In the 1800s, the orchestra played a variety of roles, hanging on to the past, creating a future, reflecting the century's broad historical compass.

On Friday, the Honolulu Symphony's concert presented three rather extreme examples from that century: revolution in Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, background in Chopin's Concerto No. 1, and spectacle in Rimsky-Korskov's Scheherazade.

Conductor Rossen Milanov, a return guest from last year's season, began at the end of the century, with Debussy.

For Debussy, the orchestra was not a collection of parts, but a single, multihued instrument. As composer Donald Womack explained before the concert, Debussy's Prelude premiered in 1894, but "marked the beginning of the 20th century, because it was so radically different than anything that had come before."

Milanov made the most of those differences, drawing a swirly lush, leafy-lace ambience from the orchestra. Prelude is supposed to depict a story, but on Friday, that storyline faded into inconsequence as Milanov enticed the audience to luxuriate in enveloping sound, to drift upon an aural tide.

At the other end of the century, Chopin juxtaposed within the same piece an exceptionally conventional structure and orchestral part, with his innovative, delicately beautiful piano style.

Chopin only composed two piano concertos, works of his youth. Concerto No. 1 (E minor) was composed second but published first, which is why the two are often confused and which perhaps explains why Friday's program announced No. 1 but provided program notes for No. 2 (F minor).

Considered by many to be the greatest pianist of his generation, Chopin never quite unraveled the mysteries of orchestration. In Concerto No. 1, the orchestra supports, fills, accompanies, bridges, introduces, but never approaches parity with the piano.

For both piano and orchestra, their best parts are on their own, not together.

In short, the Concerto is a piece with nice spots, technically stunning passages, a breathtakingly beautiful second movement, several lovely duets between piano and horn (Wade Butin) or piano and bassoon (Marsha Schweitzer), but the whole leopard never quite materializes.

Fortunately, pianist Fabio Bidini delivered an impressive performance on Friday that eclipsed Chopin's orchestral writing.

Bidini excelled at Chopin's famous singing melodic lines and feather light ornamental runs. On Friday, Bidini's runs were silken, his hands gossamer scarves sliding across the keys. Best of all were his solos and especially his encore, where he could play freely, without orchestral constraints.

For Friday's closer, Milanov returned to the end of the nineteenth century and one of the greatest orchestrators of all time, Rimsky-Korsakov, in one of his most popular works.

Scheherazade, on the surface a story from the Arabian Nights, is more about the orchestra itself.

One of the most colorful works ever written, it features almost every musician on stage as well as the ensemble as a whole. For this work, the concert program is essential, not only for the background story, but for the many soloists' names.

Some of the most notable solos were those by concertmaster Iggy Jang and harpist Constance Uejio (the Scheherazade theme), clarinetist James Moffitt, bassoonist Paul Barrett, and trumpeter Michael Zoneshine, but there were many more.

Milanov was intense and expressive with the orchestra. He gave musicians unusual leeway in their solos and often conducted in flexible tempos, lending the music an improvisatory feel. Occasional scattered entrances and ragged ensemble did not intrude into the larger impression.

Throughout, Milanov challenged the orchestra to ever greater expressivity, delivering a dramatic reading of an already dramatic score and sweeping the audience into a standing ovation.