Clarity and truth were the words I used to describe the original Chandos sound, and here it strikes me as even more vivid. I particularly enjoyed the wide range of dynamics and colour emanating from the keyboard without a trace of clanginess in the treble or boxiness in the bass. The playing of this huband-and-wife duo cannot be overpraised throughout the whole programme, which is all to the good since according to the current catalogues none of the three works is now otherwise generally available in the UK. The journey starts darkly: Shostakovich's late sonata plainly did not come from a happy mind. But Schnittke's piquant Shostakovich-influenced Violin Sonata No. 1 progressively lightens the gloom, before his whooly winning retreat into the musical past. Pastiche this last work may be, but the product of a very knowing craftsman all the same.
