Tobias Feldmann and Boris Kusnezow make their debut on Alpha with this unusually titled disc which, the 25-year-old German violinist explains, refers to the colours of the works involved: ‘Strauss is more or less flaming red, Ravel more of a blue-green and Prokofiev is far more black and white.’

Their Prokofiev Second Sonata has many good things in it: they’re alive to the changeability of the opening Moderato and their Scherzo has a dancing, darting quality, while the finale finds both players in their element, enjoying the sinewy nature of Prokofiev’s writing, even if they have less clarity in its Poco meno mosso (track 5, 0'58") than the superb Ehnes and Armstrong. In the Andante, however, Feldmann’s straightforward beauty is no match for Ibragimova, who conjures a sense of murky dread.

The ebullience of Strauss’s early Violin Sonata clearly appeals greatly to the two players and Feldmann delights in its songful lines, Kusnezow dealing with the often treacherous piano-writing with aplomb, if occasionally a little too much force in the louder passages. If as a whole Vilde Frang is tonally more varied and has in Lifits the most sensitive of pianists, Feldmann is particularly sweet-toned in the slow movement, where Tasmin Little sounds huskier. And the finale has some delightfully impish playing by both Feldmann and Kusnezow as they head towards the closing bars.

However, the Ravel doesn’t quite convince. Feldmann coats it in a lustrous tone – just compare his opening phrases with those of Capuçon and Ibragimova, both of whom are more sparing with their vibrato. The latter has, in Tiberghien, a Ravellian of the first class and the way they breathe the lines together is highly evocative. Feldmann plays the sonata beautifully but it simply sounds too plushly Romantic (too red, not enough blue-green, perhaps). But, niggles aside, Feldmann is certainly an artist to watch.