The Masochist's Institute of Technologyanecdotes of an ambitious MIT student

Even though MIT is a predominantly science- and technology-focused university, we certainly have our share of liberal arts fanatics. In fact, if you didn’t know, we actually have quite a few people majoring (whether primary or as a double) or minoring in course 21M (Music and Theatre Arts). I am close friends with two of them, actually (one an amazing piano player, and the other a kickass oboist). Thanks to their unending want of decent music in a science-immersed society, I’ve made a greater effort to scope out concerts and performances in the Boston area.

I went to a Boston Pops concert earlier this summer, in June

A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from the conductor of the Concert Choir (Dr. Bill Cutter), suggesting we attend the performance of the Harvard Summer Orchestra. I had originally planned on brushing it off as an event too far displaced from the MIT campus to attend, but something caught my eye:

… our special guest soloist, oboist, [is] Keisuke Wakao of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

This was news! A member of BSO performing with the Harvard Summer Orchestra? And free admission? This was definitely an opportunity I shouldn’t miss. In fact, the name Keisuke Wakao sounded veeery familiar…

A quick message to my oboist friend confirmed it – Wakao was actually his teacher! Now I was more curious than ever as to what the Harvard Summer Orchestra had in store for me.

So naturally, I strutted out of Sidney-Pacific (my summer sublet) in a pretty skirt and heels, hobbled my way to Central Square station, and wandered around Harvard for a good 10 minutes before I found Sanders Theatre. I ended up missing the first third of the concert (no thanks to a Harvardian who gave us erroneous directions), but I could hear their performance of Bartok’s Romanian Dances through the door – the same Romanian Dances for which I accompanied my sister just months earlier! From what I could hear, they sounded fairly good, so once the piece finished and we were permitted entry, I situated myself at the edge of the row, where I had a direct view of Wakao.

The parts of the program I actually got to hear were composed of Mozart’s Oboe Concerto in C Major and Haydn’s Symphony No. 104. It was quite the interesting experience, not only because Sanders Theatre is gorgeous (Harvard architecture – 1; MIT’s – 0), but because Wakao is really interesting to watch as he plays.

The Good:

• Keisuke Wakao is an amazing performer! Not only is his tone clear and smooth (I didn’t know it was humanly possible to play for such long phrases), but he really gets into the piece by moving around. I know some people frown upon this, but I absolutely love it – it means the musician can connect to his or her respective piece, and thus displays his musicality and understanding.
• Props to the principal flautist! She had some nice solos in Haydn, and – besides Wakao – was one of the few performers in the group to really feel the music.
• The trumpets sounded surprisingly good – I have come to expect them to have wavering/pitchy tones, but the trio here did fairly well!

The Bad:

• The rest of the orchestra was horrifyingly deadpan for the entire performance. I caught many people yawning or zoning off during their measure breaks. I don’t expect them to smile brightly the entire night, but at least they could try to look mildly interested in the solos, right?
• The Violin I’s – a common occurence, I must admit – were playing much louder than was needed in some sections, and sped up quite a bit past tempo in the first movement of Haydn’s Symphony. I even caught the conductor (Judy Zuckerman) flashing a displeased face at the entire section and making it a point to wave her baton in their direction. Ouch.
• The back chairs of the Violin II’s contained a pair of feeble girls who were very clearly faking. What’s worse, since the stage is fairly shallow, they had to be seated on a raised area off to the side, thus exposing their quivering bows and confused looks to the entire audience.

The Ugly:

• I saw two clarinets. I heard none.
• The entire orchestra was flat for all of Haydn’s Symphony. It was doomed from the start, as the tuning itself was definitely flat. It got worse as the song went along, especially when the violins had some harmonies that ended up a bit more dissonant than poor Haydn probably intended.
• Many people were inappropriately attired for a concert. I’m sorry gals, but just because it’s the 21st century does not mean that a white tank top and knee-length black pants (shorts?) are proper clothes for a concert.

Thankfully, the good parts of the concert were more than enough to outweigh the bad (hard to believe, but I’m naturally critical, unfortunately). I ended up having a splendid time, and hopefully this won’t be the last time I get to see Keisuke Wakao in performance =)

Next summer, if you’re around, definitely try to catch the Harvard group’s concert. For all other times of the year, there’s Boston Symphony Orchestra and New England Conservatory :D