The aesthetic and technical demands of Debussy’s Études and Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit represent a badge of honour, even a kind of intellectual caché among more and more young pianists. Joseph Moog’s remarkable keyboard prowess and great gift for colouristic refinement certainly lend themselves to this repertoire, notwithstanding strong catalogue competition.

Moog brings staggering poise and control to the first Debussy étude’s rapid leggiero passagework, although one can argue that the basic tempo is too fast for the music’s sudden mood changes to register. He coaxes out rather than underlines No 2’s countermelodies and keeps the right-hand double thirds suave and steady: quite different from Roger Muraro’s expansive and sexy interpretation (Harmonia Mundi, 1/19). For all of Moog’s beautifully modulated pianism in No 3, I find Mitsuko Uchida far more attentive to differentiating soft dynamics (Philips, 7/90). Moog begins No 4 rather placidly, while driving the stringere staccato double sixths a little too hard – overcompensating, perhaps? By contrast, No 5’s central passage in alternating octaves and single notes has rarely sounded so insouciantly even. Nor have No 6’s finger-flying runs, although, again, Uchida makes more of Debussy’s carefully deployed dynamic hairpins. No 7 could have been lighter and softer: by not sustaining the third- and second-to last bars, Moog misses the intended humour behind that dry staccato final dyad.

Moog brilliantly conveys No 8’s mercurial character, despite his sidestepping some of the composer’s hair-trigger tempo modifications. No 9’s repeated notes gain more from Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s sharply delineated accents and surging crescendos (Chandos, 12/08) than in Moog’s more generalised approach. Moog’s workaday No 10 finally comes to life with a gorgeously timed Lento transition before the piece’s last 13 bars. No 11 ignites Moog’s imagination and propensity for uncovering details but No 12’s inner rhythms and dynamic contrasts fall flat.

Moog imbues Ravel’s ‘Ondine’ with marvellous textural control throughout, even when playing full-out at the climax. One could wish for ‘Le gibet’ to shimmer more resonantly but Moog unfolds the billowy chords and tolling B flats in three-dimensional perspective. ‘Scarbo’ is the prize here: Moog’s effortless mastery may not tap into the dark or demonic currents served up by Ivo Pogorelich (DG, 6/83) or Benjamin Grosvenor (Decca, 10/11), yet his nimble, playful and scintillating reading is on the highest level. So is Onyx’s engineering.