Violinist sets pulses racing

A chance to see violinist Joshua Bell is something to seize on, but the opportunity to see him three times in the space of a week is something only the Edinburgh Festival could offer,

writes Garry Fraser.

As artist in residence this year, Bell performed in the capacity of solo and piano, solo and orchestra and as a member of a piano trio.

It was this role that I chose to see him, not simply because of the quality of fellow musicians, Steven Isserlis (cello) and Denes Varjon (piano), but because I had never heard him in chamber music mode.

The programme was marvellously balanced, with four works from the Romantic era, written between the years of 1849 and 1855 from the pens of Robert and Clara Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms.

One and three of the four were Romances from the Schumann husband and wife partnership, the first for piano and cello, the second for piano and violin.

Quite identical in form as were the performances of Isserlis and Bell, exploiting the serenity and the passion the works invoked.

Second and fourth in the running order was where the combination of piano, violin and cello came into its own.

This really sent the pulses racing. In the Mendelssohn C minor piano trio took a short while before the balance settled but it was powerful stuff, mixed with true melodic brilliance.

The Brahms B major trio was a carbon copy, possibly more intense but parallel in terms of flair, marvellous technique and intuitive interaction between all three players.

This was a performance where even the most carefullyconsidered superlative falls short.