Blown away by a performance of Mozart’s Gran partita, the 36-year old Dvořák was inspired to write one his own most joyful and extrovert works, the Serenade, Op.44, performed in this concert by the Ensemble with guest artists from Melbourne. It is pure Dvořák, with reference to Czech dances and…

Anton Arensky’s death at 45 robbed Russian music of a great composer. In the dramatic contrasts and mastery of form in his Piano Trio of 1894, the music surges like tides, contrasting with passages of exquisite clarity and fleet-footed energy. At its heart is an elegy for a young cellist,…