A stupendous and deserved ovation in Jordan Hall Friday evening followed the conclusion of the Celebrity Series recital from violinist Julia Fischer and pianist Jan Lisiecki. The pair had just finished a performance of Schumann’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2, in D Minor, Op. 121. The work is rarely played…and for good reason. If the Quintet for Piano and Strings in E-flat Major , Op. 44, can be said to occupy the peak of accomplishment in Schumann’s chamber music, then most music lovers would probably agree that his two violin-and-piano sonatas occupy the bottom—and the second one the dreariest part thereof. It. was written in 1851 when its composer, who had always been afflicted by what was probably bipolar disorder, was less than five years from his death in the mental hospital to which he had been confined because of the severe dementia that he suffered as a result of tertiary syphilis. Schumann’s customary spontaneity, romanticism and glorious melodies may be buried within this piece, but the enormous skill and intelligence, plus the fire and conviction of two great instrumentalists can reveal them.

Those were exactly the qualities that Fischer and Lisiecki, who rank among the brightest lights of their generation, have in abundance. Fischer is an almost preternaturally smooth violinist, who thinks in long phrases and bows with unfailing elegance. Moreover, she has spectacular technical equipment, a warm tone ― huge when needed and always maintaining its beauty ― and impeccable intonation. His similar equipage integrates perfectly with her. Their precision of style could not be more remarkable. This was one of the few times that I’ve been lucky enough to hear duo partners that are so comfortable and confident with each other that neither of them has to read scores.

Despite the huge first movement’s rambling nature, its seemingly unending repetitions and excessive climaxes, Fischer and Lisiecki never lost their way and made it coherent. The time and thought they must have given to working out the nuances and detail of phrasing and coloration had to have been enormous. They were able to link the four movements together, matching each other — whether in whispering pianissimos or explosive outbursts — and made it all come together in triumphal glory.

If the rest of the program was a little less noteworthy that is only because successes come much more easily to masterpieces such as Mozart’s Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 378 or Beethoven’s Sonata No. 5 for piano and violin “Spring” than in Schumann’s next-to-impossible D Minor Sonata.

Nevertheless, any performance of Beethoven’s Spring which fully captures the cheerful sense of zesty blossoming to which it owes its popular nickname, is wonderful to hear. Fischer and Lisiecki played the opening Allegro in a bold but never overbearing manner, artfully contrasting the gentle first theme with the dramatic stress of the second. The subsequent Adagio was gentle and lyrical, the Scherzo exuded an appropriate measure of Haydn-like humor. The Rondo finale summed it all up, combining the adventurousness of the first movement, the tuneful grace of the second, and the wit of the third.

If I liked the performance of the opening work even more than that of the Spring, that’s because genuinely terrific Mozart is less frequently encountered than superb Beethoven. And Mozart’s K. 378 is great―one of the first works in the piano-and-violin repertory that, despite its designation “for pianoforte and violin,” gives as much prominence to the violin as the piano. And this certainly not dainty Mozart. The first movement exuded enough to power to match that of the composer’s contemporaneous duo works — the Two Piano Concerto (K. 365) and the Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola (K. 364).  And the rhetoric of the second and third movements clearly suggested possibilities for even bigger structures and more brilliant sonorities. In this performance, the duo’s tenderness and emotional exaltation in the Andantino and their insistent, pointed force in the closing Rondo made unmistakable the breadth of the great piano concertos soon to follow

Two beautifully played encores followed the tremendous ovation after the Schumann: Brahms’s Scherzo from the F-A-E Sonata, and Tchaikovsky’s “Melodie.”

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