In several respected and authoritative reference books I have on piano repertoire, (Karl) Wilhelm (Eugen) Stenhammar (1871-1927) simply does not signify, a grossly unfair omission. The Swedish composer may not be among the towering giants of his calling but much of his music is shamefully underrated and under-performed. It is hard not to be enraptured by the 19-year-old’s Piano Sonata No 4 in G minor (1890) with its nods to Chopin, Schumann and Grieg (Stenhammar is not alone in this!) or the Three Fantasies, Op 11 (1895), the most frequently played of his piano works. For this reviewer, the five movements of Sensommarnätter (‘Late Summer Nights’) are less appealing, though acclaimed by the booklet writer of this release as the composer’s masterpiece (to me they meander in a characterless way, sounding like second-hand Brahms).

Paolo Scafarella, a hirsute Italian (b1993 in Puglia), plays a Fazioli F212 for this selection, set down, if the booklet is to be believed, in a single day last December. The recorded piano sound is rather lifeless, the performances efficient, perfectly acceptable without being outstanding, and sound as though they may have been learnt specially for this recording. It’s bad luck or poor planning that all three pieces should appear on Martin Sturfält’s 2007 recording, and moreover in performances that fly off the page. The Steinway in St George’s, Brandon Hill, sings, sighs and growls in his hands. Sturfält also offers the substantial (23'01") Sonata in A flat, Op 12, composed in the same year as the Fantasies, a more enticing addition than Scafarella’s Tre Små klaverstycken (‘Three Small Piano Pieces’ – 2'26", 1'27" and the Chopinesque ‘Polska’ 1'17"), also from 1895.