Hilary Hahn (violin), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko Deutsche Grammophon 477 8777***

Jennifer Higdon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2008 Violin Concerto, here appearing on disc for the first time, wasn’t just written for Hilary Hahn. It was custom-created to show her playing off to perfection. It’s got a strong retro feel, and if your heart hankers after the days when Barber and Prokofiev were still writing violin concertos, then you may find consolation in Higdon’s combination of rangy lyrical lines and moto perpetuo energy, which she reinforces with up-to-the-minute orchestral colours. It all actually sounds rather softcore and sentimental by comparison with the Tchaikovsky concerto, which Hahn delivers with a rewarding blend of open-eyed purity and magisterial technical assurance. See url.ie/57as