Kerson Leong commands a strong technique...and he draws an absolutely gorgeous tone from his unnamed violin. But he also possesses the personal security to avoid vain virtuosity and empty showmanship for their own sake. Conductor Patrick Hahn leads the Philharmonia Orchestra in readings...that are as incandescent and shimmering as Leong’s playing.

It is the coupling of the Britten Violin Concerto (gratifyingly becoming more and more core repertoire these days) which...sets this disc apart…I can’t recall a better account of the piece than this.

Bruch’s First Violin Concerto is a banker that is hard to go wrong with, although it’s a struggle to think of a lovelier and more romanticised reading of the slow movement than the one here from Kerson Leong, the Canadian violinist, with the sonorous Philharmonia rising to meet him.

Leong sets out to capture the concerto's severe beauty and sense of unease right from the start ... it's an unusual pairing with the first concerto by Max Bruch ... The Britten raw and in the now, the Bruch offering spiritual consolation.