Following his vital and enlivening discs of the Partitas (9/06), Craig Sheppard continues with the 15 Two-Part Inventions and Sinfonias, judiciously pairing them according to their key signatures. Once more you sense a pianist setting out on a joyful journey of spiritual discovery and enlightenment. Bach's Aufrichtige Anleitung, his “Honest Guidance”, may be diamond chippings from his workshop, but they positively brim over with zest and ebullience, the product of a tirelessly audacious and resourceful musical mind. Playing with a clarity and focus which the finest harpsichordist might envy, Sheppard looks back at past glory with bright contemporary eyes, and if his concentrated wit and vitality remind us at times of Glenn Gould, his performances are quite without that pianist's often wilful idiosyncrasy.

Delighting in a feast of variety that lies beneath an outwardly academic surface, he conveys all of the heart-easing resilience of Sinfonia No 5, the sparkle and joie de vivre of Invention No 8, but is equally sensitive to the F minor Sinfonia No 9, music of an astonishing modernity and very much the “black pearl” of the set. But wherever you turn you will hear playing that is vividly communicative, whether recreating music that is joyful or wistful, radiant or clouded, making one look forward eagerly to a promised recording of the 48 Preludes and Fugues. Sheppard's accompanying essay is at once personal and informative, and his performances have again been taken live from a concert given at Seattle's Meany Theatre.