The opening long high notes of the soloist’s entrance to WA Mozart’s Turkish Violin Concerto, sounding as if sent down by some celestial being, are jaw-dropping at the best of times, but in the hands of Japanese virtuoso Aiko Suwanai they are unforgettable.

The sweet satin-finished quality of her tone on the 1732 Guarneri del Gesu instrument truly does come from another world, and as she weaves through the first movement in this debut appearance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra it is easy to see why she has caused a sensation wherever she has played since becoming the youngest-ever winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition as an 18-year-old in 1990.

The cadenzas of the last and arguably most popular of Mozart’s five concertos give plenty of scope for the soloist to set out their stall, from the intricate double stopping of the first to the delicate trills of the second and the Ottoman-inspired winding runs of the last movement.

Aiko Suwanai. Portrait supplied

Suwanai shows that she’s not all elegance and precision, though she has both in spades, but there is also a lot of character in her playing. Nothing is overdone, it...