As the crowd gathered beneath the illuminated concrete ribs of the Utzon Room, the repetitive drone of tuning violins floated upon the air. “You can tell it’s live when you hear them warm up,” someone remarked loudly. Obvious though it might have seemed, there could be no truer statement. The tactility and intimacy of the chamber setting offers a unique shared experience between musician and audient, and the Australian Haydn Ensemble’s second performance of the year was testament to this.

Beginning the program was the String Quartet Op. 39 No 3 by Boccherini – a skilled cellist and prolific composer whose work has been frequently neglected by contemporary performers. While the beginning was tentative, lead violin Paul Wright confidently led the way, ultimately careening through the work. The tricky scalic and intervallic passages of the opening movement fuelled a constant energy, yet rhythmic and tonal clarity was sometimes lacking between members of the ensemble. As the evening progressed though, the performers clearly relaxed into themselves and the music.

A greater cohort of musicians appeared for the second piece. Woodwind, horns and low strings joined the existing ensemble, in an ‘amplified’ arrangement of Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 71 No 2 by Paul...