The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra performed the world premiere of director James Yannatos’ ‘Cello Concerto’ Friday evening in Sanders Theatre.

In their penultimate concert of the season, the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra presented a rousing rendition of two perennial favorites in Sanders Theatre—Felix Mendelssohn’s “Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Johannes Brahms’s “Symphony No. 2 in D”—along with the world premiere of a cello concerto composed by the HRO’s longtime music director James Yannatos. The soloist for the concerto was renowned cellist Matt W. Haimovitz ’96.

The path of maintaining a successful career as both a conductor and composer is a perilous one. Few have succeeded. For instance, Gustav Mahler was known primarily as a conductor during his lifetime. His busy conducting schedule forced him to compose mostly during the summertime, and what he did compose often drew harsh comments from critics.

Yannatos’ career has been similarly defined by the two paths. He has conducted the HRO since 1964, while composing a sizable catalogue of works, many of which were premiered by the HRO. While only history can tell whether Yannatos will stand the test of time as a composer, his “Cello Concerto,” which received its world premiere on the concert, was at least the work of an assured and seasoned orchestrator, with colorful and dazzling passages at every turn. Yannatos clearly understood the strengths and weaknesses of the ensemble he was writing for.

The work was composed specifically for Haimovitz, who is recognized as one of the foremost champions of contemporary music in the world. Haimovitz also has a reputation of undertaking unconventional and adventurous concerts, such as playing works by Bach in coffee houses and clubs and performing arrangements of Led Zeppelin songs on the cello.

The musical language of the work was primarily tonal, though not without some meaty dissonances. Haimovitz played the work with a cool confidence, demonstrating his experience performing contemporary music. His expressiveness throughout the performance was particularly captivating.

Despite the strengths of the performers, the difficulty of the brand-new piece and the orchestra’s unfamiliarity with it led Haimovitz to go out of sync with the ensemble, causing Yannatos to stop and restart the piece twice during the third movement.

In the face of this minor setback and a slight hesitance in the orchestra after the second restart, the piece proceeded boldly to the end. While Yannatos described his composition in completely abstract terms in his notes, it was clear that his concerto embodied the hero-versus-world aesthetic of nineteenth century Romantic pieces. Yannatos did not provide a program or narrative, but it was difficult not to hear Haimovitz as the protagonist in a story.

After intermission, HRO president Christine L. Barron ’09 addressed the audience and recognized the graduating senior members of the orchestra. Yannatos also delivered a heartfelt speech acknowledging his appreciation of the talented student musicians on stage.

Yannatos then proceeded to conduct an inspired rendition of Brahms’ Symphony No. 2. Yannatos’ tempo was crisp and clear throughout. The nearly 20-minute first movement (which in a bad performance can seem to go on forever) proceeded at a leisurely pace and never felt tedious. The performance of the cello section was especially noteworthy, particularly as they introduced the familiar “lullaby” theme of the first movement with a warm, lush, and inviting tone. Other highlights included a delightful dialogue between the winds and strings in the delicate and dance-like third movement.

The Brahms occasionally suffered from poor intonation in the brass, which was slightly more noticeable during the fourth movement. However, for the most part, the blend and balance of the orchestra was superb.

The concert opened with the brief “Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which Mendelssohn composed at the tender age of 17. The opening string passages sparkled and the HRO brass played the fanfare-like figures with unusual crispness. There were times in the piece when the playing of the low strings felt slightly heavy, but fortunately, those moments were only fleeting.

This performance by the HRO was geared towards attracting musically attuned pre-frosh, yet there were few in sight. This was a shame, because the concert was one of the strongest student performances of classical music on campus this year.

—Reviewer Eric W. Lin can be reached at ericlin@fas.harvard.edu.