Here, as in Volume 1 (1/03), is a scholar’s paradise, a place which amply confirms Liszt’s tireless capacity for adventure and experiment. For unlike, say, Chopin, whose first versions were usually his last, or Ravel, whose fastidious nature only allowed him a limited output, Liszt was a master of trial and error.

Anyone who wants to know, for example, the genesis of one of Liszt’s supreme masterpieces, the Benediction de Dieu dans la Solitude or of lesser works such as the First Ballade, will find challenging and stimulating answers. How fascinating to hear the Benediction’s familiar theme floating above a swaying rather than rippling accompaniment, and to note how so many ideas, often subtle and ambiguous from the start, evolve into passionate declamation before a no less characteristically uneasy resolution. How intriguing, too, to hear a solo version of the Second Concerto where you are made aware of Liszt’s kaleidoscopic relationship with his ideas.

True, few of these offerings have ‘the equinimity of a result’ (in Henry James’s inimitable parlance) but they offer inval-uable insights into Liszt’s working method as well as evoking a picture of the composer improvising tentatively and resolutely far into the night.

Leslie Howard is once again an ardent and reflective champion in both his playing and in his brilliantly informative essay; he also promises further discoveries. Hyperion’s sound and presentation is immaculate as ever.