This is Hamelin’s second Schumann recital for Hyperion. Once again, for the most part, there is a reassuring sense of a pianist expanding his poetic horizons as well as his legendary mastery. In Papillons everything is kept smartly on the move and the effect is as bracing as it is musicianly and unsentimental. In No 4 he offers a fierce reminder that it is marked presto (yet what variety he achieves within his rapid tempo). In No 6 there is an impeccable union of fantasy and precision, in No 7 a delightful sense of music seemingly improvised on the spot.

Then there is ‘Des Abends’ from the Fantasiestücke, where Hamelin lovingly dwells on every note, and a central section of ‘In der Nacht’ made to glow with romantic rapture. Only in the final ‘Ende vom Lied’ is the playing too brisk to suggest a sense of wonder or of music marked mit gutem Humor.

And this brings me to Carnaval (recorded earlier, in 1999) where Hamelin’s engulfing bravura sometimes takes over from delicacy and inwardness. Here Schumann’s cavalcade of characters march to Hamelin’s tune with a vengeance, many frightened to step out of line when under such imperious direction. ‘Pierrot’ sounds plain-speaking for such a mischievous fellow and others (Cortot, Anda, Cherkassky among them) are more charming and characterful in ‘Coquette’. ‘Eusebius’ is hauntingly lucid and pensive but ‘Chopin’ sounds more breathless than agitated.

Pianists of an older generation may gasp at Hamelin’s pianistic aplomb (they should try ‘Paganini’ for size) but they often have the edge on him in subtlety and enlightenment, in a more spontaneous and luminous engagement. Hyperion’s sound is admirable if bass heavy and, for that label, lacking in space and air.