August 11

Pairing a baroque-era gem with two late works by Mendelssohn, Week 12 begins with stunning music that isn’t heard often enough: a Trio Sonata composed around 1745 by Bach’s contemporary, Giovanni Benedetto Platti. Platti expands the cello’s role from bass line to a more singing, melodic role, much to the delight of cellist Felix Fan, who enjoyed the “soloistic phrases” and the opportunity to have “a conversation” with oboist Frank Rosenwein. The brilliant and lyrical harpsichord player, Paolo Bordignon, rounds out the ensemble. Rocked by the loss of his sister Fanny, Felix Mendelssohn began one of the last chamber works he would ever write before his own demise, at the age of 38. The Escher String Quartet performs the two movements of Mendelssohn’s Opus 81 Andante and Scherzo with pathos, sensitivity and depth. Mendelssohn wrote his second and final piano trio in April 1845. Masterful, idiomatic writing drives the epic Trio in C Minor, and here it is played with great virtuosity by Gilles Vonsattel, piano; Yura Lee, violin; Mark Kosower, cello.