A tour-de-force program of two great chamber works by two of the great Romantic composers.

Souvenir de Florence is supremely lyrical and imbued with the passion and drama of Tchaikovsky’s best writing. Composed on a sojourn in Florence, this memory of his happy time in the city includes an Italianate aria of exquisite grace and a rollicking finale that bridges Western and Eastern Europe in Tchaikovsky’s unmistakable Russian accent.

Grieg’s only completed string quartet is among the greatest of the genre. Gripping from the high drama of the opening gesture to the feverish energy of the finale, itself a souvenir of Italy in the form of the infectious Italian dance, the saltarello.