Linking these three violin sonatas under the title ‘Sounds of War’ produces a powerful recital. Each work caused its composer uncharacteristic difficulty, Janáček taking from 1914 to 1921 with his Sonata, Poulenc from 1943 until 1949 with his, while still remaining unsatisfied. Prokofiev needed from 1938 to 1946 for a work that seems also to have reflected the crushing fist of Stalinism. All three make considerable emotional as well as technical demands, and Milstein and Shybayeva have clearly studied them in depth.

Janáček’s Sonata is an enigmatic work, with the lyrical ‘Ballada’ movement steadily undermined as it progresses to its forlorn conclusion; this is movingly handled, as is the balance between serenity and tension in the Allegretto, and the touching conclusion, with beautiful interplay between instruments throughout. Poulenc’s Sonata begins furiously at maximum tension, then draws clear into a touchingly aloof quality for the grieving Intermezzo, music in which Poulenc mourned the death of his friend the poet Lorca. This is one of the most moving pieces he ever wrote, and the finale, with its last depairing cry, is surely for all Poulenc’s doubts the fitting conclusion to one of his strongest works.

Prokofiev’s First Sonata, considerably the longest of the three, is also an eloquent work, demanding some highly original effects for its expression, as when in the Andante the piano is set in extreme treble and bass with the muted violin lamenting in the middle. There are further difficulties of balance and expression with the phrase perhaps central to the work, when in Prokofiev’s own words the violin sounds ‘like the wind in a graveyard’. If each sonata presented its composer with problems, there are also many for the performers. These are thoughtful, powerful interpretations.