The way Levit has formed this programme is extraordinarily effective. The Brahms reworking for left hand of Bach’s D minor violin Chaconne is a probing, introverted affair, and how effectively Levit can imbue a single line with light and shade...This is a fascinating, compelling set that demands to be heard.

Igor Levit’s latest 2-CD album is a sufficiently epic achievement to make even his finest rivals sound small-minded by comparison. The underlying theme of Life is the journey from the earthly to the seraphic, ‘music whose bleak grandeur and melancholy beauty’ is lovingly chosen by Levit as solace after the death of a close friend. Igor Levit’s Life is as awe-inspiring as it is thought-provoking, crowned by Sony’s lavish presentation and outstanding sound.

All of the qualities which made Levit's readings of the Goldberg and Diabelli Variations so treasurable are in evidence in each individual interpretation here, as well as in the curation of the programme itself: this is a musician with an uncanny ability to balance head and heart, and whilst everything's underpinned by formidable technique and a rigorous intellectualism that borders on the austere, the emotional arc of each work and of the album as a whole is masterfully realised.