I’ve always thought Khachaturian’s ballet music superior to his concertos. Even James Ehnes’ customary fusion of virtuosity and insight couldn’t convince me otherwise. Despite the significant contribution David Oistrakh made to its composition, it’s never quite entered the mainstream violin repertoire (like the Dvořák, a much finer work). If I had to sum up the Violin Concerto in one word, I’m afraid it would be ‘racketty’, especially the fast sections of the first movement, which always strike me as clattery note-spinning. Even the ‘exotic’ arabesques, which must have seemed original in the 1930s, were much better when used by composers like Dimitri Tiomkin and Miklós Rózsa in 1950s ‘sword and sandal’ epics. Ehnes ennobles virtually every piece of music he performs but, for all the uncomplicated ‘fun’, I think his prodigious talent was a bit wasted on this work.

James Ehnes, Mark Wigglesworth and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Photo © Jay Patel

The second half (or, rather two thirds) of this concert was a performance of Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony, a work composed in 1936 which reached only the rehearsal stage before it was withdrawn as a precaution...