Prepare yourself for a deliciously scintillating potpourri of choice delicacies, full of character and charm, the sort that has virtually disappeared from concert life today but which, in the early decades of the 20th century, held audiences in thrall. The names of the various composers, who hail from across Europe, the UK and the US, will be most familiar to pianists; and the common thread uniting these pieces is that they were dedicated to Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938), aka ‘the pianist’s pianist’, whose sesquicentennial is this year. The programme concept and a good deal of the repertoire was suggested by Gramophone’s own Jeremy Nicholas, who also contributes the booklet notes. But the man responsible for bringing this varied and in many ways challenging music vividly and stylishly to life is the Russian pianist Andrey Gugnin.

These savoury morsels are too numerous to describe in detail but here are some of the highlights. There are four Character Sketches by Josef Hofmann, the prodigy pupil of Anton Rubinstein who grew up to form a mutual admiration society with Rachmaninov and to whom Rachmaninov dedicated his Third Concerto. My favourite of that set is ‘Jadis’, a piquant mazurka inflected fantasy, while ‘Kaleidoskop’ was famously recorded by the composer, as well as by Shura Cherkassky and Marc-André Hamelin. Then there’s Hofmann’s pupil Abram Chasins, whose brief Prelude, Op 12 No 1, is far more arrestingly elegant than his once popular Rush Hour in Hong Kong. Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Mark Twain’s son-in-law, is represented by a particularly fine Étude for left hand alone. Troikas en suite are contributed by both Leschetizky and his distinguished pupil Ignaz Friedman. The Liszt school is represented by his pupil, Emil Sauer’s prickly Étude No 19 in a sprightly performance, as well as Busoni’s formidable arrangement of ‘La campanella’, here all playful sonorities. Among many factors that make Gugnin’s performances so admirable is that he’s able to imbue each piece with its own distinctively recognisable character. But even more importantly, Gugnin approaches these works on their own terms so that, far from seeming dated or brittle, they emerge fresh and full of vitality and charm.

So for listeners suffering Beethoven fatigue, or those nostalgic for bygone days before the planet was doomed – or those who would simply like to hear some incredibly good piano-playing – this is the album for you.