It may look on the outside like a bit of a pops disc (best-known Bach and Beethoven, and white-knuckle showpieces by Brahms and Wieniawski), but the programme for Maxim Vengerov’s first recital at Wigmore Hall in almost 20 years, and his return to recording as a violinist after five years of conducting, gives an intriguing insight into what makes a good – or great – violinist. However, it’s hard to know who – the audience, or Vengerov himself – benefits more from the renewal of perspective that this sabbatical has brought. The playing throughout this disc is vastly sinuous; and though this may not be a seismic shift from his previous style, there is still a sense that he’s shed the need to sound merely pretty in order to get closer to the scale and importance of the music.

This is a good thing, but nevertheless has a tendency to turn all pieces in the recital, not just the Brahms and Wieniawski (and it’s hard to imagine who else could play the latter with such nonchalant accuracy), into the sort of showpieces they might not be. The flashy opening to the Beethoven, for instance, may be well suited to that kind of treatment, whereas the tentative and unpresumptuous theme of the variations that form the second movement is not. The Bach is all about the sound: it’s recorded surprisingly close, which gives an ethereal quality that matches Vengerov’s sensuous playing – which also is ‘all about the sound’. He chases the aural qualities of the violin that are enabled by Bach’s notes, rather than using the limitless potential of the violin to bring out Bach’s melodies and internal lines. So be warned: this performance is Bach (and Beethoven, for that matter) for the heart, not the brain. Be sure which camp you’re in, and that it’s strong enough, before you proceed with caution.