The bad news straight away. Two external factors seriously undermine this disc. Firstly‚ the recorded sound is very close and airless‚ restricting the dynamic range and adding an aggressive brashness to the piano tone. Secondly‚ there is a persistent thumping sound in the background that I can only assume is from the sustaining pedal; although it is not immediately obvious‚ once it has been detected it is extremely off­putting. Try ‘Words Fail!’ in From an Overgrown Path‚ Series 1 – track 12‚ especially from 1'16". This is something that should have been picked up during the sessions‚ and certainly shouldn’t have made it through to the final edit. Beyond these fundamental problems‚ Aldo Ciccolini – despite much honest endeavour and various insights – doesn’t always help himself. He must bear some responsibility for the unbeautiful piano tone‚ the rigid approach to temporal shifts and rubato‚ the occasional plodding tempo and various awkward technical corners. His characterisation is often rather wooden – the whispering figurations in the second piece from In the Mists‚ for example‚ lack the required pianissimo and deftness of touch. In the Sonata‚ too‚ the earthbound Ciccolini makes you aware of the purely physical aspect of his playing‚ whereas others – Rudolf FirkuÅn³ in particular – transcend the instrument to portray the emotional core of the work. While Andsnes’s youthful recording is rather immature and overbearing‚ especially in the Sonata‚ he has a far greater pianistic refinement than Ciccolini; but FirkuÅn³ remains the benchmark in these marvellous pieces‚ and he of course doesn’t have to contend with the setbacks inflicted on Ciccolini.