In the third concert of its 2005-06 season, Chamber Music Columbus presented acclaimed ensemble Concertante in a program of works for string and wind instruments by Beethoven and Schubert from the turn of the 19 th century. Comprised of award-winning musicians from around the world, Concertante delivered a performance worthy of its fine renown.

The musicians left no detail unattended in their performance of Beethoven’s Septet in Eflat major, Op. 20. From the start, the ensemble produced a sound of consistently impeccable blend and balance. Clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein, bassoonist Peter Kolkay and hornist Chezy Nir displayed especially fine control and astute sensitivity to dynamic balance in the first movement, Adagio; Allegro con brio. Beautifully phrased clarinet, bassoon and first violin solos stood out in the second movement, Adagio cantabile. However, for all its sonorous beauty, the ensemble’s moment-bymoment approach to this slow movement gave semblance of plodding.

The theme and variations of the fourth movement were marked by brief, yet strikingly elegant solos performed by cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach. The crystalline quality of Gerlach’s sound never wavered, nor did the cleanness of her articulations and her steady intonation.

The ensemble’s meticulous uniformity of articulations and intonation in the fourth movement’s Allegro sections produced an airiness that a brisk tempo alone cannot account for.

Only the final movement’s cadenza, played by first violinist Ittai Shapira, did not match the ensemble’s otherwise spotless presentation.

Concertante’s performance of Franz Schubert’s Octet in F- major, D. 803 brought a different-sounding ensemble to the stage, in part because Shapira’s straightforward first violin was replaced by Xiao-Dong Wang’s more lyrical playing. And in part because hornist Nir’s playing was noticeably marred by intonation flaws and split notes.

Nevertheless, the group delivered the Schubert with all the grace it demands. A beautifullyshaped clarinet solo ushered in the second movement Adagio and was followed by a clarinet and first violin duet sensitively drawn by Fiterstein and Wang. Cellist Gerlach delivered a gracefully-phrased solo in the fourth movement’s fourth variation, though her colleagues could have been more sensitive to her stylish nuances in tempo. After a self-conscious performance of Schubert’s bizarre introduction to the final movement, Concertante finished the work with great style.

The early 19 th century never sounded so good.