Pianists who record Mendelssohn’s complete Songs without Words usually present them in order by opus number. For his second and concluding volume in the cycle, however, Peter Donohoe continues to mix and match pieces for maximum contrast of mood, tempo and tonality.

The pianist’s straightforward temperament and respect for the text emphasise truth over charm. He may not take the E major Op 38 No 3 at a winged molto vivace, yet he nicely offsets the cantabile lines against the rapidly rolling accompaniment. Astute attention to dynamics and articulation liberates the A major Op 38 No 4 from decades’ worth of sentimental baggage. Superficially, the F sharp minor Op 19 No 5 seems heavy-gaited compared to Daniel Barenboim’s suppler account, yet gets closer to the composer’s Poco agitato intent (DG, 12/74, 11/96).

While most pianists relegate the A major Op 53 No 6’s persistent broken chords to a murmuring backdrop in order for the melody to shine, Donohoe brings them to the foreground; I’ll let readers decide if the effect is defiant or aggressive. Similarly, those who expect salonish geniality from the D major Op 85 No 4 will find Donohoe’s linear projection positively Brahmsian in character, while the G minor Op 19 No 6 seems closer to a dirge than a ‘Venetian Gondola Song’. On the other hand, the C major Op 85 No 5 manages to be forceful and lilting at the same time.

In the Variations sérieuses, Donohoe intelligently gauges the accelerations in the first four variations and finds a judicious balance between the seemingly contradictory legato/espressivo and agitato directives. Vars 6 and 7 lack Bertrand Chamayou’s bristling incisiveness (Naïve, 10/08) but I love the magisterial impact conveyed by Donohoe’s shaping of Var 9’s fugal textures. He also resists the usual temptation to push ahead in Var 12, and plays the alternating chords between hands in the tempo of the theme, just as Mendelssohn indicates.

Donohoe brings a largeness of design and rhetorical breadth to the ‘Last Rose of Summer’ Fantasia that lifts the music out of the salon and into the concert hall. He also pays close attention to the Rachmaninov Midsummer Night’s Dream Scherzo transcription’s inner voices, and arpeggiates the widely spaced chords with an orchestrator’s ear. In addition, Donohoe’s cogent and articulate annotations bring welcome personal and musical perspectives to this repertoire. In all, a fine and well-engineered release.