To recreate Fanny Davies’s description, ‘Brahms’s manner of interpretation was free, very elastic and expansive; his phrasing was notable in lyric passages’, requires modern musicians to step away from their conditioning. And how far would they have to go? Anthony Marwood and Aleksandar Madžar feel it might be a bridge too far. They follow their dictates and also tend to be dispassionate, keeping a space between themselves and the music; which is not to say that the playing is dry and without incident, yet an ineffable element seems to elude capture. The slow movement of No 1 is a prudently paced Adagio, Madžar shaping the long lines equally prudently. But while his textures are clear (Brahms left pedalling to the discretion of pianists), a want of richly sustained piano tone hampers full communication.

Distinct pianism and etched string attack may not be all that these sonatas require. Marwood doesn’t often relax into the music and an insistent manner is at odds with directions like Allegro amabile and Andante tranquillo in the first two movements of No 2. Nevertheless, the impassioned last sonata finds Marwood and Madžar in more relenting mood, willing to modify hitherto guarded responses to conventions of performance that Brahms took for granted. Augustin Dumay with Maria João Pires and Kyung-Wha Chung with Peter Frankl go further. They risk reaching out to a forgotten vernacular tradition; and through their differing personalities redefine its spirit within the consciousness of today’s styles – to form a closer kinship with the music.