Hedonism and High Art can co-exist. That has been true with many of my attendances at performances in the Sydney Opera House. Of course, circumstances have to blend, like a perfect mayonnaise (which is, itself both experiences), and when better than a chamber-music concert in the intimate Utzon Room?

Summer afternoon, blue sky radiant, spinnakers bulging on the Harbour, sun shining generously; and inside, a happy audience (many of them plainly friends), the colourful Utzon tapestry behind us on the western wall, and the accomplished performers of Sydney’s Omega Ensemble, decamped from their usual home at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place, who celebrate their tenth anniversary season this year. This might seem a relatively short time but the achievement is substantial: over 80 performances in that period is no minor record, whatever the repertoire involved. Furthermore, there is no doubting that there have been memorable concerts over that artistic journey. Such groups “do it tough” in Australia: each performance is, to some degree, ad hoc, commonly with disparate musicians; thus, achieving the personal familiarity which is the essence of chamber-music is a perennial challenge, especially because, for stringent financial reasons, rehearsals are often...