Greatly celebrated in his native Italy, Andrea Lucchesini is a less familiar figure on the London scene. His live recording of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas and his award-winning disc of Berio’s piano works (5/07) at once suggest his range. His versatility now extends to Schubert in performances of an exceptional delicacy and restraint, almost as if played late at night before an audience of close friends. Such gentle, unassuming lyricism is evident throughout, and if there are moments when you wish he would step out into the light more often, all his performances are of an aristocratic refinement and lack of excess. Lucchesini’s tempo for the E flat Impromptu from D899 is typically modest, quite without virtuoso extravagance, and if the following G flat Impromptu is a less ardent or glowing experience than from, say, Radu Lupu, it is offered in impeccable taste and musicianship.

But the competition is fierce in Schubert’s Impromptus and whether you turn to a distant but far from dim past, to Schnabel’s robust eloquence or Edwin Fischer’s radiance, or to more recent discs by Perahia, Pires and Lupu in particular, you will hear playing of a still finer intensity and character. Lucchesini’s dynamics rarely extend beyond mezzo-forte, his overall approach what painters call “low in tone”. There is a welcome touch of vehemence in the final F minor Impromptu’s explosive whimsy; but for ultimate depth and poetry Lupu (Decca, 10/84^R), closely followed by Perahia (Sony, 4/85^R), is your man. Avie’s sound is good rather than outstanding.