"The Cellists of Lincoln Center" at Alice Tully Hall But "The Cellists of Lincoln Center," presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on Sunday evening at Alice Tully Hall, was about as large and rich a convocation of the instrument as New York is likely to generate. The brainchild of Jerry Grossman, the principal cellist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the event brought together eight players representing Lincoln Center's constituent organizations: the Met (Mr. Grossman and Dorothea Figueroa); the New York Philharmonic (Carter Brey and Eileen Moon); the Chamber Music Society (Nicolas Altstaedt, Fred Sherry and David Finckel, the society's co-artistic director); and New York City Ballet (Frederick Zlotkin). For good measure, some of the above are also on the Juilliard School faculty. It was a clever, entertaining idea and proof, if any was needed, that the soulful cello can attract a crowd and satisfy it. The cheers were lusty. And the Chamber Music Society had even added a Saturday performance because of the demand for tickets. The program was like the inverse of the classical music standard: all Baroque and 20th-century repertory, with nothing in between. Stravinsky followed Jean-Baptiste Barrière - his Sonata in G for Two Cellos, with Mr. Grossman's sweet, singing tone in the main line - and Giovanni Gabrieli was framed by John Tavener and Elliott Carter. (Mr. Sherry, who gave the premiere of Carter's fast-witted, gossamer solo "Figment No. 2 - Remembering Mr. Ives" at Tully Hall in 2001, revived it here, to mesmerizing effect.) Other highlights included Mr. Altstaedt's commanding, stylish performance of Dutilleux's "Trois Strophes sur le Nom de Sacher." There was a rare outing for Alexandre Tansman's lushly Wagnerian Two Movements for Four Cellos. The second half featured the piquant pairing of two other works for cello quartet: Stravinsky's suave "Tango" and Peter Schickele's "Last Tango in Bayreuth," which gives snippets of "Tristan und Isolde" and "Lohengrin" the Latin-dance treatment that Wagner doubtless would have wanted. The eight players came together at the end for the first of Villa-Lobos's "Bachianas Brasileiras," with Mr. Brey and Mr. Zlotkin featured in the lyrical melody of the second section. After that, Bach was the appropriate encore, and the group played his gorgeous final chorale, "Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit," with Ms. Figueroa soaring in the theme and the others offering sensitive, moving support.