Behzod Abduraimov was an unknown 18-year-old when he won the 2009 London International Piano Competition with a sensational performance of Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto. He has chosen the same work to open his debut concerto recording. This is a reading that does not set out to astonish or bludgeon but is more in keeping with the friendly, smiling portraits of the young soloist on the disc’s booklet. Though there is no lack of spirit in this acutely observed interpretation, Prokofiev’s lemony, brittle writing is given the milk-and-honey treatment with a velvet-cushioned tone. Listen, for instance, to the spiky brass declamations of the theme in Var 11 of the second movement, polite comments compared to Graffman and Szell’s acidic snarls, while Var 3 benefits from a more virile attack in the hands of Gramophone Award-winners Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and Gianandrea Noseda. Don’t misunderstand: this is a fine account but, I think, altogether too genial.

Similarly, Abduraimov’s take on Tchaikovsky’s ubiquitous B flat minor Concerto is not of the adversarial and confrontational kind. If he plays down the heroics, there is much to admire in this well-integrated performance and his intimate rapport with the orchestra. Listen out for the delightful murmurings of the muted violas and cellos after the fermata at 8'56" and the second subject of the slow movement, flagging up without undue emphasis the subject of the central prestissimo section. If this version doesn’t set the spine a tingling, there is much to savour in this most thoughtful and musical account. The two concertos are separated by a charming, feather-light account of the Pas de quatre from Swan Lake in Earl Wild’s transcription.