No sooner had I filed my review of Thomas Gould’s Riga version of the Beethoven Violin Concerto (see below) than along comes Augustin Dumay with a comparably refreshing viewpoint. This time the location is the Polish Radio studio in Warsaw, the Sinfonia Varsovia (with whom Dumay has enjoyed a fruitful association stretching back to its formation in 1984) proving willing partners in an unhurried reading, serene and muscular by turns, which displays canny authority, glowing dedication and plentiful interpretative incident. Perhaps not every gesture convinces, but better that than an anodyne, safety-first approach; rest assured, there’s no whiff of stale routine, and Dumay’s customarily stylish, raptly intense showing, to say nothing of his subtly variegated tonal palette, will enthral his many admirers. Fritz Kreisler’s cadenzas are favoured – and imperiously the Frenchman delivers them, too.

Dumay also impresses with the baton in a live account (from September 2010 in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall) of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony. He certainly secures eager results from his hard-working Kansai Philharmonic, and the performance as a whole has creditable zest, punch and rhythmic acuity. At the same time, the last ounce of composure is occasionally lacking (in the third movement’s Trio for example), and I can’t help feeling that the second movement and finale might have benefited from a greater sense of twinkling mischief.

Disc 2 is given over to Brahms’s First String Sextet, for which Dumay the wise and experienced chamber musician is joined by five younger colleagues, of whom three (Svetlin Roussev, Miguel da Silva and Henri Demarquette) are beginning to establish themselves on the international circuit, and the other two (Marie Chilemme and Aurélien Pascal) are exceptionally gifted newcomers at the outset of their careers. Nothing is forced in a memorably intuitive rendering which is intensely appreciative of this heavenly score’s generosity of spirit, burnished glow and tumbling lyricism – perhaps nowhere more so than in the inspired theme and variations of the second movement (the delicate hush these players locate at 5'56" takes the breath away). Spontaneity, joy and teamwork are the watchwords, as exemplified by the unfettered exuberance of the Scherzo’s bounding Trio section.

Onyx’s consistently superior production values, the handsome, cloth-bound presentation and excellent notes by Jeremy Nicholas bolster the appeal of this enticing package, whose two discs retail for the price of one.