Beethoven composed these works as ‘Sonatas for pianoforte and violin’. The common designation, ‘violin sonatas’, is acceptable, I suppose, but when accompanied with a solo photo of Daishin Kashimoto, and Konstantin Lifschitz’s name in much smaller type, one wonders why Warner Classics decided to market its product in such a misleading way.

The recording is bright and immediate. Close scrutiny fails to uncover any flaws in Kashimoto’s polished technique, and only occasionally does the piano sound appear at all hard (the repeated sforzandos in Op 96’s first movement is one instance) or dry (the first variation in the Andante of the Kreutzer Sonata, where Lifschitz uses very little pedal). The balance between the two instruments is excellent, with Lifschitz keen to nurture his left-hand melodies.

The performances are at their best in forceful, passionate pieces such as the outer movements of Op 23, Op 30 No 2 and the Kreutzer, where the virtuosity of the playing, the sense of strong collaboration and close attention to dynamics and phrasing create a compelling impression. It’s noticeable that even in these movements Kashimoto and Lifschitz avoid really fast tempi, and in many slow or moderate movements their speeds seem to me excessively drawn out. For example, in Op 30 No 1’s Adagio, where the movement of the melody is quite slow, the effect is ponderous rather than truly expressive. (Turn to Faust and Melnikov for a performance that combines spaciousness with a sense of flow.) In the middle movements of Op 12 No 2 and Op 23 Beethoven asks for a tempo between andante and allegretto, but Lifschitz and Kashimoto ignore the allegretto part; hearing the Op 23 movement next to Ibragimova and Tiberghien’s witty account makes it appear staid and lacking in sparkle. And in the Adagio variation in the finale of Op 96, the pulse is so slow as to take away the feeling of melodic expression (to hear how beautiful this passage can sound, turn to Oistrakh and Oborin).

These (as I see it) aberrations make it difficult to recommend the set as a whole but I’d like to stress the high quality of the playing throughout, as well as the excellence of many individual movements – a splendidly energetic account of Op 12 No 3’s finale and, in the outer movements of Op 30 No 3, performances that combine a brilliant juxtaposition of light and shade with a sense of unconstrained enjoyment.