The programme is an interesting – indeed, unique – collection of more or less popular virtuoso encores composed by great pianist-composers, rounded off by Vladimir Horowitz’s rarely heard conflation of the original and revised versions of Rachmaninov’s Piano Sonata No 2. So far so good, and for anyone under a certain age not familiar with earlier recordings of these pieces (some by the composers themselves), one might be quite admiring of and even enthralled by the playing of Moye Chen. He certainly has a well-drilled finger technique and is not afraid of exploiting the full, sonorous depths of his Steinway at fortissimo and above.

Beyond that? Well, there are a whole string of musical decisions that make no sense to me. Take, for instance, the Polka de VR (usually ‘WR’ and, unlike here, nowadays listed as ‘Behr, transcr Rachmaninov’). What is the leading voice in the opening measures? Why is the basic pulse pulled about so mercilessly? Why do the filigree runs have all the conviction of a pianola? Why allow the high G at 3'15" (marked pp) to ping like that? And so on.

The same reaction pertains to many other tracks. Why is the long trill in ‘Love walked in’ allowed to obliterate the main tune? Why does the piccolo part in The Stars and Stripes Forever, so wittily and nonchalantly dispatched by the transcriber in his celebrated recording, here become the main focus of attention? Would I choose Chen above Rachmaninov, Horowitz, Grainger or, for example, Hamelin (in Grainger) in their recordings of these pieces? No. Why? Because they are in a different league.

I had, in all honesty, all but given up in frustration but then came the final item, the Rachmaninov Sonata. The recorded piano sound is more focused and appealing than on the preceding 13 tracks and Moye Chen’s playing is not only masterful and intelligently phrased but utterly compelling, forcing any unbelievers to admit that Horowitz’s version (approved by Rachmaninov) is musically and structurally a completely convincing and arguably preferable alternative to the composer’s two versions. Whether this is enough to save the disc is a moot point.