In a clever bit of programming, this week's Minnesota Orchestra concerts supplant the traditional 3 B's with 3 H's -- composers Franz Joseph Haydn, Jennifer Higdon and Howard Hanson.

Higdon's "The Singing Rooms" for Violin, Chorus and Orchestra, co-commissioned by the orchestra as part of the Centennial Commissions project, received its Minnesota premiere. A unique violin concerto with full chorus, it is set to the poetry of Jeanne Minahan, though the results frequently obscured the complex verse.

As an orchestrator, Higdon was particularly effective in blending small groups of instruments. The lovely, lyrical interludes were most successful. There were times, however, when she lost control of the orchestra, rendering a sound that was muddy and loud. The result was emotionally cold, with noise substituting for real passion. The virtuoso violin was intended to bear much of the emotional weight of the piece, carrying the audience from poem to poem in the concerto's journey. Jennifer Koh delivered, playing with proficiency and commitment.

Diction, usually a hallmark of Minnesota Chorale, was woefully lacking here. Even following the text, it was hard to discern what was being sung.

The closing moments were the most effective, repeating the opening poem with all the heart and soul missing from some of the earlier, more bombastic sections.

Howard Hanson may not be as famous as his contemporaries Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber, but his Symphony No. 2, Opus 30, "Romantic," is a major work. It could not have provided a more striking contrast to the Higdon, being much more richly melodic and, as Hanson described it, "warm-blooded."

Conductor Osmo Vänskä was in his element here, delivering a passionate reading that placed the work fully in the Romantic tradition. He found a profound sense of longing in Hanson's lyricism that touched the heart.

The scoring emphasized the winds and the horns, and both sections took full advantage. They sang out brilliantly, from the lyricism of the slow movement to the joyous vigor of the finale.

Too much of the Romantic mood overtook the performance of Haydn's Symphony No. 101 in D major, "The Clock." Despite the charming delicacy of the violins, the reading was too heavy-handed. The Minuet was particularly flat-footed. Even the lively Vivace finale never took flight, remaining leaden and earthbound.

William Randall Beard writes regularly about music.