Upon receiving this CD I inwardly groaned. Had the art of yet another two otherwise superb musicians gone the way of the anodyne potpourri? Happily, I was only half-right. “Reverie” is indeed a collection of fragrant petals, albeit far from dry. The works are well chosen, sensitively arranged and tastefully ordered. More importantly, though, the playing is exquisite. Rarely have I heard Wang so beautifully restrained; rarely have I heard Söllscher so naturally expressive. And although the ranges of the two instruments are similar, their individual timbres and modes of tone-production provide a wealth of variety.

Falla’s Danza española No 1 and “Nana” (from his Siete canciones populares españolas) combine to form the ideal exordium, immediately grabbing the listener’s attention while providing a perfect summary of the whole disc. The vibrant colours and exciting rhythms of the Danza become muted and yet more emotionally dense in the song, Wang matching the weight of his tone to Söllscher’s feathery harmonics while sacrificing nothing in terms of intensity. The effect is mesmerising, and it’s been hard-won: in the booklet interview, Wang says he practised for some months before making this recording with the goal of matching “the purity and simplicity of the guitar”.

Many examples of each artist’s sensitivity to the other follow, Piazzolla’s Milonga del ángel and the famous Sicilienne among the best. But really there are no disappointments. Even the base metal of “Memory” from Cats, with which the disc ends, is transformed into pure gold.