Ligeti’s continuing series of piano Etudes is one of the few compositions from the past quarter-century to be approaching repertory status, in the concert hall as well as on disc. Many of the pieces in the first two volumes (totalling 14) are amongst his finest smaller-scale works, and even those of us inclined to find what has so far appeared of Book 3 a little repetitive are unlikely to use this reservation as a stick with which to beat the marvellous earlier Etudes.

Lucille Chung is one of an ever-growing army of pianists to tackle these rewarding works, and her first Dynamic CD, comprising Book 2 and a selection of other short pieces, was warmly welcomed in these pages (A/01). This follow-up is no less impressive, and while I would not claim that she surpasses Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s superlative versions – for example, she doesn’t manage all the myriad dynamic differentiations called for in the published scores – she has one advantage: she seems to have made the first and, so far, only recording of Vol 3 No 4, ‘Canon’, written in 2001.

The other compositions included range from some lively miniatures dating from before Ligeti’s escape from Hungary in 1956 to the Three Pieces for Two Pianos (1976) in which the composer’s crucial encounter with American Minimalism, as well as with Nancarrow’s player-piano studies, begins to make a significant impact on his style. Lucille Chung, with Alessio Bax an admirable partner, responds with both vigour and refinement to these brilliantly conceived pieces, and the recording, slightly metallic in timbre but with excellent character and presence, offers a splendidly lifelike introduction to the music. Again, Aimard (with Irina Kataeva) provides formidable competition, but Chung and Bax are worthy alternatives.