The mellow intensity of some late Brahms and two vibrant works by Australian contemporary composers, one of them a world premiere, brought the highly acclaimed Omega Ensemble’s 2024 season to an entertaining close in a 90-minute concert in the Rolls-Royce acoustic of the ACO’s The Neilson.

Artistic Director David Rowden was in top form for the Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115, which opened the program, backed by a top-notch string line-up led by Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Emma McGrath.

The music world owes a great debt to Richard Mühlfeld, the clarinetist in a small German court orchestra. By the age of 58 Johannes Brahms was ready to transition to retirement and smell the roses – until he made one of his regular trips to Meiningen, Germany, to hear the orchestra. He was so taken by Mühlfeld’s playing that he wrote four more works for the instrument: two sonatas, a quintet and the Op. 114 trio.

The quintet’s four movements have a symphonic sweep, with sometimes surprising changes of mood – the hushed and exquisite opening of the second movement suddenly morphs into a Klezmer-like clarinet solo, for instance. The five instruments blend beautifully throughout – Brahms’ friend Eusebius Mandyczewski saying...