Disarming criticism, 27-year-old Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan tells us in his accompanying note that while entering a formidably competitive field his Schubert has its own voice and validity. Indeed it does. His Impromptus have a special gravity and sensitivity, allowing him to weave his way through every kaleidoscopic mood with a special skill and commitment. What winning ease and naturalness, too, in the A flat Impromptu and how admirable to hear the theme played with such poise and focus instead of a more familiar and damaging telescoping of the rhythm. Elsewhere every detail is touched in yet without a hint of idiosyncrasy or mannerism. He is notably successful in the teasing ambiguity of the final F minor Impromptu which can rarely have been given with a greater range of expression.

This leaves me with the B flat Sonata. Barnatan’s opening is neither an evasive allegretto nor a lugubrious adagio but a true molto moderato. He omits the controversial first movement repeat and if his pianism as yet lacks the sheen and translucency of a Kempff, Uchida or Lupu, he has already made this incomparable sonata very much his own. In the Impromptus, in particular, Barnatan is a born Schubertian, though Bridge’s oppressively close and bass-heavy sound hardly furthers his cause.