You would need to journey way back in time to encounter violin-playing that is as expressively potent as that which the Dutch violinist Liza Ferschtman offers us here, Ferschtman ‘a musical storyteller committed to the emotional language of every composer she interprets’, we’re told. Growing up in a family of professional musicians, you sense her dedication in this context by the radiance, purity and power of her Brahms Concerto. Try from 10'24" into the first movement, the attack of her trills at 11'32", Kreisler’s magnificent if complex first-movement cadenza at 18'00" or the dancing exuberance of her finale, then the fire she breathes into Josef Suk’s masterly but rarely heard Fantasy in G minor. Nowhere is there the slightest hint of affectation or forcing gestures just for their own sake. At 1'36" into the Suk her dark tone, allied to her deeply expressive vibrato and subtle use of portamento, contrasts markedly with the more agile, lighter sound of Christian Tetzlaff (Ondine, 3/16), who has the advantage of a more assertive accompaniment by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Storgårds.

The Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra under Elias Grandy aren’t quite as well focused, but I wouldn’t use that as an excuse to prefer Tetzlaff over Ferschtman, excellent though he is. His coupling is an excellent performance of the Dvořák Concerto, but this new release ferried me back to the ‘old days’ when I was discovering records by an older generation of violinists and loving them. For that reason I’d have to summon such past masters as David Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan or Henryk Szeryng to locate a Brahms Concerto that I enjoy as much as Ferschtman’s, which is very well recorded into the bargain and therefore enthusiastically recommended.