Nicola and friends lay on a treat at Perth Concert Hall

The members of most string quartets play together over many years before developing any reputation.

There is a need to ensure they all agree on every aspect of how a piece goes, which can only be the result of long hours of discussion and practice.

For a group of friends to be able to find the time and opportunity to do this is one thing if they are competent and enthusiastic amateurs.

For busy professionals with crowded diaries and spectacularly successful international careers, the problems of scheduling must be far more difficult.

This debut appearance by Nicola Benedetti and Friends in Perth’s Concert Hall on Saturday has, therefore, to be seen as a rare event, likely to be restricted in future to major festivals.

Here, they provided spectacularly successful interpretations. Shostakovich and Beethoven are the greatest quartet composers of their respective centuries.

For a hall that was packed with many young faces, the Tenth followed by the First Razumovsky cannot have been obvious choices. The combination worked a treat, with the listeners’ attention gripped from the first note.

A favourite with Perth audiences and a regular visitor to Perth Concert Hall, Nicola Benedetti performed alongside Yume Fujise, Benjamin Marquise-Gilmore and Leonard Elschenbroich.

The evening had the backing of Blackadders, the second time the company has sponsored Nicola Benedetti at the venue.

The Scottish musician is a great supporter of the concert hall, saying it is especially well suited to chamber music, and praised the “wonderful and dedicated audience”.