Special to The Advertiser

With "The Lion King" in residence at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, The Honolulu Symphony continued its foray in new venues on Saturday.

The venue last week was Mamiya Theatre, a hall too small for a modern symphony orchestra but just right for what we now call a chamber orchestra — 12 to 30 musicians.

Fortunately, that was the usual size of orchestras in the Baroque and Classical eras. Saturday's program offered audiences an opportunity to hear live performances of works that are most often heard only in recordings today, works usually bypassed by chamber ensembles as being too large, and by orchestras as being too small.

In the first half, two concertos featured Honolulu Symphony musicians: oboist Scott Janusch and violinist Claire Sakai Hazzard in Bach's Concerto for Violin and Oboe, and cellist Mark Votapek in Boccherini's Concerto in G. In the second half, Pachelbel's Canon led into Dvorak's genial Serenade for Strings (a work that ought to be wildly popular), providing an upbeat finale.

Pachelbel's Canon, familiar from its use in a zillion commercials and films, is a prime example of how crucial tempo can be. Played slowly, it flows calmly and tenderly; played faster, it becomes sprightly, exuberant. Too fast or too slow, and it becomes manic or lugubrious.

Honolulu Symphony's version on Saturday was moderately slow, gentle and lilting. Standing in groups of threes, the violins wove lyrical lines around the recurring bass line in the cellos and harpsichord, while the three violas provided a touch of humor — standing in a row, plucking pizzicatos in turn throughout: plink, plink, plink.

Following Baroque and early Classical tradition, the musicians performed without a formal conductor; instead, concertmaster Ignace Jang and harpsichordist Thomas Yee of the University of Hawai'i-Manoa shared in leading the ensembles while playing.

The effect, especially in works using smaller ensembles, was exciting: Musicians listened intently to each other, balance was excellent and every voice was audible. The only work large enough to need a conductor was the Dvorak, with just under 30 musicians, and no conductor meant its ensemble occasionally frayed around the edges during tempo shifts.

Each work on Saturday turned out to be delightful, but the highlights were undoubtedly the featured soloists.

Hazzard's and Janusch's duets proved winsome, especially in the slow movement, and especially those by Janusch. Their timbres contrasted rather than matched, presenting two distinct voices in dialogue. Votapek, too, excelled in his slow movement and dazzled in the faster movements.

Yee was not listed in the program but as the harpsichordist, he was essentially a fourth soloist, providing a bass-line foundation for the Bach and the Pachelbel, fleshing out chords, and often leading the ensemble as well.

As difficult as this season is for the Honolulu Symphony, moving between venues and creating nonstandard programs to match venues that were never intended to house orchestras, Saturday's concert suggests new possibilities for future seasons.

Nothing quite matches the thrill of a modern symphony orchestra performing live, but these smaller works for chamber orchestras are well worth experiencing. They may even be worth the effort of programming occasional concerts in a more intimate venue, such as Mamiya Theatre.

Ruth Bingham reviews classical music for The Advertiser.