It was just a matter of time before the world’s most popular classical pianist devoted an entire CD to the world’s most popular classical piano composer. Lang Lang begins with Chopin’s Op 25 Etudes. No 1 establishes the pianist’s beautifully modulated sonority along with the kind of affettuoso gestures his critics love to hate: the swooningly prolonged first note, the Liberace-like ritard at the end, plus his bringing a bass note down an octave – well, if it’s good enough for Cortot, Horowitz, Paderewski…

No 2 is impressively molto legato as Chopin indicates but a tad sedate for a real presto. However, Lang Lang’s vital, direct way with No 3 easily absorbs the highlighted inner voices and artificial accents. His brisk, steady and playful No 4 makes child’s play out of the left-hand ‘stride piano’ jumps but, again, No 5’s self-conscious and overly arch dynamic taperings sometimes vulgarise the pianist’s penchant for textural variety. The double-note etudes, Nos 6 and 8, and the nocturnal No 7 are smoothly dispatched, yet Pollini’s superior expressive economy conveys a suppler, more animated impression. But the ‘Butterfly’ (No 9) is a delight; and notice how Lang Lang brilliantly throws away the last two measures in strict tempo with a true pianissimo – what a magical effect, and exactly as the composer marked. The ‘Octave’ (No 10) Etude’s intelligently parsed-out sections bracket the pianist’s soft-grained, underplayed ben legato episode. By contrast, the final two etudes exude wonderful bravura and heroic sweep.

The Nocturnes disappoint, especially the cautious and shapeless Op 55 No 2, where Lang Lang’s episodic, bar-by-bar phrasing reduces the long duet lines to nothing more than pretty gestures. And only in the central agitato episodes does Op 15 No 1 come alive. Both the E flat Waltz, Op 18, and the ubiquitous Minute Waltz feature scintillating and contrived moments. Had the Op 22 Polonaise’s basic dance rhythm had more palpable backbone and swagger, Lang Lang’s sectionalised, rounded-off phrasing would have sounded less precious. It’s ironic how Lang Lang’s most interesting playing occurs when he attempts to ‘interpret’ the least. Sony’s resplendent, seductively resonant engineering deserves the highest praise.