This fall, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is offering two programs called “Through Brahms.” The first was heard on Friday night and Sunday afternoon; the second will be heard on November 5 and 7.The conceit of the programs is that they “tell a significant and powerful musical tale of the evolution of the Viennese style over nearly 200 years.”

Yeah, whatever. You know that programmers are always trying to teach you something. Somehow, a provision of good and varied music is not enough. That would be shallow. Fortunately, we can disregard musicological intentions and absorb music for what it is.

I attended the concert on Sunday afternoon, and the big news was Gilles Vonsattel, a young Swiss-born pianist. Just days ago, he won the Geneva piano competition, a pretty big deal. But that’s not the big news: Plenty of mediocre, even bad, musicians win competitions. The big news is that Mr. Vonsattel is a superb pianist.

The program began with Schubert’s Sonatina No. 2 in A minor for violin and piano. Mr. Vonsattel showed any number of gifts. He was tasteful, smart, and modest. He had the kind of modesty that brings out the immodest greatness of Schubert. Mr. Vonsattel displayed an excellent sense of line; notes were accorded the right weight. He played clearly, and pedaled lightly — but he was never without lyrical flow. He produced a pure and singing tone, which Schubert needs, and others need. Everything, always, was in balance.

The sonatina had unusual stringency, with no soup allowed. The chords in the Andante were full and hymnlike, but not too dense. The Minuet and Trio were jaunty and striking. Mr. Vonsattel’s fast, detached notes in the last movement lent a majesty. And he trills well: beautifully, evenly, easily.

Do I have anything negative to say at all? No. I could do with less head movement from this pianist, but that has little to do with music-making. In this Schubert and in a subsequent work, Mr. Vonsattel reminded me a bit of the young Murray Perahia. Let’s hope he does not decide to pound and bang, as Mr. Perahia tragically did.

Did there happen to be a violinist in this violin-and-piano sonatina? Yes, there did: He was the veteran Cho-Liang Lin, who played intelligently and tidily. He and the pianist were one in wanting no soup. What portamento Mr. Lin did use was entirely appropriate. He had some intonation problems in the Andante, but these were minimal.

Next on the program were two movements that Mendelssohn intended for a string quartet, never to be completed. His untimely death — age 38 — prevented it. The movements are known to us as the Andante and Scherzo, Op. 81.

They were played by a very good ensemble, the Orion String Quartet, but they were not very good here, or even any good. Coordination was lacking, intonation was lacking — everything was lacking. That Scherzo should be gossamer, sprightly — Mendelssohnian. It was simply a mess. Rarely do you hear a professional ensemble, especially one of the Orions’ reputation, play this badly.

We next heard some Schumann, four little pieces called “Märchenerzählungen” (“Fairy Tales”) for clarinet, viola, and piano. Three excellent musicians took the stage: David Shifrin, clarinet; Paul Neubauer, viola; and Mr. Vonsattel. Mr. Shifrin is one of the world’s great clarinetists — instrumentalists, really — and Mr. Neubauer boasts one of the most beautiful string sounds extant. About Mr. Vonsattel, we had learned. The Schumann should have been good, and it was indeed good.

The three players breathed together, and each piece had its proper character. The third one floated on a cloud — a reverie.

After intermission came one big piece, Brahms’s Sextet in G for Strings, Op. 36. May I say that this has been a good month for sextets? “The Departed,” Martin Scorsese’s new hit movie — and hit-man movie — features the famous Sextet from Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.” Indeed, the Jack Nicholson character uses it for his cellphone ring.

On the stage of Alice Tully Hall, the Orion String Quartet was joined by an extra viola and an extra cello: Mr. Neubauer and Fred Sherry. The Brahms was better musically than it was technically, which is to be preferred, if you can’t have both. Intonation problems dogged the performance. But the first movement had the right combination of serenity and anxiety — very Brahmsian. The Trio in the Scherzo was downright exciting, and danceable. The slow movement could have used far more beauty of sound (and better intonation).

And the last? It was okay, but needn’t have been so sleepy. It was good to hit the fresh autumn air outside of Tully.