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VIOLINIST Stephanie Childress and Kumi Matsuo on piano are an example of virtuosic unification – up to such an extent that we, the punters, sometimes felt left out.

Stephanie, an assured 17-year-old, charmingly announced both her pieces but therein simplistically, ended her communication with the audience. This is perhaps something experience will cultivate - then watch out Nicola Benedetti.

She began with Schubert’s Fantasy in C Major D934 on a note played with such fine legato that you wished it would never end. The richness of her playing occasionally deluded us into thinking she wasn’t alone on the platform. Standing in a simple blue gown with her shock of dark hair, she made the violin sing in the slower movements, turning us to jelly.

In the lower registers, such was her intensity that her instrument sounded almost like a cello.

For a Brahms piece she introduced a more meaty sound ending with fireworks.

As for Matsuo, there’s no question of her musicality and her playing was spellbinding, although a bit like watching someone having a marvellous time in a bubble.