Allow me to introduce a couple of composers of whom not one in ten thousand, I guess, not even dedicated pianophiles, will have encountered. Even the mighty Wikipedia can only summon a few brief lines on each. I am indebted to Nancy Lee Harper’s informative booklet for details. Brazilian Henrique Oswald (1852-1931) studied in Italy and played frequently in Europe before returning to spend most of the latter part of his life in Rio de Janeiro. Some readers may have encountered Artur Napoleão (1843-1925) from his association with Louis Moreau Gottschalk and as a successful music publisher. He was the brother of Alfredo (1852-1917) who, after early studies in London, made a name for himself in South America, eventually returning to Portugal, his native country.

Whether Oswald’s Concerto, dating from around 1886, is strong or appealing enough to earn him a higher profile is a moot point. It has a first movement full of fire and brimstone but lacks any memorable themes or a cohesive structure; the lyrical Adagio offers only hints of why Arthur Rubinstein dubbed Oswald ‘the Brazilian Gabriel Fauré’. This leads, attacca, into an arresting tarantella which goes some way to redeeming an otherwise faceless, if richly orchestrated, addition to Hyperion’s iconic series.

The concerto by Napoleão (or Napoleon) is considerably and consistently more interesting, not least for its key. (I read that young Daniil Trifonov has just premiered his own E flat minor Concerto, but are there any others?) The lengthy (19'53") first movement, with its atmospheric misterioso opening, makes it clear that he knew his Chopin and Liszt, while the first subject of the brief Scherzo owes much to Litolff (though not its flaccid second subject). Had Gottschalk ever written a piano concerto, the boisterous finale might have been the result. This is a concerto that grows on the listener.

All of which leaves little space to celebrate Artur Pizarro’s playing of both works. One cannot imagine them more convincingly and sincerely executed. What verve and flair he brings to the stamina-sapping solos, and with what graceful lyricism he invests the cantabile writing. He is only the third pianist to champion the Napoleão concerto. Interestingly, as a child he studied with Evaristo de Campos Coelho (1903 88), who gave the work its first performance in 1941, over half a century after its composition.