The expatriate Russian pianist Semion Kruchin gives solid performances in this programme of Russian masterpieces, while that elusive element of charisma that would make his readings stand out escapes him. He enters a competitive field and with so many recordings of these works available comparisons are inevitable and punishing. In the Prokofiev, for example, Pollini offers a more biting rhythmic drive and security, Argerich (from a Concertgebouw recital in 1979) a more abandoned virtuosity and excitement, Richter (Melodiya, 6/96 – nla) a more authentic defiance and momentum. Kruchin’s workmanlike account is more than dutiful, but is ultimately rather tame and prosaic.

Kruchin’s Pictures are a mixed bag, and he doesn’t quite hold them together. Again, there is an underlying rhythmic insecurity – elided phrases, sudden accelerandi and the occasional unsteady basic pulse – that is unsettling. There is some clumsy articulation in ‘The Old Castle’, ‘Cum mortuis in lingua mortua’ lacks its magical atmospheric haze, ‘The Market-place at Limoges’ is rather heavy-handed: in themselves these criticisms may be small, but there are just too many of them to make this reading satisfying. The ‘Great Gate of Kiev’ is played faster than usual and with some rhetorical flair; in a live performance I can imagine Kruchin generating more tension and dramatic impulse than he does here.

For me, most enjoyable is the gently characterised Shostakovich Preludes. Again, Kruchin’s rubato can seem rather arbitrary (No 17 for example), and he is less acutely vivid than Olli Mustonen (Decca, 10/91 – nla), but his understated manner can be attractive and stylish. The recorded sound – immediate and detailed without being too close – is better than others I’ve heard from this source.