MUSIC REVIEW : Chamber Orchestra Presents Premiere : The group continues to mix weill-known works with unfamiliar music, including a cello concerto written for the orchestra by Lloyd Rodgers.

Music director Micah Levy continues to assemble imaginative mixtures for his Orange County Chamber Orchestra programs. Monday night at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, Levy led his band through works by Handel, Haydn and Bloch, but also included a piece by the Canadian Harry Somers and the premiere of a cello concerto written for this group by Lloyd Rodgers.

Soloist for the concerto was Canadian-born (1967) Shauna Rolston, who brought energy and elan to a not overly demanding part. Levy conducted an animated performance of this simple, engaging “Tableau Vivant” that relies greatly on jaunty, syncopated rhythmic figures for its attraction.

As if to compensate for a less-than-heroic role in Rodgers’ work, Rolston stayed on for Haydn’s Concerto in C. The cellist seemed nervous as she threw her hair back and practiced silently during the orchestral exposition. Perhaps the dropped notes in the Adagio--otherwise engrossingly well-etched--and the occasional intonation imperfections can be attributed to that.

Throughout the Classical concerto, Rolston’s 1824 Chanot cello spoke harshly, lending an unfortunate icy aggressiveness to a first movement that carries much potential warmth. The soloist imparted tense verve to the closing Allegro molto, pushing her accompanists to take a faster tempo than they may have intended.

The second half of the program consisted of two 20th-Century works--Somers’ “North Country” and Bloch’s Concerto Grosso No. 1. Both contain extramusical connotations: Somers’ title presumably refers to Northern Ontario, where the work was composed; Bloch entitles his second and third movements “Dirge” and “Pastorale and Rustic Dances.” The orchestra offered evocative mood changes, particularly searching--if not always coordinated at entrances--during the somber Lento of “North Country.”

Both make much use of contrapuntal writing that requires power and clarity from the strings. The players of that section acquitted themselves well.

Concertmaster Diana Halprin--featured in the concerto along with violinist Joseph Goodman, violist Pamela Goldsmith, cellist Ann Karam and pianist Janine Livingston--were the authoritative soloists.