Mischa Levitzky died at 42 in 1941. This bald fact probably accounts for his small recorded output. His detractors (including Horowitz, who called him ‘an artisan’) believed that his sensibilities were too sterile for a larger repertoire, but there is no sterility in Levitzky’s response to the slow movement of Schumann’s G minor sonata, marked Andantino and getragen (sustained). Granted, he doesn’t lay out the music with a trowel, but his dulcet restraint pays dividends and contrasts well with the first movement – directed to be played ‘as fast as possible’, and Levitzky’s basic tempo is pretty manic.

His recording of Liszt’s E flat concerto wasn’t the first, as was once believed. Jonathan Summers in the booklet-note mentions three earlier ones from other pianists but this performance is fully worthy of resuscitation. The opening movement, despite a disciplined rhythmic backbone, has a freedom of expression that recalls playing practices now considered outdated. Only in the last movement is Levitzky uncharacteristically stiff, a failing also noticeable in both takes of ‘La Campanella’.

This is not the case with the Hungarian Rhapsodies though No 12 is shorn of 30 bars. These pieces tend to fall victim to vulgar personalisation, something that Levitzky eschews to their considerable gain. The transfers of material more than 70 years old are very good. Timbre is credible and the range is at times surprisingly wide. If played at an appropriate level, this disc will afford a good glimpse of an artist who wasn’t an artisan at all.