‘Will Mullova keep us waiting another ten or more years for her next sonata instalment’, I asked when the second volume of her exploration of Beethoven’s violin sonatas finally appeared (Onyx, 6/21). Well, the answer’s no, only a mere three, and it’s been well worth the wait. That last issue brought with it a change of pianist (Kristian Bezuidenhout was Mullova’s partner in Vol 1 – 9/10) and this one brings a change of label, to Signum Classics.

What remains, though, is the duo’s laser focus on detail, enabling them to reimagine this familiar music in contemporary terms through a period-instrument prism. The Paul McNulty copy of an 1805 Walter fortepiano conspires with Mullova’s gut-strung violin in performances exploiting an uncommonly wide dynamic and colouristic range, from almost ghostly pianissimos to roaring fortes – and in Beethoven’s more truculent moods, such as the minore variation of Op 12 No 1’s central Andante con moto, the two growl and cry together, before the music seems to gather its composure with the return to the major key. Such a range means that slight crescendos or diminuendos really make a mark, sudden shifts of dynamic command the attention and the many sf and fp markings really sting.

Duncan Druce found moments in the first instalment too cool for his taste but these readings are kept on the boil throughout, concentration never allowed to slip. Mullova and Beatson vividly convey the confidence of Beethoven’s earliest fiddle sonata, just as they do the unbuttoned vivacity of the outer movements of Op 30 No 3, reminding you that the visionary drive of the Kreutzer Sonata was only a year in the future. And they are strong advocates for the more elusive Op 30 No 1, bringing personal insights to its lyrical enigmas – a tantalising taste of what they might do with the visionary final sonata, Op 96, presumably imminent on the concluding volume of this ever-compelling series.