Since Joanne Polk has long championed piano music by important pioneering women composers such as Fanny Hensel and Amy Beach, perhaps it was just a matter of time before she turned her attention to Louise Farrenc (1804 75).

The opening selection, Air russe varié, may hold little interest beyond surface charm and skilful pacing, yet Polk’s direct and assertive interpretation easily eclipses its recorded predecessors. Like many other composer/pianists of her generation, Farrenc contributed to the operatic paraphrase genre. Polk’s clarion projection of melodies and inherent sense of drama vivify two pieces respectively drawing upon music from Bellini’s Norma and Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots.

Ferrenc’s piano études occasionally turn up in teaching anthologies for didactic purposes, yet Polk has culled a selection whose purely musical appeal speaks for itself. Book 1’s standouts include several quasi-Mendelssohn galops in triple metre (Nos 5 and 11), a lyrical piece with a busy, rolling accompaniment (No 9) and an unpretentious fugue on two subjects (No 12). Incidentally, I prefer Polk’s perky reading of the latter to Konstanze Eickhorst’s plainer and slower performance (CPO). Book 2’s études are altogether superior creations, from the stormy chromatic patterns in No 17 to No 25’s unrelentingly rapid left-hand runs. Polk plays them with total conviction and mastery. In sum, this well-engineered and thoughtfully programmed release is first choice for anyone seeking an introduction to Farrenc’s solo piano output.