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The audience likely would not have taken its cue to chuckle if Takács Quartet violinist Edward Dusinberre hadn't let them in on a secret Wednesday.

Seems Dmitri Shostakovich had a bit of sarcastic streak about him.

When writing his Quartet No. 11 in F minor in 1966, in honor of the late violinist Vasily Petrovich Shirinsky, Shostakovich didn't give the second violin a moment to bask in the glory.

You would have assumed Shostakovich would have, given that Shirinsky was second violin in the Beethoven Quartet, which premiered the majority of Shostakovich's quartets.

But nothing for the second beyond a little interlude, a few simple chords played almost silently — as an afterthought.

So when Takács Quartet violinist Károly Schranz came to that fleeting moment at Wednesday night's concert, the audience members let out a quiet chuckle.

That's the joy of chamber music. In the intimate setting, it's OK to laugh.

It's probably not OK, though, to clap in the middle of a performance.

That explains why most of the night Wednesday, the audience members suppressed their desire to let their hands rip as the ensemble with newly installed violist Geraldine Walther — the quartet's first female member in its 31 years — opened the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music's 59th season.

This was the Takács Quartet's first Tucson concert with Walther in tow, and it was a pleasant reminder of just how good this foursome is.

The Takács Quartet's play is informed, heartfelt, playful and perfectly in tune with one another, evoking equal measures of fiery passion and humble reserve that served the quartet well throughout the program.

In addition to the Shostakovich, the quartet — which includes founding cellist András Fejér — played Brahms' Quartet in A minor and Debussy's moody Quartet in G minor.

The Arizona Friends of Chamber Music will kick off its Piano & Friends series with cellist Zuill Bailey and pianist David Wiley on Oct. 22 at Leo Rich Theatre.