Frédéric Kummer, one of the founders of the Dresden School of cello-playing, and François Schubert, composer of the delightful L’Abeille (The Bee) and no relation to the more famous Viennese Franz Schubert, delighted audiences with their violin-cello duos. Superb instrumentalists and joint composers, they crafted virtuoso works full of brilliant effects based on popular operatic tunes of the day. These three sets of duets feature fast runs, double stops and chords, pizzicato and harmonics and require cast-iron ensemble.