This captivating disc sandwiches a selection of the more popular Lyric Pieces and four of the Slåtter between the composer’s two large-scale works for the piano. It concludes with an encore in the form of a haunting contemplation by the British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad on four bars from the Sonata.

Ivana Gavric´, who names Leif Ove Andsnes among her mentors, opens with the Ballade, an ambitious set of variations shrouded in Nordic darkness and with only an occasional shaft of sunlight amid the encircling gloom. And it is both here and in the harmonically salty and audacious Slåtter, arguably the most remarkable of all Grieg’s keyboard works, that Gavric´ reveals rare gifts. Whether in introspection or in lilting dance rhythms that take you to the very heart of the composer’s beloved Vestlandet, she achieves an unforced eloquence that makes you more than question Alfred Brendel’s unforgivable reference to ‘music for chamber-maids’. Everything glows with affection; and in the Lyric Pieces she casts a delectable impressionistic haze over pages which show Grieg at his most intimate and confiding (the ‘Nocturne’ and the central entreaty from ‘Wedding Day at Troldhaugen’). Try her, too, in her lightly and elegantly pedalled way with ‘Butterfly’, in her stylish, unforced way with ‘Little Bird’ or in her warm-hearted and flexible approach to ‘Waltz’.

Again, if her naturalness and finesse in the Andante molto from the Sonata are less vivid in articulacy and coloration than from Alicia de Larrocha in her surprising choice for her first Decca disc (6/70), there is much to wonder at. In short, Gavric´ possesses what I can only describe as a beautiful musical personality, complemented by Champs Hill’s excellent sound and presentation.