CD competition in Martinů’s Second Violin Concerto includes an especially fine version by Isabelle Faust with the Prague Philharmonia under Jiří Bělohlávek but Lorenzo Gatto (who is still only in his twenties) has no need to fear the heat of rivalry. His warmly communicative playing style perfectly suits a work that was written for one of the last century’s most tonally alluring violinists, Mischa Elman. In his booklet-note Harry Halbrecht claims that the Concerto, a wartime piece, ‘does not attempt the monumental scale of the concertos of Beethoven, Brahms or Bartók (No 2)’, which is only really true beyond the 13-minute first movement, which achieves great weight of utterance and in terms of gravitas is surely up there with Martinů’s finest symphonies. Walter Weller has a natural feel of the swaying gait of Martinů’s individual rhythmic language and his conducting, allied to fine orchestral playing and exceptionally good sound, certainly makes an impact.

Bělohlávek is once again a principal recent rival in the First Symphony, another wartime work, his recording part of a first-rate complete symphony cycle with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. As heard here, the National Orchestra of Belgium delivers plenty in the way of tonal weight (try the wonderful Largo third movement) and while both performances tell it as it is, I’d say that Bělohlávek’s version offers marginally more clarity and, at times, more tension. But it’s a close-run thing: for example, both conductors bring a healthy ‘kick’ to the Scherzo. I’d be happy with either, and was especially impressed by Gatto’s brilliant and tender-hearted playing of the Violin Concerto.