Take Op 53 No 2 in E flat, one of several recorded in 1930 by the incomparable Ignaz Friedman. Friedman adds his own agitato to Mendelssohn’s allegro non troppo; Knauer shows that serenity can be equally convincing. The way he leans back into the main theme at 1'36" is heavenly, an effect that is even more magically imagined halfway through the repeat of the melody in Op 85 No 4 in D major. Heart-catching. Barenboim and Magaloff sound matter-of-fact by comparison.

For Mendelssohn specialists there are the added bonuses of four world premiere recordings: the Songs in F sharp minor and F major (sans opus numbers) are heard here in the first edition of the 2001 Viennese Urtext; the Song in E flat is a completion by Mendelssohn’s biographer Larry Todd (who also contributes the booklet here); Op 102 No 2 in D major is a “recording of the dedicated original score” (no further information is given).

Realistically captured, with strong, sweeping accounts of the Variations sérieuses as the programme’s centrepiece and the Andante and Rondo capriccioso with which Knauer rounds off proceedings, this is a distinguished contribution to the 200th anniversary celebrations.