Few classical artists have made so spectacular an initial impact upon public – even global – consciousness as the pianist Evgeny Kissin, when in 1984 - at the age of 12 - he gave a performance of both piano concertos by Chopin in a single concert at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. His fame was assured, and from there on his reputation preceded him as a young, sublimely gifted virtuoso possessed of the most brilliant technique, seemingly natural musical touch and preternatural confidence.

All those assets can be heard to advantage in some popular, and more formidable, works by his countrymen, from the glittering display vehicles written by Shostakovich and Prokofiev to the powerful sweep of Tchaikovsky’s ever-popular First Concerto. Of course Kissin has gone on to perform, and indeed record, these works several times since, but the early recordings retain a bravado and unselfconscious vigour that infects every performance with appealing zest and sometimes astonishing assurance.