Kathryn Selby, Nikki Chooi and Timo-Veikko Valve presented a demanding program of chamber music by Julian Yu, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Franz Schubert. Free of gimmickry and flamboyance, Selby's concert series deliver the priceless experience of essential chamber music works – both classical and contemporary – played by masters.

Julian Yu's Prelude-Not-a-Fugue was a courageous choice of opening work, pitching the listener about on a choppy sea of spiccato bowing and clashing tonalities. Yu does not want us sitting comfortably and drifting off into reveries created out of familiar experiences. Prelude-Not-a-Fugue tantalises us initially with hints of a Bach-like vessel in which we set sail, but he quickly unfurls the topgallant sails, the royals, the skysail, cloud disturber and heaven poker and sends us flying into exhilarating unchartered waters. The three musicians worked effortlessly to bring the work to life, executing the rapid, intersecting sequences of the second movement, as an expert crew would run the rigging.

Nikki Chooi's version of Schumann's Violin Sonata No.1 in A minor was characterised by his strong sweet tone and his ability to create contrast first with powerful sweeping bowing, then with exquisite delicacy and subtle dynamic control. As Clara Schumann observed, the first two movements are "lovely" and "elegaic", but the third is "less charming and headstrong". Chooi wisely chose not to try and iron out the argumentative cadences of the third movement into a more homogenous match with the first two movements. Instead, he used the contradictory energy to build drama and explode into savagely brilliant, speedy passages escaping from the attempts to confine the melodic line.

Timo-Veikko Valve and his instrument embody the perfect match of cello and cellist. His performance of the Brahms Cello Sonata No.1 took us inside the music to experience what Brahms intended us to hear and feel. The way the particular qualities of the lower and upper register are unlocked in his playing is remarkable. Nothing is imposed: through the skill of the cellist we hear the cello speak in its own voice. Both cello and piano lines were skilfully interwoven, creating a narrative line that flowed through the three movements. It is a conversation which is alternately soothing, anguished, joyous and combative.

To complete the program, the ensemble recreated the joyous fluidity of Franz Schubert's Trio No.1 in B flat major. It seems very strange that this well-loved work was only heard by the composer in an informal setting, not in a public performance during his lifetime. This version maintained a focused intensity throughout, but I would have enjoyed a little less politeness. There are lovely romping passages that benefit from less restraint. That said, the performance honoured Schubert's promise in the Trio that all is well and all will be well – a welcome blessing to take home after a night of glorious music.