An effective litmus test when reviewing a recent recording of familiar repertoire is whether or not your ear automatically sidesteps the new in favour of a previous first choice, which in the case of these self renewing sonata masterpieces include Casals/Serkin (Sony) and Starker/Sebők (Erato, my own personal favourite), as well as Rostropovich/Richter (Decca/Philips) – and if you’re attracted to period performances, Steven Isserlis and fortepianist Robert Levin (Hyperion, 2/14).

The beauty of the Schwabe-Rimmer duo is that the test wasn’t necessary; for the duration of all four works, I was totally engrossed by the duo’s warm, keenly articulated playing style, in the two sets of variations as much as in the sonatas. Take the first movement of Op 5 No 1, the total unanimity of the opening, the lyrical thrust of the Allegro (the fullness of Gabriel Schwabe’s tone is a joy in itself) and the evident spontaneity as communicated by both players. Then there’s the poised approach to the adagio sixth variation from the Variations on ‘Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’ (Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, track 24), the gaiety of its closing Allegro ma non troppo (track 25) or the crispness of Op 5 No 2’s Rondo finale.

Both players are well practised in the field of chamber music. Berlin-born Gabriel Schwabe is a regular guest at music festivals such as the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, Kronberg Academy Festival, Amsterdam Biennale and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, and has performed with artists including Isabelle Faust, Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Vogt, Kirill Gerstein, Roland Pöntinen and Enrico Pace. Cambridge-born Nicholas Rimmer has, like Schwabe, garnered much critical praise and is especially accomplished when performing in the context of small ensembles.

These excellent recordings were set down at Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, during February last year, Andrew Walton acting as both editor and producer. There’s an added bonus in Dominic Wells’s excellent booklet annotations. And that’s just about all I need to tell you. Not a note of the music is short-changed by under-projection or bullied by excessive aggression. So onwards and upwards, please, for Vol 2.