Among the teachers in Warsaw of the Polish-born Felicja Blumental (1908-91) was Szymanowski himself but, with or without this connection, these spirited and confident performances have the stamp of authenticity. The Symphonie concertante, premiered by the composer in October 1932, is in three movements that make use of Polish dance forms, most notably the first, which has a stylised polonaise as its main theme, and the third, which is based on the mazur. The piano-writing is virtuoso, the music suffused with that idiosyncratic mix of Scriabin, Debussy and Ravel that makes Szymanowski so hard to pin down. The recording has all the attributes of a live performance, along with some questionable string ensemble in the finale and a less-than-perfect recorded balance. By comparison there is the precision of the dedicatee’s 1952 recording with its forwardly placed soloist, astringent string sound and poorly defined brass.

The dedicatee was Szymanowski’s friend Arthur Rubinstein who was also the recipient of the composer’s Op 1 and these Op 3 Variations. I haven’t come across another recording of this rarely played student work of 12 short variations (only two exceed a minute) with its clear debt to Brahms. Well worth hearing.

The Chopin Concerto sounds as if it were being played though the arena speakers for an ice-skating competition and, to be frank, there are many better versions available (not least by the ubiquitous Rubinstein), though one point of interest is the cor de signal in the last movement which is played a tempo instead of following the usual (unmarked) ritardando of the preceding bars.