I suggested in my review of Ketil Haugsand’s recording of the Goldbergs that this imaginative Norwegian had thrown down the gauntlet to harpsichordists: those who have tended towards colour and effect without grappling with the internal references, characters and arguments which make the Goldbergs a universal stage for keyboardists of all predilections. Hantaï’s second recording, after his Gramophone Award-winning reading of 1994, is, as you would expect, a more mature offering, albeit locked – often with telling utterances – into a kind of microcosm of its own making. Hantaï’s first disc rightly brought the house down with its sonorous registrations, seriously considered poise and youthful cultivation, then this one is more extrovert – his Knif and Pelto harpsichord is generally edgier – in its punchy swagger, emphatic articulation, celebratory embellishments and rhetorical strength.

Not all Hantaï’s ideas have changed in 10 years as Variations 7, 9 and 14 (randomly taken from several) seem really to be little more than slightly less impatient renderings from the same pool of inspiration. Compared to his recent Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier, there is little of the enigmatic under-playing which he exploited to mixed effect there.

While Hantaï may take a little more time these days (barely a minute over the original version), there is a perceivable desire to accentuate the showpiece element to the Goldbergs with bravura and thrillingly projected textures. Haugsand experiments rather more variously with figuration and rhythm and consequently rather more dimensions in the music are revealed. One only needs to compare the directional musicality of Haugsand with Hantaï’s prosaic asides in Variations 13 and 25. No one can doubt the latter’s remarkable dexterity and ability to suggest true rejoicing but there is something frenetic, faintly exhausting and even obsessive about the homogeneity of personality he brings to each variation. These poetic limitations concern the sense of how the 32 movements can connect with one another to divulge the most compelling secrets in to Bach’s greatest single keyboard achievement. As a postscript, there is a nasty hum in several movements which should have been filtered out or alternative takes used.