I’ve seen Gil Shaham in concert three times. Each time, Shaham captivated his audience with his style and his impeccable technique. On this latest CD, Gil Shaham and the Sejong Soloists play Haydn’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Violin Concerto No. 4 as well as Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings. I hadn’t heard these pieces before, but this is a CD I’ll be playing frequently. The music is engaging. Shaham says that performing the Haydn Concertos and Mendelssohn Octet with Sejong is “like playing basketball with seven Michael Jordans. It was a privilege for me, sitting there with my graying hair, to try and keep up with their artistry.” Trust me, Shaham more than keeps up with his younger accompanists. GRADE: A