Age, they say, is not a number, but a state of mind. If that be true, then the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and its artistic director, Joshua Bell have discovered the fountain of musical youth. Believe it or not, Bell is in his 50th year, but looks and acts like a man two decades younger. Celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of its founding next year, the Academy plays with a passion and a freshness you might expect from a group without such a long and illustrious pedigree.

Of course, youthful vigour is not the only artistic commodity Bell and the Academy have brought with them on this, their first national tour of Australia. The opening concert of the tour in Elisabeth Murdoch Hall last night revealed that this artistic marriage with its considerable enthusiasm and experience could well have been made in heaven. Through the utterly indefatigable energy and commitment that Bell gives to his direction and the players’ extraordinarily keen response, there shines a genuine musical camaraderie that results in music making of the very highest order.

To showcase their combined strengths, Bell and the Academy are presenting two programmes. The first (presented last night and reviewed here)...