Blumenfeld’s Étude pour la main gauche seule takes its influence from Godowsky’s compositions for left hand. Gugnin’s masterful fluidity in the scurrying passages is impressive; so is the judicious use of pedal. As with the subsequent Gabrilowitsch study, it’s difficult to believe that this music is performed by just five digits…The sound quality is pristine throughout.

Prepare yourself for a deliciously scintillating potpourri of choice delicacies, full of character and charm...Among many factors that make Gugnin’s performances so admirable is that he’s able to imbue each piece with its own distinctively recognisable character. But even more importantly, Gugnin approaches these works on their own terms so that, far from seeming dated or brittle, they emerge fresh and full of vitality and charm.

This is a box of heady and decadent delights with enough acrobatics to make lesser mortals gasp in wonder… Gugnin’s performance of the Busoni is among the most characterful and articulate on record, and elsewhere he is more than equal to every ferocious demand.”

Many of these pieces composed for the Polish-American virtuoso receive their world premiere recordings here, and I’d venture to say that in lesser hands one or two of the Rachmaninov and Debussy pastiches might outstay their welcome, but the brilliant Russian pianist treats them all like gems: my personal favourites include Theodor Szántó’s bracing Étude Orientale (think Islamey-lite), Joseph Holbrooke’s Gaspard-ish Une nuit ténébreuse, and Ignacy Friedman’s exquisite little music-box-like Tabatière à musique.

Gugnin’s jaw-dropping, transcendental technique makes light of bravura showpieces by Blumenfeld, Friedman, the English composer Joseph Holbrooke and Moszkowski — catnip for pianophiles.