Jean-guihen Queyras & Alexander Melnikov

Queen’s Hall

They make an odd couple: the exuberant, extrovert French cellist Jean-guihen Queyras; the reserved, somewhat austere, stony-faced Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov. It really shouldn’t work – and it really does. Probably because of their shared sense of fantasy, an impetuous perspective on their shared music, that seems to materialise quite naturally between them. It was there right from the start of their compelling International Festival recital, which brought together three cello sonatas by composers who were also themselves virtuoso pianists, guaranteeing plenty of meaty demands for Melnikov’s fiery talents.

The start of their opener, Beethoven’s Op. 102 No. 2 Sonata, felt almost gratuitously stop-start in its exploratory mulling over of material, but it developed into a provocative account of this rather uncompromising work.

Their Chopin Sonata, while rubato-laden, was thoughtful and thoroughly lyrical, and they had energy in reserve for a gutsy Rachmaninov Sonata, full of mercurial switches of direction. Melnikov might have had a few splashy moments in the final piece, but in their encore

– a restrained yet defined Debussy Sonata – both musicians made every one of its pared-down notes play its vital role.