Inspiration flourishes under pressure. He must have known that he had limited time left to him, for the first three works here come from the same miraculous last year of Schubert’s life (1828). The Allegro and Rondo, it is speculated, were intended as the first and last movements of a sonata. Lebensstürme (“Storms of Life” – the apt title is not Schubert’s but his publisher Diabelli’s) is in sonata form featuring three highly contrasted ideas; the Rondo, written a month later, is lighter in character but with the same melodic fecundity and structural breadth. Following these is the greatest of all Schubert’s works for piano duet, the divinely inspired Fantasie. Hasegawa and Tong complete their programme with the earlier (1824) Variations in A flat.

These latter two pieces were played by Richter and Britten at Aldeburgh in 1965 and 1966 respectively – treasurable performances of course (Decca 8/00), but this new recording yields nothing to them in terms of spontaneity and the rapt intimacy so essential to Hausmusik of this kind. In addition, Hasegawa and Tong benefit from the absence of the Aldeburgh asthmatics and the less-than-ideal acoustic of Jubilee Hall where the Fantasie was performed. They have been given a superlative recorded sound (Champs Hill, Coldwaltham in Sussex) which captures in a realistic way their rich, cushioned tone, one that caresses the ears whether in such dramatic passages as the Fantasie’s Allegro vivace or the haunting lyricism of D813’s third variation. I should have liked different tracks for each section of the Fantasie and Variations – my one complaint.