Not long ago I was praising Richard Strauss’s early (1887) Violin Sonata, attractively played by Tasmin Little and Piers Lane, as masterly and ‘full of romantic feeling’. Now we have the Violin Concerto, first heard to acclaim (even by Eduard Hanslick) some five years earlier than the Sonata, with the composer playing the orchestral part on the piano. Thirteen years were to pass before it reappeared in orchestral form, again with Strauss himself at the helm. Here, after opening boldly with a pointedly rhythmic main theme, strongly enunciated by the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the music then melts into a simple and really lovely secondary melody. The second movement is quite affecting too, most sympathetically phrased, with its echoes of Mendelssohn well understood by Martin Sieghart. The rondo finale darts away gracefully, with twinkling tessitura for the soloist, Thomas Irnberger relishing each twist and turn with complete technical assurance and great delicacy.

His performance of the Violin Sonata is equally assured, with Michael Korstick a perfectly balanced accompanist, especially in the central ‘Improvisation’, while the appassionato finale is played with thrilling Straussian gusto. The recording is excellent, and while I have a very soft spot for Tasmin Little’s earlier coupling of Strauss with Resphighi, this new disc is perhaps a more obvious acquisition. The recording cannot be faulted, whether played back in SACD surround sound or as a normal CD.