This may have been the era of Mendelssohn but it was also the era of virtuoso showmanship, exemplified by the 1837 keyboard duel in Paris between Liszt and Thalberg, and it’s in this context that I can’t help but hear Bériot’s violin concertos. First there’s their abundance of double-stops, ricochet bowing, harmonics and the rest. Then there’s their tuneful, frothily passionate melodies, which recall the Italian operatic world inhabited by Bériot’s lover, later wife, the Spanish operatic diva Maria Malibran (although in an interesting circle back to Mendelssohn, the German composer actually wrote an aria accompanied by a violin solo for the couple).

As it happens, I suspect this would still have proved to be an entertaining romp had the recording itself been perfectly executed, but frustratingly this latest release in Naxos’s Bériot concertos series displays a distinct lack of polish. To a slightly thick background acoustic, add an often slightly rough-edged sound from the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra under Michael Halász, along with the odd intonation glitch. Then, while violinist Ayana Tsuji has caught the operatic diva mood of these pieces and made neat work of their technical fireworks, her playing sometimes bears the intonational hallmarks of a less than luxurious recording situation. Her violin often also has a slightly shrill quality, which this repertoire only accentuates.

While this disc certainly provides an interesting snapshot of a musical era, given its flaws I’m not sure I’d want to collect the whole set.