In this work, Trifonov staves off potential sentimentality and produces – as usual – an exquisite tone…Some listeners will undoubtedly miss the epic nature of the original orchestration, but Pletnev’s version is a welcome – and well executed – experiment…The more unusual Chopin-related pieces…are the icing on a Bake Off-worthy cake.

By and large, Pletnev’s scoring is unobtrusive and does not overly distract, though the woodwind ensemble at the opening of the finale sounds like Chopin hijacked by Tchaikovsky. One thing is constant throughout and that is the sublimely wonderful sound Trifonov produces right throughout the register.

Around the concertos, Trifonov places other early Chopin – a truly exceptional account of the Variations on Là ci darem la Mano...There’s a glittering set of Mompou variations, Barber’s Nocturne, a Grieg study and a Tchaikovsky miniature, all played with predictable faultless brilliance.

Do we need another recording of Chopin’s piano concertos? Well, we need this one, because Mr. Trifonov plays them magnificently; because of illuminating chamber-orchestra arrangements by Mikhail Pletnev, who conducts; and because of Chopin-inspired works by Grieg, Barber and others that join.