According to Berlioz, Spontini was – after Gluck – the greatest genius of French music to pave the way for the Romantic era. And it may well be that the little-known Olympie, premiered in 1819 and subsequently revived in 1826 under the modified title Olimpie, had a greater influence than we have hitherto imagined on the massive upheaval that was to set French opera on the path of the modern ‘grand opéra’. From start to finish, this finely polished score, with its astonishing orchestration, is full of spectacular effects that clearly look forward to Les Troyens of Berlioz.

These are the only concertos that Haydn wrote for himself to play: by his own admission ‘no great wizard’ on any instrument, nonetheless these agreeably tuneful early works show how Haydn’s nascent style was gaining shape and symphonic aspiration beyond the simple charm of Mozart’s superficially similar Church sonatas.

On her debut album for Berlin Classics, Sarah Christian performs no less a work than Tchaikovsky’s warhorse, his Violin Concerto, ably supported by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under Jéremie Rhorer. For full measure, she plays Tchaikovsky’s Sextet Souvenir de Florence. This is repertoire radiant with positive energy and feelings of happiness, which are not always to be found in Tchaikovsky’s music. Sarah Christian is able to do more here than show off her brilliant technical skills; her love of chamber music can be clearly heard and clearly felt.