‘It flowed like oil,’ wrote Mozart to his father apropos of his own performance of one of his violin concertos. The composer’s delighted verdict is equally applicable to James Ehnes’s vital, elegant, beautifully proportioned playing of all five concertos. Still barely 30, the Canadian violinist here reinforces his credentials as one of the most brilliant and discerning players of his generation, with a sweet, gleaming tone and a purity of intonation that are second to none. Among classic recordings, Ehnes is closest to the poised, patrician Arthur Grumiaux (Philips, 8/01), though his touch, like the excellent orchestra’s (hand-picked from the cream of North American players) is that much lighter.

In the Allegros, Ehnes’s gracefully finished phrasing and glistening, strongly directed passagework are a constant pleasure, while his intense singing line and delicate variations of colour make each of the slow movements memorable. From what we know of 18th-century practice, his tempi for the Adagios of K207 and K216 are improbably broad, but he vindicates them with playing of rapt eloquence.

If I have a reservation it is that, for my taste, Ehnes can underplay the teenage composer’s irreverence and sense of fun. Other violinists, including Pamela Frank (Arte Nova, 4/00), Pekka Kuusisto (Ondine, 3/04) and, using gut strings and a classical bow, Andrew Manze (Harmonia Mundi, 5/06), have found more playfulness in a movement like the opening Allegro of K216; and all three bring more earthy gusto to the Hungarian folk tune in K216’s finale and the Janissary music in K219. Their cadenzas are also crisper and wittier than Ehnes’s, which are aptly in scale but tend to over-indulge in double-stopping.

These gracious, subtly expressive performances, glowingly recorded, can take their place with the finest modern-instrument versions. For a single recording of the complete concertos, though, I would plump for Frank, who may not quite match Ehnes’s tonal lustre but catches that much more of the music’s coltish zest.