The viola is often neglected in favour of its more popular sibling, the violin.

But violist Stephen Upshaw’s recital with pianist Veronika Trisko showcased the instrument’s unique tone and versatility.

Titled Exoticism And Folk Music, the programme included Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances and Ernest Bloch’s Suite For Viola And Piano, a complex score with Oriental influences.

Upshaw also performed the Elegiac Fragments by Raymond Yiu solo, a modern piece written for the theatre.

Bartok’s technically complex dances have been transposed for viola, and Upshaw’s performance captures the lyrical brilliance of the original.

Harmonics, ethereal high notes created by lightly touching the string, are among the most difficult of all string techniques. So it was a rare delight to hear a lengthy and complex passage played entirely and nearly faultlessly in harmonics.

Trisko’s performance was characterised by intense energy and emotion. A child prodigy, she gave her first concerts at the age of seven, and has since performed all over the world.

Though the two worked well together in the folk dances, it was in Bloch’s suite that they really shone.

Trisko’s accompaniment was expressive and attentive, and allowed Upshaw to explore complexities of Bloch’s score, in a superb finale to the performance.

Four stars