The Poème is the most successful, benefitting from the violinist’s sweet tone and understanding of the work’s structure.

Batiashvili favours an interpretative line that is easier to experience than to describe, not self-effacing so much as intimate, flexible, unhurried.

Lean and lithe without ever sounding under-nourished, Batiashvili and Gigashvili's introspective, ear-opening account of the Franck Violin Sonata would be worth the price of this album on its own - even without the ravishing, impassioned reading of Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1 which follows, where the Philadelphia strings match their soloist's silvery sheen to the hilt and Nézet-Séguin ensures that every orchestral detail registers keenly.

Batiashvili and the Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili find hidden corners to explore in the Franck, played with delicacy and passion by both. The Szymanowski, an outpouring of angst as well as warmth, and the Chausson, full of expressive longing, bring out the golden tone quality of soloist and orchestra alike.