Apart from bearing the title ‘Timeless’ and including several moody photos of David Garrett, this issue has no links to his rock-star status. As it’s likely to attract listeners outside the mainstream classical audience, it’s pleasant to report that Garrett’s performances of these two familiar works are fine ones indeed. Paying close attention to the composers’ dynamics, articulation and changes of tempo, he gives vigorous and persuasive accounts of both concertos. For instance, the second subject of the Bruch first movement only slows at the marked ritardando and for the poco più lento, conveying the sense of nostalgia without any hint of sentimentality. And, throughout both concertos, his playing shows crisp precision, bold confidence and genuine, heartfelt expression.

However, I wouldn’t place either performance close to the top of my list for these much-recorded works. For one thing, the recorded sound isn’t ideal; there’s a good overall blend but it’s not quite clearly defined, with the timpani tending to be too prominent, especially in the Brahms. And though the orchestral playing is technically assured, there’s sometimes an air of routine. And despite the strong virtues of Garrett’s performance, he doesn’t match the youthful passion and enthusiasm of Guro Kleven Hagen in the Bruch, nor the imaginative grasp and inspiring range of tone of Batiashvili, with a luminously recorded Dresden Staatskapelle under Christian Thielenam, in the Brahms.