The first half begins with Joseph Haydn’s famous piano trio, nicknamed the “Gypsy Trio.” The nickname comes from the trio’s sparkling final movement, Rondo all’Ongarese (Rondo in the Hungarian style), where Haydn draws on Hungarian and Romani-inspired music. With dancing rhythms, sudden contrasts, and irresistible energy, he brings a touch of the folk and the wild into classical elegance. The entire work is playful and elegant. Light in character and full of charm, the music sparkles with rhythmic vitality and inventive melodies, reminding us why Haydn earned his nickname “Pappa Haydn.”

This is followed by a shorter work by the Romantic composer Robert Schumann for piano and clarinet. Fantasy Pieces, Op. 73, consists of three brief movements played without pause, forming a continuous musical story rather than a traditional form. Highly condensed, this work is teeming with beautiful melodies and a sense of direction and sweep. The three movements unfold in sharply contrasting moods: tender and expressive, lively and light, and finally quick and fiery. These sudden shifts also reveal Schumann’s famously dual artistic personality. He often described his music through two characters: Eusebius, the dreamy, poetic and introspective voice, and Florestan, the passionate, impulsive and fiery one, perhaps mirroring his own volatile and extremely sensitive personality.

Schumann was known for his wildly shifting and often stormy creative temperament, as well as for his intense bursts of productivity. When he became fascinated by a particular genre, for instance the human voice, he would devote himself to it almost obsessively for years at a time. And then there is, of course, the famous love triangle involving Robert Schumann, his wife Clara Schumann — one of the great pianists of the 19th century — and their close friend, the young composer Johannes Brahms… but that’s a story for another time!

After a short break, the second half consists of just one work: Anton Arensky’s String Quartet No. 2, an endlessly beautiful and perhaps lesser-known gem of the late Romantic repertoire. This piece is unusually scored for one violin, one viola, and two celli (as opposed to the standard quartet of two violins, one viola, and one cello). This setup creates a rich, dark, and velvety sound, thanks to the double cello power. The music is lush and deeply lyrical, filled with longing and introspection — full-bodied, like a good glass of red wine enjoyed in the countryside on a warm summer night with close friends.