Celebrating the approach of their 50th anniversary the Fischer Duo – Norman Fischer and his wife Jeanne Kierman – unfold the autumnal majesty of Brahms’s Second Cello Sonata with long, thrilling arcs of dramatic insight laid over a gracefully plastic structure, and implemented with rich Brahmsian sound and commanding technical wisdom. From the opening flourish, Fischer and Kierman play the F major Second Sonata with soaring, splendid virtuosity as if it were not merely a great cello sonata but a reflection of the unique relationship between Brahms and Richard Hausmann, for whom he wrote it – in his 53rd year. As the duo build momentum towards the return of the main theme in the first movement and Kierman begins to assert herself, you get a sense of how the musical balance between the two instruments must have been at the premiere, with the composer himself at the keyboard.

In the E minor First Sonata, the duo’s empathy with Brahms leads them to begin with an unusually long and slow opening movement, as if they were paying homage to Josef Gänsbacher, the amateur cellist to whom it was dedicated; throughout, they reveal as many beautiful things as Brahms in E minor cares to, including an unusually courtly minuet, and surging waves of song challenging the longueurs of the obstinately fugal last movement.

The CD offers an exceptional bonus in the form of Brahms’s Op 91 songs, featuring Abigail Fischer illuminating the deep emotions with her beautifully rich mezzo and Fischer père playing the viola part as if it were meant for the cello.