Here’s an intelligently programmed, incisively played recital of 20th-century Russian cello sonatas by husband-wife duo Marie-Elisabeth Hecker and Martin Helmchen.

Although the constraints of the Soviet Union weigh down on four of the six featured works, Rachmaninov’s Cello Sonata, strategically placed at the recital’s end, harks back to a less confined (one might even say more authentic) Russian voice, while Stravinsky’s neo-classical Suite Italienne, deliriously at odds with Socialist Realism, points to a direction that might have been fruitfully taken had political dictates not interfered.

With its archly realised pastiche and pantomimic frivolity drawn from his ballet Pulcinella, Stravinsky’s Suite is something of a (welcome) cuckoo in the nest here. Hecker and Helmchen clearly enjoy themselves, relishing its cartoon colouring, witty buffoonery and pointed tongue-in-cheek scoring.

Contrastingly, they treat Rachmaninov with due regard for his dark-hued sonorities, dramatic nuance, heart-on-sleeve emotion, and vivaciously loving and carefree finale – the latter qualities so often denied his Soviet successors.

Shostakovich’s Janus-like D minor Sonata, with one ear...