Those who remembered their last appearance in Haslemere two years ago eagerly awaited the Sitkovetsky Trio’s HHH Concert at St Christopher’s Church on December 9.

The trio – violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky, pianist Wu Qian and cellist Isang Enders – gave outstanding performances of three diverse piano trios spanning the Romantic period.

They began with Beethoven’s Ghost Trio. Behind long, cobwebby notes on the strings, the piano waved a bony hand.

The violin told of ancient wrongs, while the piano rattled its chains and grumbled eerily in the background. The last movement let the daylight back in, with a cheerful and relaxed, uptempo finale.

Elfrida Andrée was the organist at Gothenburg Cathedral for 62 years. Her Trio No. 2 starts on a late-romantic journey, building a world of comfortable yearning. The beautiful resonance of Isang Enders’ cello tugged gently at the heartstrings. The middle movement shared a charming melody over rolling arpeggios on the piano. A nice, waltz-rhythm syncopation between the strings and piano, plus tender chords on the violin, recalled love’s old sweet song.

The last movement’s delicate treatment of folksy dance tunes evoked the nostalgia and refinement of the Salon.

After the interval, the trio played Schubert’s Piano Trio in B flat major. It was written the year before he died but the piece is joyous and full of life.

In the Sitkovetsky’s hands the movements were full of colour, lyrical themes and inventive variation.

The next HHH Concert on January 27 will feature the Consone Quartet.