The first movement of the Cello Sonata, with the exemplary Alexander Rudin, is a good starting point; be drawn into its cool, roving harmonies, which eventually flare into a web of beautifully articulated counterpoint.
Isabelle Faust, a guest soloist with the APO in July, tackles the lyrical Violin Sonata, the joyousness of the performance clearly the result of her close working friendship with Melnikov.
Hindemith is revered by the brass community, which cherishes the amount of music he wrote in this area. The Alto Horn Sonata, with an elegant Teunis van der Zwart, asks the players to recite poems about their instruments before the last movement.
One can hear the relish in Melnikov's opening line: "The old is good not just because it's past."
The Trombone Sonata is lightish - Hindemith himself sanctioned the title of Swashbuckler's Song for one of its movements, caught with piratical elan by Spanish trombonist Gerard Costes.
However, the 1939 Trumpet Sonata is serious bordering on stern. Melnikov and Jeroen Berwaerts invest it with the gravitas needed; you can sense the stormy clouds of World War II hovering, as the Bach chorale, "All Men Must Die", rises in the closing Trauermusik.
Verdict: Alexander Melnikov hosts the perfect introduction to a too-often overlooked master
