A new chamber orchestra, Camerata Ireland, debuted with fresh-faced musicians from both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic in the spring of 1999. The Camerata's founder, pianist and conductor Barry Douglas, has toured the orchestra ever since, and Friday its roster of 27 players packed the small stage of the Library of Congress.

Beginning with Mozart's Symphony No. 33, the young Camerata musicians proved that what they lacked in cohesiveness, they made up for with energy. Today this symphony is not exactly popular; with its patched-in Menuetto and superficial Andante, its assets are less satisfying than, for instance, the dark ingenuity of Mozart's Symphony No. 25.

The Camerata played newer music, too, giving us a glimpse of American Elliott Carter (still composing at 98) in an early lyrical moment. The ensemble took a muscular approach to Carter's "Elegy" for strings, which could be mistaken easily for Aaron Copland or Samuel Barber.

With the addition of flutist Eimear McGeown, the Camerata unveiled David Morris's "The Magnificent Peak," commissioned especially for this concert. The piece is based on a beautiful old Irish air that thankfully rises to prominence near the end. The wash of slowly pulsing strings with flute solos folded in was, it seemed, not an excursion up a great mountain but one merely roaming the foothills.

In the evening's final piece, Douglas conducted from the Steinway in a vigorous account of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2. Aside from a misstep in the oversize first-movement cadenza, Douglas's playing brimmed with wit and tenderness.

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