The opening concert of the international festival was something of a stunner. Valery Gergiev conducted the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, with which he made his UK debut 25 years ago, in an all-Prokofiev programme. Though he has become variable of late, this was a perfect example of how fine he can be when on form. The Third Piano Concerto and Alexander Nevsky each generated a sense of in-your-face electricity that was second to none.

Daniil Trifonov was the soloist in the concerto, an eclectic showpiece that combines graceful acrobatics with modernist aggression. Though it dates from 1921, when Prokofiev was still the bad boy of the avant garde, its big moments of lyricism and mock 18th-century formality peer forward to the ballets of his Soviet period, such as Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella. Trifonov played it with staggering panache and bags of wit and self-deprecating charm. We tend to forget just how good Gergiev can be in concertos, knowing exactly when to rein in the orchestra and when to let them off their leash. He got the best out of the RSNO, who played exceptionally for him. When it was over, Trifonov gave us Medtner's exquisitely limpid Fairy Tale as an encore.

Alexander Nevsky, drawing on the soundtrack for Eisenstein's film, was done with comparable fire. Dating from 1938, it demands a united Russian response to the threat of nazism, and its vast sweep carries with it the emotive force of propaganda. A great performance undermines our emotional balance in order to force the message home, and Gergiev conducted with the persuasive insistence of a fanatic. The eruptive brilliance of the playing was matched by ferocious singing from the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, who have probably done nothing finer. Yulia Matochkina was the alto soloist mourning the casualties of conflict with breathtaking nobility. This performance was one of the most exciting I've heard in ages, and absolutely wonderful.

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