Mikhail Simonyan was born in Russia (his father is Armenian) but from the age of 12 spent much of his time in the USA. This, his first concerto recording, neatly reflects the two sides of his upbringing. Simonyan is a true virtuoso; his playing has a natural, unforced authority and, among other accomplishments, his clear, brilliant spiccato bowing is heard to great effect in the finales of both concertos. DG’s recording achieves vivid definition, allowing every pungent detail of Khachaturian’s scoring to make its mark. This fits with Simonyan’s emphasis on the elements of Armenian folk music, supplemented by a new cadenza by Artur Avenesov that makes great play with oriental modes and open-string drones. Julia Fischer also chose the Khachaturian for her first concerto disc in 2004. With the Russian National Orchestra under Yakov Kreizberg she stresses the work’s Romantic lineage – its exotic colouring in the tradition of Borodin – whereas with Simonyan we notice passages whose earthiness is more akin to Bartók.

The wide landscapes of the first two movements of the Barber seem to demand a more ample recorded ambience, such as that provided for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with David Zinman in the beautiful account by Joshua Bell. Even so, this is a performance of notable power, Simonyan’s confident presence – aided by strong support from Kristjan Järvi and the LSO – generating considerable intensity as the climactic moments approach. The LSO strings, too, impressively sustain the build-up to the climax of Barber’s Adagio. All in all, a most impressive debut.