This is Michael Collins’s third recording of Brahms’s Clarinet Sonatas. The first was made with Mikhail Pletnev and coupled with Weber’s Grand duo concertant (Erato, 5/90), the second with Michael McHale alongside works by Carl Reinecke (Chandos, 3/15). Why Collins wanted a third go so soon after the second is curious, especially as that Chandos disc is a real beauty, but I think this newcomer on BIS is even more stunning, so perhaps the answer is as simple as that.

Truth be told, the differences between the two recordings are relatively subtle. At times it’s a matter of colour. Compare, say, the opening Allegro amabile of the Second Sonata: on Chandos, Collins’s tone is rich and full, while on BIS he’s lighter. Or listen at 1'18" where he observes the dolce marking by adding expressive weight without any increase in volume; he does something similar on the earlier recording, but it’s more confidently accomplished here. The central Allegro appassionato is a hair slower now, which adds just a hint of wistfulness that I find quite touching. Or turn to the Andante un poco adagio in the First Sonata where tempos between the two recordings are more or less the same but where Collins and Hough now take more time to savour the melody’s exquisite filigree – especially in the second statement of the tune at 0'45", where he holds on to the notes as if loath to let them go.

McHale is a marvellous partner, as is evident on much of Collins’s extensive and excellent Chandos discography, but Hough is such an extraordinarily thoughtful and sensitive pianist that it’s its own reward to hear him in this glorious music. I love how delicately he renders the descending lines in the third movement of the First Sonata (at 1'37"), for example, so they fall like raindrops. And he and Collins have an excellent rapport, too – the way they dovetail their phrases at 3'32" in the Second Sonata is perfectly seamless.

Another reason to welcome this release is Collins’s adaptation of Brahms’s Second Violin Sonata, a work strikingly similar in tone to the Second Clarinet Sonata, as I couldn’t help but notice. The clarinet’s tone is more piercing than the violin’s in high-lying passages but Collins handles these adroitly, and there are moments where his velvety tone seems ideally suited to this music, as in the liquid line at 2'41" in the second movement.

Even if you already have Collins’s first rate Chandos disc, this beautifully recorded BIS CD is a worthy investment, not least for the exceptionally successful arrangement of the A major Violin Sonata. Perhaps he and Hough (and BIS) can be persuaded to give us the remaining two violin sonatas as well?