The Takács Quartet returns to Berkeley with its newest member, cellist Mihai Marica, and joins pianist Jeremy Denk for a program pairing Romantic intensity with vivid contemporary storytelling. Denk, a MacArthur Fellow and Avery Fisher Prize recipient, brings his virtuosity and interpretive depth to the Grammy-winning ensemble’s finely balanced chamber music.

Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in F minor, Op. 80 opens the program. Berkeley native Gabriela Lena Frank’s Quijotadas explores the extravagant delusions of Cervantes’ Don Quixote, while César Franck’s searing, sensual Piano Quintet in F minor gives Denk and the quartet a sweeping Romantic showcase.