The contributions from each of the musicians reflect some of the major influences on their careers. Saram was a pupil of Casals, so Bach is very important to him, and his approach to the music reflects that. It is, however, as an interpreter of modern music that he has made a successful career. Hence, while his performance of Bach’s Third Solo Cello Suite, and even that of his misguided Locatelli transcription, harks back to those of his youth, his masterful performance of the Hindemith Sonata for solo cello immediately impresses by its freshness. Silva’s training as a harpsichordist and composer in Europe and the US is amply on show in the sophisticated and witty CPE Bach Variations on the Folies d’Espagne, and in four of her own well-crafted works for harpsichord dating from the late 1960s and early 1970s, only one of which takes specific inspiration from South Asian music.

The two musicians perform together in just one item, JS Bach’s Third Sonata for viola da gamba and harpsichord, a work often played by cellists. While their performance is pleasing enough, the recording gives too much prominence to the cello part, which is only one part among three in this work.