The piano is very closely recorded. Even though the instrument has a quiet pedal action it is all too audible, though not as distractingly as Abduraimov’s stentorian breathing. As to the playing, I have a feeling that at present he might be more effective in the concert hall than in the studio. Listen to the opening measures of Prokofiev’s Sonata No 6. It’s all there, just as the composer notated it. Turn to Sviatoslav Richter and there is an (essential) extra element: vehemence. The music is horrid in the original meaning of the word (spiky, threatening), while the finale is urgent and unsettling, a reading that is altogether more emotionally engaging. Similarly, while Abduraimov offers enviable power and speed in the Suggestion diabolique, Op 4 No 4, the composer (1935) takes the diablerie a step further. The Bénédiction is sensitively shaped, if too ponderous for my taste. The First Mephisto Waltz is fast, accurate and powerful but it won’t have you on the edge of your seat like Khatia Buniatishvili’s recent ‘dance at the village inn’ on Sony. ‘Could this fresh-faced child be the new Horowitz?’ asks The Independent, quoted on the cover. No, but he’s a new face on the scene with bags of talent whose future will be well worth following.