In the past we’ve had to make do with only the occasional glimpse of David Russell’s Albéniz on CD. Finally he has devoted an album to a composer whose piano music has always been popular with guitarists but whose subtlety and originality has eluded all but those approaching Russell’s calibre.

Here the Grammy Award-winning artist virtually completes his journey through the Suite Española Op 47 – “Sevilla” and “Asturias” have already been recorded on Reflections of Spain, while “Aragón” and “Castilla” are rarely successful as solo guitar arrangements – as well as offering substantial chunks from the Seis Hojas de Album and Doce Piezas Caracteristicas Op 92 and three further pieces from other collections.

As always, Russell’s playing is a masterly blend of musical intelligence and poetic inspiration. In contrast to a more orchestral approach such as Julian Bream’s, Russell references the piano in his sharply incised accompanimental figures and fulsome melodic lines – yet colours and textures akin to those found in Moorish architecture are the result.

This is more immediately obvious in the clean lines of “Córdoba”, the detailed accompaniment of “Granada”, the bright fluency of “Cuba” and the perfumed exoticism of “Zambra Granadina”; but it’s equally in evidence in the dramatic “Torre Bermeja” and the delicate, nostalgic “Minueto a Sylvia”.

Given the complexity of some of the original scores, Russell is right not to muddy the waters too much. He is a master draughtsman, selecting the most expressive elements of his subject with a view to capturing its essence.