The Honolulu Symphony began its season at fever pitch Saturday night, from opening ceremony to soloist, conductor to finale.

The season opened on a Hawaiian note, with an antiphonal pu (conch) fanfare followed by a welcoming oli (chant) by Raymond Ganotise, set in counterpoint to "Aloha E Na Pua o Hawai'i," composed by Stacey Mailelauli'i Naki, and sung by Sienna Achong, Charles Mukaida and the Honolulu Symphony Chorus.

It was a lovely introduction to "Hawai'i Pono'i" and "The Star-Spangled Banner," setting a festival tone and underscoring the season's innovations.

Violinist Sarah Chang worked her usual magic, drawing a standing ovation and a crowd seeking autographs afterward.

Chang's vehicle this time was Sibelius' "Violin Concerto," which had the advantage of being less well-known and one of the season's few 20th-century works. Composed in the early 1900s, the concerto is innovative, accessible, and a technical tour de force.

Chang ran through the work's challenges like wildfire, wringing emotion from every note. The Sibelius suited Chang particularly well, providing ample opportunities for Chang's greatest strengths — exquisite pianissimos and unbridled passions.

Conductor Andreas Delfs, in his first concert as the new maestro of the Honolulu Symphony, proved to be gracious, keeping Chang in the aural spotlight throughout, even when she was accompanying the orchestra.

Delfs is an experienced collaborator, having conducted an opera house for several years. "With opera, there are so many things you cannot control. A thousand things can go wrong - and a thousand things usually do go wrong. With an orchestra, there is just the music, the musicians, and me."

Unless, of course, the orchestra has a festival opening.

There was evidently some kind of announcement planned before the first piece, but what it was, no one heard. The announcer entered just as Delfs gave the downbeat, and when it became clear the concert was under way and Delfs was unaware of his presence, the announcer quietly exited, looking abashed.

Delfs was clearly most at home, most expansive, most expressive, when conducting the purely orchestral works. His gestures broadened, he crouched, leapt and swayed, pulling melodies like taffy out of the strings and emboldening the brass with his fist.

It will be some time before Delfs and the Honolulu Symphony acquire a signature sound, but some changes were already noticeable. On Saturday, the woodwinds had a less characteristic 'wind ensemble' sound, but the strings regained their primacy as the foundation of the orchestra, dominating almost throughout. Under Delfs, the brass, too, were bolder and more cohesive.

As a whole, the symphony had a large, powerful sound with a thick, rich, full-bodied blend that integrated rather than highlighted orchestral solos and internal parts.

Delfs' prelude to "Die Meistersinger" emphasized Wagner's long lines, a style Wagner later called "unendliche Melodie" (unending melody), each phrase leading to the next, and the next, building to an ever larger climax.

Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No. 5" focused attention on Delfs and the orchestra and garnered an enthusiastic standing ovation, the evening's second.

Delfs generated a great deal of excitement for the grand climaxes, but his breathless tempos and over-the-top energy sometimes felt rushed, which undercut the power of those famous climaxes. Delfs' finest moments were his hushed moments, especially the opening of the Sibelius, shimmering and still, and of Tchaikovsky's first and second movements, a measured, dark melancholy.

The orchestra delivered numerous stellar solos, especially in the Tchaikovsky, most notably: Scott Anderson's chalumeau clarinet in the first movement, Wade Butin's version of the famous horn solo in the second, the cellos led by Mark Votapek and the violins by Ignace Jang on the same melody, bassoonist Paul Barrett in almost every movement all evening, and the brass choir at the end of the Tchaikovsky.

Saturday turned out to be a promising beginning for the new season.