Joshua Bell once busked incognito in the Washington subway and came away with the princely total of $32. He's likely to earn considerably more from this sellout European tour with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, of which he has been music director since 2011. But while there's no doubt Bell's phenomenal technique and tone justifies his superstar status, he also shows an uncommon degree of self-effacement.

It is Bell's willingness to blend into the background that makes him such an ideal fit for the Academy, a conductorless ensemble for whom he is modestly listed as a member of the first violins and directs from the leader's chair. Three years into his appointment, Bell's relationship with the orchestra has become symbiotic, though such arrangements inevitably incorporate a degree of compromise. The final allegro of Beethoven's Symphony No 1 either gained thrilling momentum or gave a hair-raising impression of a runaway train, depending on your point of view.

Though the commuters of Washington district may disagree, the one thing you would pay good money to hear would be Bell playing an unaccompanied Bach sonata as nature intended. Here, however, the Chaconne from Partita No 2 was accompanied by a nebulous string arrangement by Julian Milone, which was tastefully conceived but nonetheless had the effect of thin cloud spoiling a spectacular sunset.

Bell believes that great violins bear the sonic impression of their previous owners. Given the colourful history of his own Stradivarius – which was stolen and played by a New York cafe musician in the 1930s – one wonders if it is possible to hear the pedigree of the Russian tea-room in Bell's fiery account of the Gypsy themes threaded into the finale of Brahms's Violin Concerto. The instrument, valued at over £10m, nearly vanished into an investor's bank vault. It's thrilling to hear it still hard at work in such good hands.

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