Between the ballet scores, Mr. Stern led Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante, a work composed for Mstislav Rostropovich and a cello concerto in all but name. The soloist was Carter Brey, the principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic and a member of the Curtis faculty.

He played the solo line bewitchingly, with a touch of acid in his timbre that stealthily offset the overwhelmingly lyrical, singing impulse of his phrasing. It was a deft melding of Prokofiev's and Rostropovich's essential qualities.