The most convincing performances of Chopin’s seldom-heard Allegro de concert texturally differentiate the work’s solo and tutti passages. Charles Richard-Hamelin treats the opening 86 bars more like piano music than the orchestral ritornello that transpires in Vladimir Ashkenazy’s hands with greater contrasts in dynamics (Decca). He also uses more rubato in the decorative right-hand phrases, whereas Ashkenazy’s relatively stricter metrics do more to reveal their rhythmic variety and potential for scintillation. Richard-Hamelin’s reading of Albéniz’s epic La Vega has a forthright momentum that differs from Marc-André Hamelin’s subtle colorations and lyrical introspection (Hyperion, 6/05); it’s difficult to chose one approach over the other.

On the other hand, Richard-Hamelin’s ardently idiomatic Granados Allegro de concierto easily holds its own alongside Alicia de Larrocha’s benchmark Decca recording (3/85), while Granados’s Valses poéticos are deliciously pointed and characterised. Freshly minted details in a selection of Chopin Waltzes also are worth noting, such as the varied pedallings and articulations in the Minute and C sharp minor pieces. The pianist eases his way into the E minor, rather than rushing from the proverbial starting gate, while the A minor Op 34 No 2’s brooding left-hand cantabile has a cello-like richness. Although his ‘old-school’ voicings and tempo adjustments hold interest in the A flat Op 42, they somehow don’t hold together with the sense of transition and overall shape in Josef Hofmann’s still unsurpassed 1935 HMV test pressing issued by Marston on ‘The Complete Josef Hofmann, Vol 5’ (11/97). Still, if nothing else, one must acknowledge Richard-Hamelin’s ingenious programme-building and Analekta’s gorgeous recorded sound.