That this programme of arrangements is so thoroughly enjoyable is due largely to the quality of the performances. Maxim Rysanov is a remarkable string player; in his hands the viola’s distinctive voice is explored throughout its range, with consistently beautiful variations of intensity and tone colour. And he and Wass show great sensitivity in finding the appropriate tempo and character for each item.

The arrangements aren’t all completely successful. I find those of Debussy and Ravel, made by Vadim Borisovsky, to be unnecessarily elaborate, with changes of register, viola harmonics and so on. ‘Clair de lune’, especially, would be better served by a simpler transcription. At the other end of the scale, the items by Richard Dubugnon are reworkings by the composer himself of works originally conceived for the cello (Incantatio) and the double bass (Lied) and sound entirely convincing in their new setting. The Swiss-born Dubugnon’s music often has an impressionistic character and so fits in well with the earlier music on the disc; something that Janine Jansen’s album ‘Beau soir’ (Decca, 11/10), on which Dubugnon appears in a similar context, has already demonstrated. However, listeners hoping to use this disc as gentle background music will certainly be startled by the ferocity of the dissonant climaxes in the second and third movements of Incantatio – though these find a parallel in the intense passion unleashed during the Fauré Elégie. For me, the highlights of the disc are the Fauré pieces, which are so effective in these interpretations that one wishes he’d written original music for viola and piano.