Before launching into Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, Andreas Staier offers an overture of sorts. He commences with Anton Diabelli’s C major Waltz, then follows with eight variations by composers invited by Diabelli to contribute a variation upon that waltz for a benefit anthology. Next, Staier improvises a stylish interlude that provides a bridge that leads straight into Beethoven’s magnum keyboard opus. Staier’s perfectly judged tempi, angular demeanour, characterful contrasts, biting accents and cumulative sweep add up to a performance that abounds with probing details yet never loses sight of the music’s grand design.

Notice, for example, the minuscule shadings and stresses that spice up Staier’s suave and steady dispatch of Var 2’s chords alternating between the hands, or his supple, pliable response to Var 4’s poco più vivace directive that emerges relatively slow and clunky in Gary Cooper’s fortepiano rendition. In Var 5, Cooper’s flaccid repeated-note phrases are no match for Staier’s buoyant rhythm and focused phrasing. Staier gets Var 9’s often vaguely articulated accents absolutely right, while Var 10’s dynamic surges propel the fast scale-wise chords over the bar-lines (so different from Paul Lewis’s less eventful symmetry). Staier gauges Var 13’s humorous pauses with masterful comic timing, while Beethoven’s parody on Mozart’s ‘Notte e giorno faticar’ from Don Giovanni, Var 22, is convincingly enhanced by the fortepiano’s discreet percussion stop. However, the cymbal crash accompanying Var 23’s big chords pulls focus from the scampering runs that follow, and arguably approaches bad taste. By contrast, the concluding minor-key variations flow with eloquent simplicity and a true singing tone. Although it may be prudent to wait and see how Ronald Brautigam’s upcoming recording pans out, Staier’s is too good to ignore. This is far and away the most stimulating and best-played fortepiano Diabelli Variations on compact disc.