Saint-Saëns dedicated his First and Third Concertos to Sarasate who, we are told, was ‘famed for the classic purity of his style, beauty of tone, and facility of execution’. So I think he would have enjoyed Liviu Prunaru’s performances. One of the attributes the above description leaves out is fantasy, but Prunaru has that too, using his wide command of tone and dynamics to shed new light on many a familiar phrase. Altogether, this is very fine playing.

I am a little less happy about a few details of the orchestral contribution – at the point in the opening of the first movement of the First Concerto where the call to attention gives way to more legato matters (0'32") they are some way behind the soloist, and this happens occasionally elsewhere, though never quite so noticeably. Also, on the introductory chords to the soloist’s entry in the last movement of the Third, I find Foster’s phrasing rather stodgy compared with that of Martyn Brabbins on the Hyperion disc where we are led (rightly) to anticipate something dramatic. But these are no more than momentary irritations. Prunaru is given a more forward recording than Philippe Graffin, but not unduly so.

One thing I do slightly question in both versions is the slow tempo of the middle movement of the Third Concerto. The composer’s metronome mark of dotted crotchet=56 may be a little on the fast side, but when he backs this up with Andantino quasi Allegretto I’m not sure violinists should wallow quite so deeply in the tune, wonderful though it is. Still, it’s a matter for undiluted rejoicing that two different but equally fine recordings of these three concertos should appear within the space of four years. As for Prunaru, I would say he’s a fiddler to watch. And, of course, to listen to.