Who can argue with scheduling Mozart for a Sunday afternoon in January? It virtually guarantees music of a lighter palette than the cloud cover outside. A good program begins with the selection of good music.

On the program for Publick Musick's Sunday, January 15, show at Christ Episcopal Church in Pittsford were two of the six quintets of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), his Quintet in G-minor, K. 516 and his Quintet in D-Major, K. 587. Mozart scored these works for two violins, two violas, and one cello, going against the convention of a quintet being two violins, one viola, and two cellos.

By far, the most delightful of the movements of these two scores was the first movement of the Quintet in G-minor, the "Allegro." The program notes cast this movement as "agitated longing" and "resigned despair," but the sprightly tempo, short swells, and singular notes were far from the notion of "despair" of a Beethoven or a Liszt.

Publick Musick was founded in 1995 and is now directed by cellist Christopher Haritatos and violinist Boel Gidholm. Haritatos is to be commended for his excellent phrasing. His cello had a lovely tone and balanced well against the violins and violas, such that its guiding line could be heard to embody the spirit of the day.

I was not, however, convinced of the interpretation by the first violinist, Jennifer Roig-Francoli, as being entirely Mozart. The G-minor quintet has shades of Beethoven in the "Menuetto-Trio (Allegretto)" movement, Bach in the "Adagio, ma non troppo" movement, and Haydn in the "Adagio-Allegro" movement, making it a piece you could not identify as Mozart with your eyes closed. Even so, I found Roig-Francoli's interpretation too driving and too loud in balance to the other instruments.

In the D-Major quintet, the final movement, "Allegro," was considerably faster than the opening "Allegro" of the G-minor quintet. At the rapid tempo, beauty was sacrificed as the melody notes crowded. Part of the appeal of chamber music is the ability of the notes to be heard through a combination of deceptive simplicity and cultural restraint.

As to the final point on my checklist, Rochester is known to have an active music scene for lovers of "period instruments." But, allow me to make the recommendation that if a musician is going to employ period instruments, please use the opportunity to educate the audience. Considering that I read every word of the lengthy program before the concert started, and considering that Haritatos addressed the audience at the start of the concert, I was left to guess that one or more of the musicians were using period instruments, as the instruments slid out of tune and needed re-tuning throughout the concert.