It’s always a coup when two internationally renowned soloists come together to play chamber music, and Steven Isserlis and Stephen Hough undoubtedly make quite the pair, though you wouldn’t guess it straight away. Isserlis, with his signature mop of wild, grey locks, is a hot-blooded player known for his energy and sense of fun. Hough, sporting his neatly parted, conservatively coifed do, is instead the picture of cool, refined control.

Hairstyles aside, they each possess profound musical intellects, while both are considerable champions of creative diversity. Isserlis is just as much at home playing Bach as he is tackling the toughest of contemporary music, and besides the standard repertoire, Hough has a keen curiosity for discovering some of the more rarely heard music of the 19th century. It’s a testament to each of them that they can effortlessly trade the soloist spotlight for the delicate and often difficult dualism of chamber music.

This disc marks their third joint foray into the cello sonata repertoire. They’ve done the Brahms sonatas as well as Rachmaninov and Franck. This time they’ve chosen to feature some lesser-known offerings, including Grieg’s only cello sonata and Mendelssohn’s second. Nestled in between these two gems is...