The single-movement First Trio shows the teenage Shostakovich trying his hand for the first time at a full-scale sonata form, and doing so with a mixture of ingenuity, mischief and awkwardness that is never less than engaging. Mindful, perhaps, that the piece was written with his first sweetheart in mind, Ashkenazy and his colleagues bring out its lyrical qualities to the full, with no shortage of momentum where required.

The Second Trio has had numerous recordings but few, if any, that match up to the two featuring the composer himself, at least for structural and dramatic power (there are, of course, plenty that are cleaner and better recorded). This new one is not entirely sure of itself in the tricky large-scale accelerandos that underpin the outer movements, and while the Scherzo is done with both panache and control, I would not always want to hear the slow movement so self-indulgent and lachrymose. The finale certainly has a fine long line. But at the high-point (from around 6'30"), which is also the climax to which the entire work has been aiming, the strings play un-muted; and while Visontay and Lidström are not the only ones to do so, they have the composer against them, not only in the score but on both of his recordings and in his practice in other works (try the Waltz from the String Quartet No 2, composed at almost exactly the same time), where it’s clear that the strain of playing as loud as possible but muted was precisely the expressive effect he had in mind.

In the Viola Sonata Ashkenazy and Ada Meinich certainly bring verve and pungency to the central Scherzo, even if Meinich isn’t the most commanding in some of the flourishes. But their straightforwardness misses by a mile the dramatic tension that can make the spectral outer movements uniquely compelling, even horrifying. Recording quality is on the dry side throughout, and at times Ashkenazy’s piano sounds curiously choked and lacking in brightness.