Altarus’s odyssey through the music of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji continues with another first. Composed in 1946, the Concerto per suonare da me solo continues a select line of “Concertos” in which piano takes on the role of both soloist and orchestra. It is that by Alkan which the Sorabji most resembles – for all that its formal dimensions seem clear-cut next to the prolixity of the present work. Yet the opening Brioso focosamente delineates a concerto first movement, complete with “orchestral” tutti and cadenza, that holds firm amid a welter of thematic metamorphosis (on the striking initial motto) and keyboard pyrotechnics. The central “Adagio” (not so designated), as with earlier Sorabji nocturnes, contrasts passages of intense rapture with others evoking a sense of infinity through their relative sparseness of texture. The Scherzo diabolico draws upon elements of popular music, in the course of an ironic charade concluded by the recall of the motto and a seismic final pay-off.

Not a work to be approached lightly, yet there is a distinct level on which it does entertain. This is due largely to Jonathan Powell who, as on his previous Sorabji discs, does not confuse the demanding with the over-earnestness that has marred earlier Sorabji performances. As he points out, a “humorous intent” was certainly in mind at the outset and a self-mocking virtuosity is frequently and provocatively apparent. Lucid and lifelike sound, and a release that could offer a way into Sorabji’s larger piano works such as sceptics have been waiting for.