Familiar melodies, virtuoso saxophone playing and a dash of the contemporary highlighted Sunday afternoon’s concert by the Napa Valley Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Asher Raboy.

Guest artist Branford Marsalis played a pair of works from opposite ends of the repertorial spectrum. A third piece was dropped due to a communications glitch, so the audience missed a Debussy rhapsody.

A rare negative of the afternoon outing was the combining of the Sunday afternoon and Tuesday night audiences in response to the orchestra’s recent financial woes. Things got off to a difficult logistical start with long lines waiting to go through the two main floor entrances to the concert hall.

Once there, John Adams’ “The Chairman Dances: Fox-Trot for Orchestra” led off. It was originally intended as a part of Adams’ opera, “Nixon in China,” but was set aside for later introduction as a concert piece.

Although not technically demanding, it requires a rhythmic precision, which the orchestra handled nicely.

The saxophone, like a handful of other instruments not often featured on the classical concert stage, has only a limited repertoire available to it. “We got nothing,” Marsalis said of the meager library of music available to so-called “legit” saxophone players. “Most of the modern stuff is paradigm oriented. It’s not very lyrical.”

Lyricism, however, was the stuff of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra,” which had been transcribed for soprano saxophone. Marsalis can stretch out with contemporary sounding licks both in front of an orchestra and in a jazz setting, but he likes a melodic line, and the sweet sound he got from the soprano sax, notoriously a difficult instrument to play in tune, captured the audience.

After intermission, the orchestra opened with the Liszt “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2,” inserted into the program at the 11th hour and replacing the missing Debussy. It’s a piece that is technically difficult, and the orchestra could have used another reading of it before taking it to the stage.

Marsalis’ second work, John Williams “Escapade for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra,” comes from Hollywood. It was written for the Leonardo DiCaprio film “Catch Me If You Can” and features three short jazz-flavored movements, the second of which, with its haunting melody, again showed off Marsalis’ beautiful tone. It was a clean performance by orchestra and soloist, but the audience’s insistence on clapping between movements upset the flow of both this piece and the earlier Vaughan Williams. The performers persevered.

The concert ended with a nicely performed rendition of Maurice Ravel’s well-known “Bolero.” Whether I was in the right place at the right time — or vice-versa — I think I’ve heard the piece three times in the past month. This time, I half expected Bo Derek with a pate of cornrows to bound across the stage, but that didn’t happen.

The well-disciplined snare drummer kept his three-quarter time dance rhythm going and growing throughout, and the orchestra’s soloists shone.

Since the refurbishing of Lincoln Theater, I’ve had the chance to sit in various spots around the facility, and mid-hall on Sunday seemed to be as good as it gets there. The basses were particularly emphasized, and the full range of the orchestra fully audible.

Next up with the Napa Valley Symphony on Feb. 11, it’s the great flutist Sir James Galway performing solo and with Lady Jeanne Galway. Call 22-MUSIC (226-8742) for ticket information.