The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble creates music that resembles a Brandy Alexander: smooth, satisfying and totally intoxicating.

The ensemble played Sunday afternoon at the Lied Center and delighted its audience with selections by Alexander Borodin, Antonin Dvorak, Dmitri Shostakovich and Felix Mendelssohn.

The ensemble is made up of eight members of The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Orchestra Kenneth Sillito, Malcolm Latchem, Simon Smith and Harvey de Souza, violins; Robert Smissen and Stephen Tees, violas; and Stephen Orton and John Heley, cellos. The musicians played symbiotically, gaining energy and stamina from one another as they delivered two hours’ worth of seamless scherzos, allegros and sonata forms.

The concert opened with Borodin’s “Sextet in Two Movements” and Dvorak’s “Sextet for Strings in A Major, Op. 48.”

The musicians’ performance of Shostakovich’s 10-minute “Prelude and Scherzo, Op. 11” was impeccable. Sillito’s ignited violin solo in the prelude showed the keen discipline and power that comes with years of study and onstage time. His fiery playing was contrasted by the violas’ belabored sadness in the subsequent adagio.

The musicians then turned to Mendelssohn’s “Octet for Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 20,” a piece marked by modulating sections, a second movement that seemingly ends unresolved and deep bowing by the cellos again, all played flawlessly.

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble delivered a concert that was most eloquent and gratifying, proving why it is so highly regarded in classical circles around the world.