Malcolm Holmes made his last appearance as conductor of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra Sunday night in Sanders Theatre. He made it the occasion for one of the Orchestra's best concerts in recent years. The Orchestra was at full strength--quantitively with the greatest number of players in its history, and qualitatively with a fine program.

The program for a college orchestra always presents a problem that is rarely solved better than it was Sunday night. It is ridiculous for students to play the familiar symphonic items that everyone has heard performed by experts. But in the search for rare works college orchestras usually come up with esoteric pieces that attract few.

Sunday's program achieved an excellent balance between these two common extremes. Most of the composers were well-known, but the pieces were rarely performed. The items were interesting and enjoyable, rarely hitting the extremes.

The Orchestra showed careful preparation for the concert and was at its best. The strings started a bit sloppily in the Handel piece, but this was more than made up for in John May's excellent flute playing in the Adagio. The Orchestra moved through the intricate Hindemith work with comparative case. Benjamin Cogen, concertmaster, was particularly fine in his solo spots, and all sections played well in the tuneful if noisy Weber Overture.

In the second part of the program, the Orchestra reached its best. It polished off Respighi's "Antiche Danze" well, leading up to its major effort of the evening, the Mozart Double Piano Concerto. Here the Orchestra reached the peak of its abilities with delicate strings blending beautifully with the horns and woodwinds. Soloists Norman Wolfsohn and Seymour Hayden, a pair of renegade math instructors, coordinated their playing excellently and performed capably. Frescobaldi's Toccata ended the program in fine style. The strings were particularly good in this piece.

At the end of the concert, Malcolm Holmes said it was sad to have to end his 25 year association with the Orchestra. He said that orchestras such as this are the source of the "intelligent amateurs" who will set the standards for musical performances. His work before the speech proved that his intelligent amateurs can also present good concerts.