some-what lost in the cavernous community college indoor track stadium.

The concert was supposedly geared towards children, with Roberta Flack providing hip commentary--somehow she managed to parallel Brahms to Puff Daddy and Orff to Michael Jackson--working the audience and attempting to tone down the somber aura of classical music. In a sense, this effort to reach out to people who would otherwise normally not be exposed to classical music was commendable. Though it was sometimes hard to hear over the quiet buzz of audience chatter, especially with the acoustical downfalls of the athletic building, the casual concert setting could not detract from the magic of hearing a live professional orchestra.

The music selection managed to be tasteful, despite the focus on now cliche classical favorites. After all, when a piece is more recognized by the name of the movie it was featured in--the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey or Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra?--the professional group has a hard time making an overplayed theme unique. However, when Joseph Lin '00 appeared on stage, violin in hand, the concert began to offer the special excitement that comes with a live performance. Roberta Flack introduced him as a theology concentrator (well, she actually said major) and introduced Tchaikovsky as "that guy who wrote the 1812 Overture." Using the cardboard binoculars that were handed out at the door (one idea that Symphony Hall should actually consider) the audience could take in the amazing passion of Lin's performance. The audience was so impressed in fact, that he even received an accidental roar of applause at the start of his cadenza, quickly hushed by Seiji Ozawa. Despite the faux pas in concert etiquette, Lin's phenomenal talent was appreciated with a standing ovation at the end.

The program then moved towards jazz with Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, performed by special guest pianist Marcus Roberts with Wynton's brother Jason Marsalis on drums. The arrangement allowed for Roberts to improvise and push the jazz flavor of the piece, while at the same time challenging the performers to smoothly transition from these solos into the more classical feel of the orchestral sections. Also in the second half of the performance the BSO invited some talented young musicians to perform with them: a children's choir joined the orchestra for Orff's "Carmina Burana" and several talented high school brass players came on stage for Respighi's "Pines of Rome".

"The Pines of Rome" was brilliant and provided a dramatic ending to an explosive program. While less well-known than the opener, "The Pines of Rome" is an equally moving experience which was perhaps even more effective in reaching out to the community in a unique way. Exposure to Beethoven and even Orff can come from The Looney Tunes, but Respighi is an experience rarely appreciated by non-classical music listeners, despite the emotional power of his work. Pieces like this, or Lin's Tchaikovsky, or even the improvised new arrangement of Gershwin are what makes a live performance unique and worth sharing with the public.