Avigail Bushakevitz from our first violins and violist Ayano Kamei, joined by two guests on cello and piano, will perform a French programme full of wit and depth. The concert opens with one of Jean Françaix’s elegant, virtuosic, and witty divertissements, which he composed for various instrumental combinations. The work for piano quartet dates from 1933 and draws on classical models.

This is followed by Lili Boulanger’s short piano trio “D’un soir triste,” which the young composer completed in 1918, just a few weeks before her death. The melancholy of a “sad evening” likely reflects her outlook on life at that time.

Piano quartets generally remain somewhat in the shadow of string quartets and piano trios. Although composers such as Brahms and Schumann appreciated the combination of violin, viola, cello, and piano and composed magnificent works for it, the total number of such works is limited, and full-time ensembles are rare. This concert evening offers an opportunity to discover or rediscover Gabriel Fauré’s First Piano Quartet—a classic of the genre, completed in 1883.