Though Peter Donohoe surely needs no introduction to readers of these pages, it may come as a surprise that this is his first solo recital for Chandos. His programme of well-chosen works by Ferruccio Busoni includes the relatively late Toccata from 1921, the Six Elegies and the Berceuse, works Busoni himself considered the earliest manifestations of his mature style, and his sixth and last Sonatina, based on Bizet’s Carmen. It concludes with Busoni’s 1900 transcription of Bach’s Toccata, Adagio and Fugue. In a booklet note, Donohoe writes that he first began to engage seriously with Busoni’s music in the early 1980s, an involvement that culminated in a performance of Busoni’s massive Piano Concerto at the BBC Proms in 1988, a celebrated account that was subsequently issued by EMI (1/91). Indeed, his performances here exhibit a seasoned intimacy with this repertory.

The Toccata is a formidable work, unfolding in three movements: Prelude, Fantasy and Chaconne. Amid considerable virtuoso demands, Donohoe’s performance reveals Busoni’s bold architectural design, even as it delineates his complex counterpoint with pristine clarity.

The seven Elegies (the Berceuse was included in the published set) form the heart of the release. As diverse in mood and means as they are as a group, in each case Donohoe conveys a solid grasp of the affective content, imparting it with an almost uncanny communicative ease, clothed in a richly suggestive aura of mystery.

The Chamber-Fantasy on Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, to quote the full title of the Sonatina No 6, is given an intellectually cohesive and sparklingly imaginative reading. Particularly vivid is the final page, marked by Busoni Andante visionario, where the ‘fate’ motif, suggested earlier in the Fantasy, takes centre stage. Donohoe skilfully evokes what could be a dwindling candle finally sputtering into darkness.

Perhaps the least successful performance is of the Bach transcription. Busoni’s imaginative transfer of organ sonorities to the piano is amply evident but the musical material itself comes off rather square and metronomically rigid by today’s mainstream ideas of Baroque style. This is but a quibble, given the overall sympathy and bravura that characterise Donohoe’s thoughtful readings of Busoni, whom Arthur Rubinstein called ‘by far the most interesting pianist alive’. Performances of this calibre suggest that, at long last, Busoni’s music may be coming into its own.