Two young British artists, both winners of international prizes, the cellist Philip Higham and the pianist Simon Lane, form an outstanding duo. The most striking performance is of Britten’s Cello Sonata, the first of the masterpieces he wrote for Mstislav Rostropovich and one of the few works in which Britten adopted a conventional form.

Not that the writing is at all conventional. What is most striking about this performance is that, thanks to the brilliance of Simon Lane at the piano, the virtuosity of the piano-writing is thrillingly brought out. It is writing intended for Britten himself to play while the cello part concentrates on the instrument’s lyrical qualities, as in the central ‘Elegia’, the third of the five movements. In the fourth movement, ‘Marcia’, it is almost as though Britten is trying to imitate his Soviet colleague Shostakovich, who had introduced him to the cellist.

The three Frank Bridge pieces are well contrasted between easy lyricism and dazzling virtuosity in dashing triplets, while the duo are just as understanding in the French pieces by Debussy and Fauré. Debussy’s late Cello Sonata is a difficult piece to hold together, with its sudden switches of mood, but Higham and Lane are magnetic, ending with a powerful pay-off.

Fauré’s popular Elégie comes in its full version with contrasting central section, a performance of high dynamic contrasts, with Higham exploiting his full range of tone. The two shorter pieces are also well characterised, ending with the fluttering Papillon, imitating butterfly’s wings. Excellent sound, clean and well balanced.