The Grieg violin and piano sonatas, each with its own highly distinctive character, make an excellent CD programme, even without the bonus of six splendid arrangements of Grieg piano pieces by Joseph Achron. Hagai Shaham plays the livelier ones (I’m thinking especially of Puck and the Scherzo-Impromptu) in true virtuoso style, and he’s equally successful in the gentler pieces – warm and relaxed for At Home, intense and pleading in Lonely Wanderer.

In the sonatas, Arnon Erez can exchange the role of accompanist for that of partner, with the chance of showing his own virtuosity. But this team eschew the extravagant style of Dumay and Pires, who go all out for expressive intensity, achieving many vivid, memorable moments but often ignoring Grieg’s written intentions. Shaham and Erez are more concerned with continuity and balance; the playing is outgoing and communicative, and each movement makes a distinct, positive impression.

They don’t quite show Grieg’s full range: in some of the quieter, more reflective passages, like the middle section of the Second Sonata’s second movement, Kraggerud and Kjekshus, with their more intimate, penetrative manner, create a delicate, poetic feeling that’s not found on this new disc. But in vivacious movements like this sonata’s finale, the sheer verve of the playing is irresistible. The dancelike sections of the Third Sonata’s finale make a similar impression and its ‘big’ tune is wonderfully well graded, with the cumulative, immediate effect of a fine live performance. A more superficial view of the music than Kraggerud and Kjekshus’s? Maybe: but it’s still an extremely enjoyable issue.