I first heard Mendelssohn's violin concerto around 1952-3 when I was given a set of 78 rpm records with Menuhin playing, Enescu conducting -- it's still a very fine performance, the last recording of Menuhin's "youth". Over the past 55 years I've heard the work far too often; it's a bit of a mystery why it's featured non-stop on conference programmes and in recordings. Yes, it's a most attractive concerto in a light-weight manner; but so are many others by de Bériot, Spohr, Viotti, Vieuxtemps, Saint-Saëns and others. Maybe because, at least since Ferdinand David, there have been so many Jewish violinists, and the Mendelssohn concerto is about the only real one written by a Jew. British violinists have to play Elgar; Finnish violinists have to play Sibelius; Norwegian pianists have to play Grieg. And Jewish violinists have to play, and record, the Mendelssohn violin concerto.

It has had many bad performances. The worst I encountered in concert was given by Andrew Haveron, who reminded me what it's like following a car down a winding road where the nervous driver's brake lights come on every 30 seconds. Kreisler, Szigeti, Heifetz, Menuhin, Kogan, Oistrakh, et al would ease up a little during the sentimental passages in the first movement. Many violinists post-1960 keep stamping on the brakes every time a melody appears. All praise then to Leonidas Kavakos, in a new recording, for playing the music lightly and intelligently and letting it speak for itself without grotesque underlining by the soloist. Kavakos conducts the Camerata Salzburg and it's a fine performance. I have liked Kavakos for many years; a very underestimated violinist, in my view.