Valeriy Sokolov (violin), Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich/David Zinman Virgin Classics642 0170 ****

The opening movement of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto has a kind of confused identity. Is it a fast movement or a slow one in disguise? Years ago I heard a performance so strung- out it sounded as if the piece should have stopped without a note of the slow movement or finale being heard. Valeriy Sokolov is at the more relaxed end of the spectrum; he plays in a way that draws the listener in rather than impresses through strained or aggressive virtuosity, and he’s sensitively supported by David Zinman. The emphasis on gracefulness pays dividends in the slow movement, too, and the finale is as sparky as you could wish for. The Ukrainian violinist, who’ll be featured in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the NSO in March, is impressively deft, too, in the darker world of Bartók’s Second Concerto. See url.ie/57cs