Yet more formidable reportage of what’s surely one of the last century’s truly great concertos. Among the finest versions to appear in recent years features Christian Tetzlaff under Hannu Lintu, which won a Gramophone Award last year. Barnabas Kelemen and Zoltán Kocsis (Hungaroton) aren’t afraid to dirty their feet and their recordings of the two Rhapsodies include fascinating – and in the Second cripplingly difficult – variant versions.

Baiba Skride follows Tetzlaff in toying with extreme dynamics: like him, she reduces her quiet playing to the merest whisper, a glow-worm in the undergrowth, and her sense of colour (witness how she manipulates vibrato) is extremely vivid. But she can be boldly assertive too, while Eivind Aadland’s Cologne accompaniment levels with Dorati’s (with Menuhin), Kocsis’s (Kelemen) or Fischer’s (Zehetmair) for keenness of attack. You can tell that there’s a real connection going on here, whether in the brazen tutti passages or in Skride’s handling of the first movement’s cadenza. She never baulks at the prospect of using glissando as a folksy expressive device (Bartók’s own directive) and tension is maintained throughout all three movements.

The balance between soloist and orchestra is especially well judged and Orfeo’s recording never stints on the bass line, especially the bass drum at 9'04" in the first movement, or at the start of the Second Rhapsody’s second movement. The concerto’s second movement emerges in its true colours, part slow movement, part scherzo, the apparent dichotomy making perfect musical sense. The two Rhapsodies are good too: Aadland really lunges at the opening of the First whereas the more Eastern inflections of the Second Rhapsody’s first movement are quite gently handled. Luminosity was obviously an interpretative priority.

A recommendation? Definitely. A top recommendation? A difficult call, that, especially in view of Tetzlaff’s excellence (his coupling is a benchmark account of the First Concerto), while the warmly persuasive James Ehnes (Chandos) offers a matchless deal by adding the Viola Concerto to the two violin concertos. I always feel that the ‘if-you-stumble-across-this-version-before-any-others …’ type of recommendation is a bit of a cop-out. Of course, it’s true, but if you want the best, Tetzlaff and Kelemen are somewhat ahead in the game. Skride isn’t quite on their level but her conviction wins through, her actual playing is excellent, Aadland directs a commanding account of the orchestral score and the sound is superb. So why hold back? After all, there should always be room on your shelves for another fine Bartók Second Concerto.