Kim Kashkashian’s discography is as distinguished as any leading instrumentalist, having achieved repeated critical acclaim and several awards. With her longtime accompanist, Robert Levin, she won the Edison prize in 1999 for the Brahms sonatas; surprisingly, this is their first new release since then.

Her repertoire ranges from Bach to Berio, from Mozart to modern works written for her. On this new disc, she and Levin have collected folk-derived pieces by Spanish and Argentinian composers which emphasise the singing, lyrical qualities of the viola. Most are song transcriptions, such as Falla’s vibrant Popular Spanish Songs, or Guastavino’s Se equivocó la paloma, or the four from Montsalvatge’s Canciones negras. The quartet from the Granados Tonadillas al estilo antiguo are by Kashkashian and Levin themselves while that of Ginastera’s Triste seems to be based on Fournier’s for cello.

The performances deceive the ear into thinking these idiomatic arrangements are instrumental originals. If the programme has a fault it is that there is not enough harmonically fast music present – some more Spanish dances would have been ideal – and the bulk of what there is lies in the Falla set. The title-track – the third of Falla’s songs – is repeated alone as opening track but more curiously, both Ginastera’s Triste and Guastavino’s La rosa y el sauce appear twice. The Buchardo pieces are perhaps too lightweight as the concluding items, but this excellently recorded recital makes a very pleasant way to while away an hour or so.