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During the lockdown many professional musicians are recording and posting videos of them playing. Some of them, ingeniously, record self-duets. One such example is "Augustin Hadelich plays both parts of Rachmaninoff Vocalise" showing the artist playing the violin part on one side of the screen and the piano part on the other.
In such situations which part is it better to record first?
I would go for the piano part first. It's the backbone of the piece and plays throughout. Even though there is a fair amount of rubato, he cleverly synchronises the two parts. He would have recorded the piano part and then studied it until he knew he could respond to every nuance.
In the description for piece you listed, Augustin Hadelich states it was the piano part first, and why:
In case you are wondering, I recorded the piano part first - I played the piano part while imagining singing the violin line. I don't think it could work as well if I'd recorded the violin part first, because all of the timings and nuances in the violin part are a result of what happens harmonically in the piano part.
