Ravel's Piano Trio in A Minor must stand as one of the great trios in the entire repertoire, and anytime it's performed is an occasion. But music lovers don't always get the kind of performance Monday night's festival audiences heard at the Seattle Chamber Music Society's Lakeside concert, where three gifted players seemed to inspire each other.

Violinist Tasmin Little, cellist Ronald Thomas and pianist Adam Neiman were well matched in terms of artistic temperament and interpretation. Both Little and Thomas are strong, occasionally forceful players of considerable technical finesse; Neiman is a pianist of wide range and unfailing musicality. Together they created a probing, searching performance of tremendous energy and expertise.

The opening movement, unforced and wonderfully atmospheric, set the tone for what was to follow — right down to the movement's ending, long drawn-out string harmonics that dwindle to a mere thread of sound, but are terribly difficult to support and sustain properly. The wild liveliness of the second movement, the deep and somber tones of the third and the impetuous finale just got better and better.

Playing at this level always ignites a response, and the audience rose for one of those ovations for which the festival is famous: sustained cheering that rang long into the night.

It has been that way during most of this year's festival, an unusually good lineup of works and artists. This is gratifying, if a bit surprising, in a year when the 24-year-old Seattle Chamber Music Society is also launching a daring new enterprise. Its Eastside expansion, with five more concerts in Redmond's Overlake School, is modeled after the Lakeside festival, with some debuts and sought-after artists of its own. You'd think festival organizers might lose a bit of focus over the new task of whipping two festivals into shape, but this certainly has not proved the case in Seattle.

The Monday concert also offered the Bach Viola Sonata in G Major (BWV 1027) with Marcus Thompson (the only artist who has played all 24 festivals, and who is remarkably unchanged in appearance over that period) and pianist Rieko Aizawa (a clear, attentive partner).

The overheated Josef Suk Piano Quartet in A Minor, a youthful work that huffs and puffs and flails along, got a lot of truly gifted flailing from impassioned players Stephen Rose, David Harding, Amit Peled and Jeremy Denk. Considerably better was Denk's and Neiman's witty, delicate account of Mozart's K.501 Andante and Variations, a delight from start to finish.

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com