That Dejan Lazic is a musician full of ideas and refreshing individuality is not in doubt, and the programming here, juxtaposing early and late Schumann with late Brahms, is illuminating. Waldszenen comes off particularly well, capturing the fantasy of Schumann’s fleeting images and moods very well, particularly in “Einsame Blumen” and “Freundliche Landschaft”, the latter more mercurial than in Richter’s compelling traversal. There’s a sense of unbridled exuberance in “Jagdlied” too. Occasionally in the slower pieces Lazic can sound a touch deliberate alongside Richter, particularly in the mysterious “Verrufene Stelle”.

That deliberateness tips over into self-consciousness in his rather curious reading of Papillons. Again, his sound is very appealing, and there is much felicitous phrasing where fleetness is required. But in slower numbers Lazic can become portentous – Nos 3 and 5 in particular and in the coda of the Finale. This also has the effect of making the work sound excessively sectionalised – very much at odds with Richter, Cortot (EMI – nla) and Perahia.

Brahms’s Op 118 Klavierstücke, even when turbulent, such as in the very opening, have a certain introspection. It’s this apparent contradiction that makes them such a challenge for pianists, and an aspect that Lazic seems to be trying almost too hard to convey. In No 2, for instance, his desynchronisation between the hands unbalances the work’s inherent classicism. Angelich is simpler here, and more effective. And in No 3, Lazic lessens the potency of its driving rhythms (so well realised by Vogt) with an excess of rubato. This is a pity for there are also moments of beauty, such as the opening passage of No 4, or the trill-laden middle section of No 5, where Lazic’s touch is perfect. So, something of a mixed bag, though Waldszenen is well worth hearing.