My first, uncharitable, reaction was to feel short-changed that we’re offered just two concertos where rival discs almost invariably include three. But from his initial entry in No 4, where Mozart charmingly evokes fairy trumpets, Nikolaj Znaider delights the ear with playing that mingles his trademark finesse with an impish exuberance so crucial to these works of Mozart’s teens. Everything has a specific, individual character. Znaider’s passagework in the outer movements of K218 combines poise with a dancing lightness of touch. And he brings an altogether bolder brilliance to the A major Concerto, No 5, a bigger work in every sense, without overstepping the bounds of accepted Classical style. Znaider is gleefully responsive at the points when Mozart invites an improvised flourish, and provides what I take to be his own cadenzas, entertaining if a bit fussy for some tastes.

In the two Elysian slow movements Znaider spins an exquisite singing line, innocence and sensuality held in ideal balance. My first reaction to the Adagio of No 5 – my desert island movement among Mozart’s teenage works – was that it was too slow. But Znaider vindicates his tempo choice with his hushed inwardness and the vocal eloquence of his phrasing.

Other violinists have dared more in the so-called Turkish (but really Hungarian) episode of No 5’s finale, where Znaider favours elegance over gypsy wildness. And while the scaled-down LSO play alertly enough, oboes and horns can be soaked up in the tuttis (especially in No 5) and bass lines sound over-weighted; though, to be fair, the Barbican is never anyone’s dream acoustic. Choice among recordings of these concertos is bewildering, of course. My own favourites include the zanily inventive Pekka Kuusisto (Ondine, 3/04) and, on period instruments, Andrew Manze (Harmonia Mundi, 5/06) and, more recently, Isabelle Faust (Harmonia Mundi, 12/16), both of whom treat the concertos as chamber music writ large. Znaider’s approach is more traditional. But while the short playing-time may niggle, his many fans can be assured that here is some of the most sheerly beautiful Mozart violin-playing in the catalogue.