These three madcap musicians are a splendid means of easing young people into classical music.

For while one set of senses is revelling in the buffoonery, another will inevitably be absorbing the music.

But they great entertainment for all ages They go under the names of Yarlsberg (violinist), Mr Abanathie (viola and numerous other instruments) and cellist Kadifachi – or Annie Hogg from Kentucky.

There is an ongoing comic friction between the three characters.

The music ranges from Mozart, Sartie, Handel, Zadok the Priest which somehow transmuted into You’ll Never Walk Alone, the sound track from Psycho and a grand finale of The 1812 Overture, which is a glorious conglomeration of special effects including party poppers and flying tasselled tennis balls.

Oh and they do things to a violin that would make Yehudi Menuhin spin in his grave. It gets covered in cream cake and tea and in an ingenious stunt strung on a bow, held at either end in the teeth of two players and slid from head to head to play it – there were only two of them at that point and they needed a third player. A great stunt.

It had to be said that the quality of the playing is sacrificed to the comedy, but after a popular debut at the festival in 2005, their concert was the first to sell-out for their return this year.