Carlo Grante, the Italian pianist who has recorded the Chopin-Godowsky Etudes and, remarkably, the complete Scarlatti sonatas, enters a crowded marketplace with his Ravel recital. Miroirs has been memorably recorded by Richter and Thibaudet, the Pavane pour une infante défunte by Gilels (his live 1969 Carnegie Hall recital) and Gaspard de la nuit by Pogorelich (a poignant reminder of early brilliance), Thibaudet, Argerich, Michelangeli, and with Mark-André Hamelin on the horizon. And so I turned with interest to see what special insights Grante has to offer. The answer comes disconcertingly early. Why so loud and unsubtle in ‘Noctuelles’ (Miroirs) when it is marked pianissimo? How odd, too, to find Grante referring in his notes to the ‘elegant, melancholy arabesques’ of ‘Oiseaux tristes’ when his playing is curt and unevocative. In ‘Une barque sur l’océan’ – that incomparable marinescape – the manner is again testy and violent, while ‘Alborada del gracioso’ is too heavy handed to be scintillating.

When it comes to Gaspard de la nuit, ‘Ondine’ is loud when it is marked ppp: an Ondine who shouts rather than whispers her seductive entreaty. In ‘Le gibet’ the pulse is unsteady rather than relentless, while ‘Scarbo’ gives this pianist a hard time and is strenuous rather than effortless (a tall but necessary order). On this showing, the French repertoire is unsuited to Grante.