20th Malta Spring Festival | Huberman String Quartet & Christine Zerafa, piano

Two contrasting piano quintets illuminate the expressive range of twentieth-century chamber music. Grażyna Bacewicz’s Piano Quintet No. 1 (1952) balances rhythmic drive with inward reflection, moving from tense energy to a searching central lament and a passionate finale. Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G minor (1940), combines classical clarity with a distinctive emotional voice, from its grave Prelude and austere Fugue to a sardonic Scherzo and quietly hopeful conclusion. The Huberman String Quartet (Poland) joins Maltese pianist Christine Zerafa for an evening of intensity, colour, and finely wrought ensemble playing.