Mortality was very much the theme when top-notch Sydney group Omega Ensemble launched its new season in the intimate surrounds of the Opera House’s Utzon Room.

Blinds lined the wall-length window, blocking out the sunny Harbour and keeping out any distractions from the Gay Pride weekend party boats, and the seats were placed to face a stage set up in front of Jørn Utzon’s abstract tapestry.

Four works reflecting on the passage of time, death and remembrance, and the wider world around us, were on the programme which featured five of the ensemble’s core musicians under Artistic Director and clarinetist David Rowden, joined by Kiwi guest violinist Jessica Oddie.

At the heart of this afternoon recital was an intense and vibrant performance of Franz Schubert’s Death and the Maiden Quartet, considered by some to be the greatest string quartet ever written and composed at a time when he was ill from the tertiary syphilis that would eventually kill him.

Oddie, former Assistant Concertmaster of the New Zealand Symphony, has impressive credentials as a chamber musician, having studied at Juilliard and Yale and then in Germany where her ensemble was mentored by the Alban Berg Quartet.

With Peter Clark on second violin, violist Neil...