Fascinating to home in on what young Bach players have either borrowed or rejected from the period-instrument school. In November I observed how Ilya Gringolts prefers to pass on the Bach legacy of his Russian forebears (Oistrakh, Milstein et al) opting instead for a lightly inflected ‘period’ approach. Now from the opposite camp comes Hilary Hahn, faster than most – at least in the outer movements – and with such a vibrant glow to her tone that were you to overlay it with a blanket of surface noise you could easily believe it hailed from 50 years ago or more. Which is fine by me. Fine, too, Hahn’s adoring expressiveness in the E major Concerto’s Adagio, her sound warm and even with consistently smooth bowing and a brand of vibrato that while undeniably intense is never overdone.

In the slow movements Jeffrey Kahane’s Los Angeles players usefully alight on accompanying string lines while in the faster movements an over-forceful manner allied to swift pacing tends to leave one breathless. Hahn and Margaret Batjer press the ‘Double’ Concerto rather too hard (Bach’s first allegro is after all qualified with moderato), though their tones are nicely matched. And the tempi aren’t always entirely consistent: in the third movement of the Concerto for violin and oboe, for example, which sets off to a very brisk start but as soon as the soloists take over, gets even faster – uncomfortably so. Allen Vogel’s oboe-playing is generally a joy and the warm, close-set sound frame creates a chamber-like impression.

In short, the broad principles of Hahn’s approach, her expressive agility, intelligence and natural feel for musical line, do Bach proud. But too often nifty speeds that were doubtless intended to exhilarate sound relentless, and the rude switch from sweetness to aggression doesn’t work. Still, Hahn’s slow movements are more than enough to justify a place just a notch or so below such past Bach masters (and possible influences) as Heifetz (especially in the A minor Concerto), Milstein, Stern and Shumsky.