Polished, sensitive playing, well recorded; Dyachkov and Saulnier present Brahms’s musical argument with impressive clarity and understanding. After a time, however, I began to feel there was something missing, a lack of emotional involvement. Turning to Rostropovich and Serkin for comparison, I found that, despite a slower tempo, their account of Op 99’s first movement has far more of a sense of elation and grandeur – the intense way Rostropovich sustains the long notes in the opening theme contrasts with the almost baroque manner in which Dyachkov allows the sound to decay. The difference is just as marked in this sonata’s Adagio – Serkin and Rostropovich encompassing the music’s grand emotional sweep, Dyachkov and Saulnier, with their flowing speed and more delicate approach, somehow presenting a miniaturised version of the movement.

Some movements, however, are extremely successful – the Allegretto quasi Menuetto in Op 38, wistful and gracious, and two pieces where virtuoso panache comes to the fore – the finale of Op 38 and the Allegro passionato third movement of Op 99.

I have to confess to a dislike of the transcription for cello of the Op 78 violin sonata. The transposition, up or down, of the piano part from G to D major often destroys the effect of Brahms’s beautifully worked out keyboard sonorities, and changes of register in the cello part frequently sound unconvincing. This is also, I feel, a rather sleepy performance, of the outer movements, at any rate. A sense of constant motion is surely needed if the lyricism of this wonderful work is to take wing.