Second Best To None

No, not *that* Nirvana… long before Kurt and Courtney were more than a glint in their parents’ eyes, there was a psychedelic British band of the same name. Their first two albums will be re-released, with a wealth of unreleased material, in a new double-set Rainbow Chasers: The ’60s Recordings (The Island Years) on 18 May.

The Classical Catalogue is particularly rich in fine recordings of the Mendelssohn E minor Violin Concerto (one thinks of Kyung-Wha Chung, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Cho-Liang Lin, to name but three). But Viktoria Mullova's account is second to none, and she is splendidly accompanied by Marriner and his ASMF. The performance has great warmth and freshness. That moment on which so much depends, the preparation for the arrival of the first movement's second subject, does not disappoint. Indeed the lovely melody arrives with the utmost naturalness Marriner at his most spontaneously subtle and at the beginning of the falling solo arpeggio Mullova's momentary tenuto is ravishing.

From the bustling chaos of Beijing to the deserts of Xinjiang, Lost In China celebrates a new generation of artists who, united by their desire to explore and at times confound local traditions, have not previously been heard outside their homeland.