Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto project is, I believe, one of the most significant series of piano recordings ever undertaken. Given the company’s recent defeat in its copyright action case, I would like to be able to give Volume 37 a rave, but sadly it comes as a relative disappointment (despite Hyperion’s usual immaculate standards of production, recording and performance).

Eduard Nápravník (1839-1916) wrote his Concerto symphonique in 1877. It begins promisingly with a gesture reminiscent of the ‘Dies irae’ from Verdi’s Requiem. The snaking second subject, too, is arresting but the writing soon descends into a development of note-twirling vacuity. Unlike the artists in some previous less-than-first-rate works in this series, Soifertis and Titov lack the wherewithal to elevate the three movements into the ‘forgotten gem’ class. Similarly, the 1881 Fantaisie russe runs out of inspiration soon after the opening ‘Volga Boatmen’ though is partly redeemed by its spirited third subject and coda.

Felix Blumenfeld (1863-1931), remembered as the teacher of Horowitz and Barere and for his iconic Etude for the Left Hand, was more of a melodist, as manifested in the succession of sweeping Russian-Romantic themes of his Allegro de concert of 1889. This brief work (13’54”), with its heroic Lisztian figurations and heartfelt lyricism, is reason enough to buy the disc and sample all three of these world premiere recordings.