Last night's was an odd concert. The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra surpassed itself in many respects: it delivered a fully professional performance of Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony, under the direction of Michael Senturia. Yet an accumulation of minor failings and a stolidly unadventuresome program--Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Handel--revealed that the orchestra is, after all, only a remarkable organization of musical amateurs.

The concert introduced two musicians to the Sanders Theatre public: Ursula Oppens '65, soloist with the orchestra in Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto, and Robert Kogan '62, conductor of Beethoven's "Leonore" Overture No. 3.

Miss Oppens, winner of the 1962 concerto contest, played the title role in Beethoven's man-killing concerte: she was in kingly command of the piano, In addition to her ability to punch out octave scales, her technical stamina made it happily evident that she was no namby-pamby dilletance of the piano. Only a slight sloppiness at the end of the first movement and a bit too much pedal at times detracted from the virtuoso level of the performance. Miss Oppens, who performed this concerto also at the Aspen Music Festival, will be around for four years; she has won an audience which will follow her development with interest.

Robert Kogan, Assistant Conductor and principal cellist of the orchestra, began the evening's concert with the third (1806) "Leonore" Overture. Mr. Kogan has the broad back, long forelocks, and stance proper to a conductor; he knows how to pivot gracefully from the heels. Unfortunately, faced with a cold orchestra, he did not succeed in making the violins play clearly and together; the transition passages with string accompaniment lacked co-ordination. Although at times he devoted a nice attention to the subtleties of dynamics, he failed to exploit any of the possible tensions of silence: in the quiet dialogue among the upper strings before the overture's finale, he neatly chopped up time; the potential stretchings and pullings among the voices were lost.

The concert also marked Michael Senturia's last regular concert in Sanders Theatre as director of the HRO. It was a brilliant farewell. While Kogan faced the orchestra feet together, like a conductor, Senturia spread his feet, hunched his shoulders, and went at Mendelssohn's Fourth Symphony like a boxer. An incredibly sharp attack started the symphony; the strings, warmed up, sounded as one. Senturia shifted tempi with assurance when the increased excitement demanded change. In the middle movements, although the fourth horn had problems, the woodwind solos over a string obbligato were exceptionally good for the HRO. Senturia took the concluding Presto at at least that pace; the movement staggered at times, but Senturia secured the most possible from his players.

In Handel's 'Concerto Grosso in A Minor,' Op. 6, No. 4, Senturia extracted something rare in student orchestras: a solid string sound. Solos by Lawrence Franko, concertmaster, with the harpsichord, came out clean, vigorous, and straight-forward.

The concert was not one to arouse the super-refined connoisseur of performance from his hi-fi den, but it did sell out Sanders Theatre. Miss Oppens, Senturia, Kogan, and the orchestra deserved the audience.