Two warmly intimate afternoon concerts should add colour to a grey-on-grey February Sunday

It's a particularly rich musical weekend in Toronto.

Besides the premiere of Nixon in China at the COC, the choices last night included the National Arts Centre Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall, Beethoven's Ninth at University of Toronto and violinist Leonidas Kavakos at Koerner Hall.

Today's embarassment of riches is a bit more intimate. Under cover of Super Bowl madness, we can sneak out to either of two salon-inspired offerings that promise a satisfying mix of performers and programming:

Off Centre Music Salon
Co-artistic directors and pianists Boris Zarankin and Inna Perkis are stretching in trying to find common threads between Spanish, Finnish and Hungarian music in today's programme at the Glenn Gould Studio (250 Front St. W.). But they're stretching with a fabulous gang of performers, including soprano Joni Henson, baritone Olivier Laquerre, accordionist Joseph Macerollo and actor Fiona Byrne. Check out the details of the programme here. This concert starts at 2 p.m. Tickets are $50 and $60.

Syrinx Sunday Salons
In teeny-cozy Heliconian Hall (35 Hazelton Ave.), we have Quatuor Arthur-Leblanc, four members of the string faculty at Laval University in Quebec City. This elegant-playing foursome is offering two string quartets, the late Jacques Hétu's and Beethoven's Op. 18 No. 1. Toronto pianist Gregory Oh joins in for Dvorak's juicy Piano Quintet No. 2, Op. 81. Tickets are $18 or $25, at the door. This concert starts at 3 p.m.

Here is the first movement (Allegro, ma non tanto) from an old disc featuring the Borodin Quartet and pianist Sviatoskav Richter: