The musical logic behind this coupling isn’t difficult to fathom. Both Mendelssohn and Bartók composed two violin concertos, one in their early years (Mendelssohn when he was in his teens), the other in full maturity. The early Bartók work is more distinctive than Mendelssohn’s youthful essay, but there is no comparison between the first and second concertos of either composer.

Augustin Hadelich offers a compellingly robust performance of Bartók’s Second, alertly accompanied by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Tempi are well judged, the phrasing nicely shaped as well as clearly articulated, and you leave the work feeling satisfied that what you’ve heard is what Bartók intended you to hear. The recorded balance confirms that musical sensitivity has been the main priority throughout. But turn to Barnabás Kelemen with the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra under Zoltán Kocsis and you instantly taste the added paprika. The attack of the bow is more varied, the tone edged with folk inflections, and the overall impression idiomatic down to the last semiquaver. Hadelich doesn’t quite reach those heights, although he is fully up to the challenge of negotiating the many hurdles and sharp corners that this wonderful work has in store even for the most accomplished soloist.

The Mendelssohn concerto is similarly satisfying, Romantic in spirit and full of energy, with Hadelich adjusting his approach to suit the music. That might seem an obvious point to make, but not everyone is as versatile. Still, at the final reckoning, good though this coupling is (very good in places), it’s not a front-runner among recordings of either work. Kelemen’s Bartók comes coupled with flame-fired accounts of the two Rhapsodies, the Second with a cripplingly difficult alternative version of its second movement added as a bonus. It’s a fabulous CD, much to be recommended, whereas Hadelich and Harth-Bedoya will appeal primarily to those who fancy this particular coupling, which, as I’ve already suggested, has its own musical logic.