Beethoven wrote these exuberant variations on Mozart’s transcendent opera, The Magic Flute, riffing on an aria that extolls the joys of marital bliss. With love comes loss, as evidenced by Smetana’s anguished piano trio, written following the devastating loss of his beloved 4-year-old daughter. This milestone of Romanticism is a tender elegy, and incorporates his daughter’s favorite melody. The light returns with the ebullient energy and distinctive sparkle of Mendelssohn’s extraordinary quintet.