GARRY FRASER

What do you say about Nicola Benedetti that hasn’t been said before? Not a lot, to be honest. You could throw a thesaurus of superlatives at her and it would bounce back labelled “not enough”. She’s a musical marvel, a force of violinistic nature that can, at times, defy the logic of music. Thursday night’s performance with Royal Scottish National Orchestra, pictured, heavily underlined that point.

It wasn’t the normal brilliant Brahms or Bruch, stunning Sibelius or tremendous Tchaikovsky. It was marvellous Marsalis, as demanding a concerto as I’ve ever witnessed and as stunning a performance from this amazing young lady that I’ve ever heard.

Wynton Marsalis wrote this concerto for her and it was she who persuaded him to push the performer to the limits. Benedetti’s limits stretch further than any other and the result was a pulsating mix of classical and jazz, full of rhythmic mastery and technical brilliance. It was a performance of performances, one of stunning virtuosity, flair and bravura out of the very top drawer.

If this performance left you with a grin on your face, so did the other works in the programme. Thomas Ades’ music blows hot and cold with me is, but his suite of dances from his opera Powder Her Face was definitely of the former. I caught hints of Gershwin – quite apt considering what was to follow – but I also caught more than one glimpse of melodic lyricism, excellent orchestration and the willingness to shake and stir.

Sandwiched between these two works was Robert Russell Bennett’s tone-poem based on Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. This is a wonderful medley of melodies, skilfully arranged for orchestra, with jazz, swing, blues and tons of variety. It takes a cool hand to ensure nothing is lost in translation so I bet that the great Gershwin would have been delighted with the final outcome and the RSNO’s performance.