Fresh from a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Solo on Monday night, new BSO Artist in Residence violinist Augustin Hadelich made his debut in inimitable style this evening.

Having almost died in a fire aged 15 (performing since he was just 7), here is a man who defied all the odds when doctors told him he may never play the violin again, such was the extent of his injuries.

Hadelich has gone on to make a name for himself as one of the most incredible violinists of his time despite being only 31, and he is highly sought after by orchestras worldwide.

The BSO's cellist Jesper Svedberg told us tonight “to work with artists such as Augustin is such a joy and a pleasure”, and it was just that too for the packed audience who gave him much deserved applause and cheers.

Hadelich performed Tchaikovsky's Violin concerto, known as “one of the most technically difficult works for the violin”, in a seamless partnership with the BSO and its Chief Conductor Kirill Karabits.

His exceptional talent shone throughout as he gave every ounce of himself to the music, living up to the high praise and quotes about the beauty of his playing “revealing something from a plane beyond ours” (Washington Post).

It was a quite magical interpretation of such a challenging piece.

His Bach's 2nd Sonata encore was equally exquisite and it will be exciting to see his future performances with the BSO including the upcoming partnership with Sunwook Kim on 16th March.

Also on the programme were Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks which gave us a bit of everything in one short presentation by 15 of the BSO's finest, and a second half of Schumann's beautiful Symphony No 1 (Spring).

The latter is all the more incredible when you consider that the composer fought lifelong mental illness, yet sketched out such a masterpiece in just 4 days, completing it fully a month later.

His “wonderfully positive” first symphony was just that, joyous and uplifting throughout, inspired by his “Spring of love” for wife Clara, and originally premiered with Mendelssohn conducting.

Tonight was once again a reminder of how fortunate we are to enjoy the world class orchestral talent of the BSO and its guests right on our doorsteps.

Stephanie Hall