Conversationalist Beethoven, this – meaning that two very different voices (Midori, gentle; Thibaudet, assertive) bring their individual qualities to each score without compromise. There are some high points. One is the second movement of Op 12 No 3, where Midori is at her most unaffectedly lyrical. It’s playing that in some respects resembles the ‘old school’ manners of Adolf Busch, an impression much aided by Thibaudet’s warmly rolling account of the piano part (from 2'23"). Op 23 on the other hand is keenly driven, at least to start with, while the duo judge the whimsical second movement as if quasi-operatic. Thibaudet displays admirable depth of tone when he takes over the principal theme of the Op 24 Spring Sonata’s first movement whereas Midori’s initial playing of the second movement has a mellow, viola-like quality about it.

But were I to single out just one performance that displays this team’s sensitive approach to Beethoven at its most seductive it would be the A major Sonata, Op 30 No 1. The first movement is flexible in tone and tempo, the second truly a song without words, one of the loveliest accounts I’ve ever heard. The finale’s versicoloured variations are played with great attention to detail whereas Op 30 No 2 finds these players sparring fearlessly in the dramatic first movement, then Thibaudet draws expressively spaced chords at the start of the slow second, Midori soon joining him in an appropriately sullen mood. As presented here the Scherzo is a playful pick-me-up, Midori intensifying her four-note motif second time around (these performances include written repeats). Op 30 No 3’s whirligig first movement is excitably conveyed, the hymnlike second movement finding Midori entering with less vibrato than elsewhere, whereas she opens the Kreutzer with a sense of nobility and Op 96 is both patient and ethereal, Thibaudet making great hay with the extended compass of Beethoven’s later piano-writing. I’d call it a knowing performance, intimate yet direct.

How to sum up? Midori’s playing is in general sensitive rather than especially beautiful. You listen out for what she thinks, rather than for any overt well of emotion. For that you need a heart that’s just a little nearer the sleeve, a more vibrant tone, too, such as Leonidas Kavakos provides on his Sony recording with Enrico Pace. Isabelle Faust and a very dynamic Alexander Melnikov (Harmonia Mundi, 10/10) in some respects make the most impressive showing of all; they’re especially imaginative in Op 96. Beyond those, and staying within the realms of stereo sound, if you want a good, old-fashioned gutsy set with heart to spare then try Itzhak Perlman and Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca). But Midori and Thibaudet, who are very well recorded, have their own personal take on the music that is well worth investigating. The excellent annotations are by Beethoven scholar William Meredith.