According to one online discography, there are 11 recordings of Martha Argerich playing Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto and 15 of the Ravel G major. Does the world really need another?

When the pianism is as playful, youthful and inventive as this, how could anyone doubt it? Argerich, it seems, is constitutionally incapable of playing a string of equal notes simply as they appear on the stave; each run is inflected somehow, given a personalised articulation or dynamic, stretched or telescoped to create something utterly singular and individual, yet without in any way distorting the music. Her touch is just as magical in these performances, made at the age of 78, as it is in recordings dating back five decades or more. There’s no sense of routine, of a veteran pianist wheeling out the party pieces one more time. It would take ages to go through them all to make certain, but you’re left feeling fairly sure that even in the pieces with which she’s been most closely associated for years, she’s never played them the same way twice.

Argerich has always been a cheerleader for Beethoven’s B flat Concerto and it sounds as fresh here as ever. Her touch is assertive in the opening movement, richly reflective in the second. And she launches into the finale before the Adagio’s final note has died away, daring the Israel Phil players to keep up with her, which they just about do.

It’s the same in the Ravel. Listen carefully and you may spot a missed note or two – but it barely matters. This is joyous music-making from first note to last. Although Argerich has performed with the Israeli orchestra for many years, this is the first collaboration with them she has sanctioned for release, and in Lahav Shani she finds a like mind – any momentary uncouthness from the orchestra is purely a matter of these being live performances, as is some barely perceptible audience noise. There’s a breathless whoop and enthusiastic applause at the end of the Ravel. Argerich’s undiminished brilliance is a reason to rejoice – and long may she continue! Even if you already have her playing 11 other Beethoven Seconds and 15 other Ravel G majors, do give these wonderful, unique performances a listen.