Russian pianist Konstantin Shamray has fast become a favourite with Musica Viva Australia audiences, cherished for his sterling musicianship, technical command, and obvious passion. For this concert, he is joined by the equally beloved Australian String Quartet, fixtures of the country’s musical life and in possession of all the qualities that make Shamray so special.

This program brings together two masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire, Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G Minor and Beethoven’s Razumovsky String Quartet Op 59 No 3 in C Major.

Shamray will bring his innate feel for Russian music to Shostakovich’s Quintet, one of the composer’s most appealing works. Full of a direct emotional power that proves disarming, there’s an almost joyful abandon to some of the passages that lacks any of Shostakovich’s usual irony or unease. Though it could credibly be called a happy work (at least when considering the totality of Shostakovich’s output), the Quintet nevertheless has a plaintiveness that suggests a sense of turmoil lurking just under the surface.

Beethoven’s Razumovsky is a more straightforwardly sunny work, charming and jewel-like. Classical in form, the C Major string quartet continually glances toward the past, even incorporating a minuet instead of the expected scherzo. Sure to uplift in the hands of the Australian String Quartet, it’s among the composer’s very best works, no small accomplishment given the stature of Beethoven’s catalogue.