This vividly recorded account of Britten’s 1939 Violin Concerto is uniquely paired with the Double Concerto for violin and viola of 1932, a work left in short score and realised in 1997 by Colin Matthews. The juxtaposition is fascinating: not only do we feel Britten’s precipitate journey from precocious student to full compositional maturity in a mere seven years, but there are even some thematic pre-echoes here that become suddenly obvious. One change during this transition is Britten’s immersion in working for the GPO Film Unit, thus giving his later music a heightened visual dimension, which this cinematic new recording brings out dramatically.

Baiba Skride is on top of everything the score throws at her and the synergy of the Latvian soloist with an American conductor in Vienna works wonders: the music spans Britten’s momentous jump from England to America in 1939 but also encompasses his encounter with Berg’s Violin Concerto at its premiere in Barcelona in 1936. There are Spanish colours here and a painful awareness of international political unrest, which troubled the pacifist’s conscience while also forming the backdrop to his unfolding sexual awareness and emotional commitment.

After decades of inexplicable neglect, recordings and performances now happily proliferate to such a degree that the work is firmly part of the general repertoire. But any supposed familiarity shouldn’t blunt the visceral impact of much in Britten’s writing. This is where Skride has an edge even over her nearest recent rivals: James Ehnes in Bournemouth and Vilde Frang in Frankfurt. She manages to convey the narrative arc of each movement with unrivalled involvement and intensity, and also unleashes the inner spirit of a carefully constructed yet spontaneous-sounding masterpiece. An indispensable new Britten album.