The Hungarian pianist Zoltán Fejérvári, a 2016 Borletti-Buitoni fellow and winner of the Montreal competition the following year, is a member of the chamber music faculty of the Liszt Academy in Budapest. On his latest ATMA Classique release, he plays three major Schumann works, imbuing each with its own distinctive identity.

Listening to the Waldszenen from 1849, the year Schumann described as his ‘most productive’, one is immediately struck by the precision, warmth and limpid clarity of Fejérvári’s conception. Phrases are exquisitely sculpted and always ripe with meaning. An almost uncanny sense of proportion prevails; astonishing degrees of variety and colour are contained within the smallest fraction of the dynamic spectrum. Whether depicting the jaunty approach to the forest, the hardy hunters, delicate flowers in a clearing, a wayside inn or the strange song of a bird overhead, these Waldszenen evoke a charmed sense of wonder.

The Nachtstücke, which along with the Humoreske date from a decade earlier, seem to tiptoe into the room. Even though the individual pieces piece lack descriptive titles, Fejérvári presents them so suggestively it’s almost impossible not to imagine programmes. How can one listen to the extrovert third number and not imagine the abandon of a whirling dance, or hear the concluding fourth piece as anything but a poignant leave-taking? For once, the ‘humour’ of this mercurial Humoreske is perfectly obvious in its ever-changing moods and whims, now antic, now plaintive. It’s the sort of music-making that leaves the listener with a gentle smile rather than perplexity. Everywhere, perfectly calculated gestures convey meaning, never overboard or raucous, but perfectly within the bounds of contained, seductively beautiful sound.

Fejérvári is a deeply communicative artist who combines an imperturbable yet magisterial command of his instrument with impeccable musicality. Those who have yet to hear him are in for a rare treat.