Ning Feng’s account of the Tchaikovsky is notably elegant. The fast, high passages sound wonderfully clear and pure, and the first movement, in particular, abounds in balletic grace – surely a part of the music’s essential character. In the cadenza, performed just as Tchaikovsky wrote it, without any of the little ‘improvements’ we often hear, he reveals a finely honed sense of timing, which also comes into play in the introductory solo to the finale; and as the finale gets under way, Feng’s liveliness and precision ensure an impression of real vivacity. The Andante, on the slow side, is persuasively elegiac. The only point where Ning Feng’s refinement hampers his performance is during the finale’s folksy episodes where, ignoring the composer’s indication for glissando, he sounds altogether too polite for such rustic music. Here Ray Chen hits exactly the right style and, for myself, I’d prefer Chen’s more overtly emotional approach to the concerto and his greater sense of spontaneity. He also benefits from an inspired accompaniment, masterfully directed by Daniel Harding.

Ning Feng’s sensitivity bears fruit in a deeply poetic account of the introductory section to the Scottish Fantasy, his delicate, lonely presence contrasting beautifully with the solemn, gloomy orchestral setting. And he’s in his element with the virtuoso high jinks of the Scherzo and finale, tossed off without turning a hair. But in other places he appears too cool and detached for this highly romantic score. One longs for a touch of the passionate warmth that Heifetz brought to it.