Daniel Hope, in his own words, ‘fell into Yehudi Menuhin’s lap as a baby of two’. His mother was the violinist’s secretary and often took the young Hope to work with her. He grew up under Menuhin’s eye, first performing with him on German television at the age of 11. It’s the reason, says Hope, that he became a violinist. So this release, celebrating his mentor’s 100th anniversary, is nothing if not authentic. All the repertoire has a connection to Menuhin, embracing everything from Baroque to contemporary classical music. The result is a showcase for his versatility.

Not to mention Hope’s. This violinist, after all, has experimented with jazz, gypsy, klezmer, new music and raga, along with forgotten repertoire. Here he plunges in with Mendelssohn’s lesser-known Violin Concerto in D minor, a piece that Menuhin resurrected in 1952. Written when the composer was just 13, it’s unsurprisingly far from typically Mendelssohnian. The language clearly reveals his classical heritage and often comes across as quaint. That said, there are hints of a more mature style: in the tumultuous second-movement cadenza, for example, and the gypsy-ish finale. Hope and the Basel Chamber Orchestra strike a careful balance, stretching out the long-limbed lines but never to snapping point.

That balance occasionally eludes Vivaldi’s Concerto for two violins and strings, which prompts some over-indulgence from Hope and his partner Simos Papanas. Admittedly, Menuhin himself, who frequently accompanied his students in this piece, was no stranger to the sugar pot, and made no concession to historically informed practice; Hope, at least, does use a Baroque bow. Interestingly, though, he’s at his most understated in the contemporary works: Tavener’s Song of the Angel and Henze’s Adagio adagio, where he revels in the music’s mysterious half lights.

And he’s at his most magnetic in the world of folk, which spotlights his particular blend of fire and refinement. It serves him well in excerpts from Bartok’s 44 Duos, where he and violinist Daniel Lozakovitj allow the work’s sophistication to shine through. But it leaves the deepest mark in Ravel’s ‘Kaddisch’ from the Deux Mélodies hébraïques, a piece with particular significance for Hope: he played it as an encore after his last performance under Menuhin’s baton. Judging from this haunting performance, it was a fitting farewell.