In 2013 Chandos stole a march on competitors by presenting Prokofiev’s ‘Complete Works for Violin’ in a neat two-disc bundle from James Ehnes and friends (10/13). That said, not everyone collects music the same way and Viktoria Mullova’s admirers will welcome this chance to hear her latest thoughts on a favourite concerto she last set down in the 1980s (Philips, 6/89). The makeweights are new to her discography and all three pieces have been captured live.

Don’t expect the sweet unflappability of Guro Kleven Hagen in the main work; Mullova’s interpretation is made of sterner stuff. While the Norwegian team close-mic their soloist, marooning the Oslo Philharmonic in a separate pool of resonance, Mullova’s sound is as big and well-rounded as ever, not without that familiar touch of steel. Always an objective player, she tends to forge ahead where others linger, avoiding too much warm-bath romanticism even in the central movement’s arioso-like melody. At the same time she refrains from destabilising and darkening Prokofiev’s invention in the manner of Leila Josefowicz or Patricia Kopatchinskaja. With Paavo Järvi’s Frankfurt band scrupulous in support, some will find the results rather stern and unbending, others blessedly unfussy. For me the music-making doesn’t quite take wing and I was surprised by the decision to retain the muted applause. Try Janine Jansen if you’d prefer a ‘central’ modern performance with a little more give and take.

I was expecting some softening of temper in the Sonata for Two Violins (1932), in which Mullova is teamed with Tedi Papavrami, the multi-talented Albanian who has himself recorded both Prokofiev concertos and the Solo Violin Sonata (Naxos, 5/97). In fact the pair set a flowing tempo from the start and never over-egg the pockets of proto-Soviet lyricism. The pedagogically envisioned Solo Violin Sonata (1947) comes next and it is difficult to imagine it dispatched with more unerring command. That makes for a total playing time of just 51 minutes. Competition is fierce, but then Mullova is in a league of her own.