William Blake’s aphorism ‘no bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings’ can be interpreted to mirror artists who have minds of their own, who will circle above us questioning, questing and making it new (even when it isn’t). The beauty of this programme – quite aside from the players’ crazed spontaneity – is that it revolves around two duo masterpieces: Ravel’s Sonata in A minor, a fair match, in terms of musical quality, for the composer’s Piano Trio, and Zoltán Kodály’s Duo, Op 7, one of two Kodály chamber masterpieces infused with Bartókian passion and rawness, the other being the Solo Cello Sonata, Op 8. Which suggests to me that were these two mavericks to revisit this imaginative concept again – which I hope they do – they might care to care to place the Bartók Solo Violin and Kodály Solo Cello Sonatas as linchpins, much as the duos serve here.

Kopatchinskaja describes Jörg Widmann’s two Duos as resembling a couple of witty anecdotes, the first (on track 2) incorporating at 0'57" a cameo appearance by the James Bond Dr No theme. Francisco Coll’s original if mostly mournful Rizoma (a first performance, it would appear) drew an interesting response from the composer in the form of some noted mistakes which Gabetta comes clean about in the booklet (‘for all those who will be the next to perform [the piece]’). Rather easier on the ear is Julien-François Zbinden’s La fête au village, composed in 1947 (‘he was still alive when we recorded it [in 2018]’). This musical reflection of Swiss National Day is, according to the composer (and the players), ‘an affectionate caricature’, each of its short movements preceded by a spoken announcement of its title. ‘Pont de danse’ is rather like Shostakovich in film-music mode, the closing ‘Soir’ a study in shimmering textures, very Bartókian, as is Xenakis’s Dhipli Zyia (shades of the Hungarian master’s Fourth String Quartet).

As to the Kodály Duo, like the more forceful (rather than playful) partnership of Barnabás Kelemen and cellist Nicolas Altstaedt (also on Alpha, 9/21), Sol and Pat take the folky meno mosso section (track 22, from 2'04") rather more swiftly than usual. Very different viewpoints, both top-drawer, on a programme that also includes miniatures by Ligeti, Markowicz, Jean-Marie Leclair (a lively Tambourin with light percussion) and JS and CPE Bach. Next time, a touch more spiced Baroque would be welcome (these players are so good at it) – maybe some off-the-wall Telemann or Zelenka – and if you want to know why I’m referring to a ‘next time’, treat yourself to this programme. It makes for a marvellous 80 minutes’ worth of listening and the informative printed conversation between Sol and Pat is fun to read.