First the positives. In Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, Nick Van Bloss’s supple precision brings out the shifting accents of Var 2’s alternating hand patterns with expressive economy. No 8 receives an affectionate, lilting treatment, and if No 10’s Presto doesn’t race with abandon, the pianist’s careful articulation illuminates Beethoven’s displacements of phrase against the metre. Bloss gauges No 13’s silences with a sense of comic timing worthy of mention alongside that of Charles Rosen’s classic, long out-of-print reference recording. He shapes No 14’s quick up-beats with vocally orientated flexibility and clarifies No 32’s close, sticky fugal textures without pounding them to death.

Elsewhere, however, the work’s large-scale design, cumulative momentum and elaboration of detail elude the pianist. Bloss flattens out Beethoven’s trademark subito dynamics (Nos 5, 6 and 9) and underplays the music’s rollicking, virtuoso brio in the contiguous Nos 16 through 18 and in No 23’s wild, scampering flourishes. Even the waltz theme’s promising sprint slightly slows down as it progresses, while, conversely, No 1’s march (with its inconsistently articulated sforzandos) lacks the gravitas of a true Maestoso.

The Appassionata Sonata also appears to be a work-in-progress for Bloss. It takes the pianist a little time to clearly establish a basic pulse for the first movement proper. While his brisk central Andante con moto variations couldn’t be more unified, the finale’s limited dynamic scope and cautious build-up in the coda do not represent Bloss at his unfettered, daring best.