Pity the poor double bassists. Although they study just as assiduously as their violinist colleagues, they are never rewarded with a concerto performance of a major work. Except for two modern solo passages — one from Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 and one from Prokofiev’s Lt. Kije — and some esoteric Russian repertoire, they hardly ever get a chance to shine as melodists in the orchestra. Even chamber music opportunities are rare.

So imagine the excitement of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center bassist Daxun Zhang as he was a major force in not one, but both of the works on the program Thursday evening at the Rose Studio. Joined by one of the recent additions to the Philadelphia Orchestra string section, cellist Efe Baltacigil, he began the program with a Rossini rarity.

London has always been a welcoming place for composers from the continent. Handel and Haydn thrived there and Mahler conducted the first ever Wagnerian Ring cycle in England to high acclaim. Rossini spent the year of 1823–24 there and made, among many others, a friend in King George IV himself. It was during this period that Rossini began to seriously contemplate retirement, and began to compose pieces more suited to parties and social events. One of these is the Duetto in D.

Our two young gentlemen produced a lively performance. Mr. Zhang was not an accompanist but rather an equal partner, spinning his songlike tunes with a great deal of refinement. Mr. Baltacigil still needs to develop his tone and never succeeded in forging a pleasant singing line, but made up for any lyrical shortcomings with impressive dexterity. In the ersatz cabaletta section, marked in the score as Allegro, he dazzled with rapid changes that reminded of that Rossini classic aria “zitti, zitti” from The Barber of Seville.

The “Trout” Quintet is, of course, very familiar, beloved not just for its infectious sunny quality, but also for that bittersweet Schubertian undercurrent of sadness, the secret thoughts of the wallflower playing the piano at a gay dance. Joseph Silverstein, concertmaster of the Boston Symphony beginning in the golden Leinsdorf era, was on hand to lead this current effort. He had given a master class here earlier in the week, and this evening his lesson was economy of motion. It was visually interesting to observe the junior members of the group toiling away while Mr. Silverstein played flawlessly with seemingly no exertion.

This approach, however, could be perceived as phlegmatic, and some passages, particularly the avian trills in the Andantino — the movement based on the song Die Forelle — were disappointingly colorless and flaccid. Overall though, this was fine music making, enhanced considerably by the superb play of pianist Inon Barnatan, who put on a master class of his own on the subject of variation of touch. Deliciously delicate where appropriate, Mr. Barnatan could also drive the piece forward with insistent rhythmic clarity. His animated movements were the polar opposite of Mr. Silverstein’s.

One of the many charms of the Trout is that everyone gets to handle those gorgeous melodies. Violist Beth Guterman produced some lovely play, as did Mr. Zhang. It is a pleasure to write about a bassist who can make a quick transition from background rhythm to smooth declamation. This particular Trout was being recorded this evening, and was quite remarkable for its definition of individual line. It was clear that there were five separate musicians here, and I am hard pressed to remember a previous performance that was so consistently distinct. Still, there was a certain workaday quality to this rendition that simply missed the mark. And in Schubert, that is just plain wrong.