Forget about Bach in period costume, so to speak. Alexandre Tharaud offers unashamedly full-blooded pianism, using a Steinway Model D, chosen because he ‘wanted a generous-sounding piano’. And the instrument has generous in-the-room presence, though not oppressively so.

András Schiff recently vented his spleen on Bach transcriptions of the 19th century because they ‘distort the purity of Bachian counterpoint’. But he looked kindly on Bach’s own transcriptions for keyboard or organ of other composers’ music (there are four here) that actually are so cleverly recast that they amount to compositions of his own. Isn’t that distortion too? We also have Tharaud’s own arrangements and his enhancement of the Andante (which includes the 11-bar Adagio that follows it) from BWV979 originally transcribed for the harpsichord.

So, largely a disc of transcriptions plus transcriptions of transcriptions – and not for purists. There is much to be gained by accepting it on its own terms, though Tharaud’s enthusiasm and prowess are puzzlingly two-sided. In most of the fast movements he creates the impression of a mechanised virtuoso by his slickly determined drive and polarised dynamics with little shading in between. Yet he yields to finer feelings in slow movements (the Siciliana and Adagio from BWV974 are cases in point) through mutations of keyboard colour, a supple touch and more discerning pedalling.

If some aspects of the performances raise reservations, the programme is certainly worthy of your attention; and despite the ‘distortion’ it all still sounds like Bach. Odd, isn’t it?