WHILE the respective CVs of Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay and Andrew Brownell promised much, they could do little to predict the sheer sensitivity of their combined music-making.

Rarely do two musicians sound so exquisitely attuned to one another, matching each other in rounded tone and nuance of phrase at every turn.

They opened with two sonatas, both in A-minor, both flitting between the tender and the tempestuous. Visontay and Brownell tackled Beethoven’s Opus 23 with the utmost composure, their close attention to lyrical detail making the slow movement a particular delight to behold. Their flowing approach suited the more expansive lines of Schumann’s Opus 105, with its anguished turbulence yielding to an impressive lightness of touch in the finale.

As if flicking the musical equivalent of a car’s "sport mode" switch, Visontay emerged from the interval with an altogether different palette of colours and abilities for a trio of pieces that, each in their own way, place virtuosity in the spotlight.

However, this technical gear-shift did not come at the expense of musical drama. Ysaÿe’s searing Poème élégiaque gave way to a performance of Stravinsky’s Divertimento – adapted from his ballet The Fairy’s Kiss – that never failed to dance, twirling and two-stepping its way through styles brusque and suave.

As grand a finale as Ravel’s gypsy-inflected Tzigane provided, it was quietly outshone by Debussy’s tranquil Claire de Lune, a silvery encore touchingly dedicated to Visontay’s late grandmother. As dazzling as the pyrotechnics proved, it was the more reflective moments that endured.

Review by Richard Powell