Pianist Andre Watts opened the 2008-09 Honolulu Symphony season with a flourish, his performance eliciting a long standing ovation.

Known throughout the world for his skill and artistry, Watts explained his success not in terms of diligence, but luck: "I was basically handed my career on a plate by Leonard Bernstein."

In 1963, Bernstein chose the 16-year-old Watts to perform in the New York Philharmonic's Young People's Concerts, and shortly thereafter, invited him to perform in a regular subscription concert as a last-minute substitute for Glenn Gould.

Luck undoubtedly played a role in the launching of Watts' career, but it has been his playing that has sustained him for more than 45 years.

What a treat to hear him live.

Watts performed Brahms' Concerto No. 2, a work of formidable technical demands but with little virtuosic flair. Instead, soloist and orchestra are interwoven, taking turns with melo-dies and finishing each other's thoughts.

"It's true," Watts conceded, "(Brahms's Second) doesn't have neon lights. Nonetheless, it is not a difficult piece to listen to. One is directed, one is led through."

The music traverses a broad landscape within classical forms, a landscape filled with romantic episodes that impart a meandering feel to what is actually a tight structure. Making sense of the whole requires maturity and insight.

Watts' performance was like burnished gold: warm, rich, solid, weighty, yet highly polished. His voicing made Brahms' thick chords clear, and his vision held the four movements together so that the 50-plus minutes seemed to fly by.

"Before you begin, you need to have the whole of the piece before you — the beginning, the end, all of it. The concentration, the focus, is odd: You mustn't think too much in the past, and you mustn't think too much in the future, but if you play with blinders on, you lose the vision. It's like walking on the razor's edge ... the closer you stay to (the edge), the better the performance."

Saturday night, Watts played right on top of the edge, but despite numerous curtain calls, he did not play an encore.

"Usually, when I play a concerto, I don't play an encore. After Brahms' Second — it's such a mammoth construction — what do you play after that? (An encore) seems a little silly. I play encores happily after recitals. I'm not so sure it's a logical reason, but that's how it feels to me."

Watts did come out to talk to the audience during "Concert Conversations," which has returned to its original format, on stage one hour before concerts begin.

Saturday's "Concert Conversations" was hosted by Gene Schiller of Hawai'i Public Radio, who led the interview smoothly and included questions about performance anxiety and the Internet rumors of Watts retiring.

Watts replied: "You have certain expectations for yourself —that's where the nerves come from, not from the external factors. The most important thing to remember is to breathe. As we get nervous, our breathing gets more and more shallow, and less and less oxygen gets to the brain. I tell my students to remember to exhale."

As for retiring, Watts said, "I only heard that about a week ago. I didn't know what to think. I don't know if there's a message in that or not. (Retiring) hadn't occurred to me." Saturday's performance gave no hints that retiring is anywhere on the horizon — Watts sounded wonderful.

In the first half of the concert, maestro Andreas Delfs conducted Brahms' Symphony No. 3 and "Academic Festival Overture." The latter turned out to be an excellent season opener, presenting the combined forces of symphony and chorus in a joyful introduction.

Although Delfs is still shaping the orchestra's sound, and the orchestra is still adjusting to his style, the two are settling into a middle ground between the austere clarity of a classical approach and the effusive passion of a romantic approach. Delfs' flexible phrasing and large-scale pacing are emerging as strengths, and the musicians are excelling both as soloists and in blended choirs.

There are quite a few new musicians this season, including several principals, the result of extensive auditions on the Mainland at the end of last season.

Principal cellist Joseph Johnson shone in the third movement of the Piano Concerto, which has such prominent solos for cello that the movement seems to be a double-concerto. And the brass choirs were sweetly balanced, with a beautiful sound.

Featured returning musicians included Scott Anderson (clarinet), who had several excellent solos in Symphony No. 3; Wade Butin and Jonathan Parrish (French horn), who were crucial in both the Symphony and the Concerto; and Concertmaster "Iggy" Jang, who led the strings with sweeping drama.