On October 9, the Victoria Memorial Hall, the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre, New Delhi and Consulate General of Italy in Calcutta presented Quartetto di Cremona, also the name of the string quartet from Italy that was performing, featuring the works of the three musical Titans from Austria, Anton Webern, Joseph Haydn and F. Schubert. The evening began with Webern's one movement Langsamer Satz for string quartet. This was followed by performance of Haydn's Quartet in E flat major, Op. 20 No. 1, showing poise and élan.

The performance of Franz Schubert's String Quartet No. 15 in G major, Op. 161, eclipsed all other pieces performed that evening. The quartet consists of four movements and opens with the G major triad chord on the first and second violins and the viola, immediately leading to the famous angst-ridden opening staccato motif followed by short bursts of tremolandi, leading again to the opening staccato motif briefly alternating between the first violin and the cello. Quartetto di Cremona's performance was measured and relaxed - showing their familiarity with the repertoire - as they gradually unraveled the myriad mysteries of the compositions. The acoustics of the central hall were excellent, the harmonies reverberated appropriately without exaggeration. By the time the last bars of this quartet were performed the audience was spellbound. The Quartetto di Cremona also performed the aria, Quando le sere al placido, from Giuseppe Verdi's opera, Luisa Miller, transcribed for string quartet.

The evening gave the audience a glimpse of the "spark of divine genius" that Beethoven is said to have seen in Schubert's works.