Hilary Hahn, Violin and Voice, Barbican

Concert programming can become a little bit predictable, don’t you think? If we’re honest, there are quite a lot of standard programmes bouncing around our halls at the moment. Don’t get me wrong; I understand that putting together an original and enticing programme isn’t easy. There are problems by the bucketload: what to pair with a big symphony, other than another big symphony; what to partner with a radical contemporary piece, other than Bach or something medieval; what to put before Rach 2 at a Proms concert, other than 50 minutes of Xenakis; how to make a concert of bleeding chunks remotely worthy? That sort of thing. And the list goes on. But how refreshing that last night at the Barbican Hilary Hahn succeeded in providing us with something altogether rather different.

If you want to be picky, this concert of Bach (mainly J S but with a side order of C P E) fell into the bleeding chunks category, but at least they were interesting chunks: bass and soprano arias from the cantatas, the Mass in B minor and the St Matthew Passion with violin obbligato. The programme is almost that of Hahn’s latest Deutsche Grammophon release, Violin and Voice, with singers Christine Schäfer and Matthias Goerne and the Munich Chamber Orchestra under Alexander Liebreich (though last night, because of illness, we got soprano Mojca Erdmann instead). And what a delightful programme it is – the sort that puts you in a good mood before the concert has begun.

And once it has started? A few quibbles perhaps. The balance wasn’t always perfect – a problem caused not so much by the modern instruments, which when they played out were satisfyingly solid, but by their positioning – the continuo section was sat slap in the middle of the band, with soloists at the front and Liebreich in the middle. I’d have liked a little more bass. And on that subject: do we really need a conductor for an aria that has five performers in it? The continuo arias are surely more easily performed without anyone waving throughout the whole piece.

But let's talk about more interesting things. Such as Hilary Hahn. Gosh, she’s a good player. In her hands, the obbligato violin parts – which, if we’re honest here, can become a bit similar when you hear them all together – are wrapped around each vocal melody with all the delicacy and detail of an 18th-century embroidered frock coat, the sort of which old JS would no doubt disapprove. Her sound (which on the closely miked recording can be overpowering) was beautifully judged here: she gave space to the vocal soloists and played with a perfect blend of poise and consideration.

Hahn delivered a treasury of tiny delightful moments: a beautiful run at the end of the introduction to “Angenehmer Zephyrus”, from Cantata 205 (which had Erdmann at her best too – this was a pollen-filled dusky evening on the river); the gentle leaning of the sustained violin lines in the duet “Wann kommst du, mein Heil?” from Cantata 140; a feisty chuntering through the bass aria “Gebt mir meinen Jesum wieder!” from the St Matthew Passion, to name just a few.

Positioning the obbligato violinist at the front gives the line a prominence that it doesn’t really deserve, and although Hahn did her best it tended to distract the ear away from the singers, which was a shame as there were pleasures to be had here too. If Goerne occasionally sounded as if he was holding back, for the most part he sang with a poetry that was beguiling and a real sense of connection to both musicians and audience. Erdmann was clear, crisp and charming, though I’d have preferred a bit more depth at times, particularly in “Erbarme dich”. The latter, in the arrangement by Mendelssohn, was the only piece that really didn’t work, with plunky, ponderous pizzicato in the bass and tentative violins that offered no real sense of direction.

But for the most part this was a delightful evening’s music. The instrumental works had a genial fizz to them – and the cherry on the cake was a pleasantly perky flute-playing vicar, who rather surprisingly popped up for the bass aria  “Ja, ja, ich halte Jesum feste” from Cantata 157 and the Overture to the second Orchestral Suite. Lovely playing in all departments – and next time I'll look out for the bishop on the bassoon.

• The Barbican Great Performers series continues on 25 March with the St Lawrence String Quartet, and on 19 April with Andreas Scholl
• Check out what's on at the Barbican
• Hilary Hahn's recording of the Tchaikovsky and Higdon Violin Concertos is released this autumn