Grieg: Piano Pieces, Mikhail Pletnev

This is a strange piece of packaging. Though, according to the copyright line, the recording is not yet 10 years old, the sleeve notes read like unreconstructed Soviet propaganda from the early 1980s, with a woolly, wholly inadequate note on Grieg, and an effusive one on the pianist, which details all the competitions that the young Pletnev won, and discusses him as if he were still a young artist in his 20s; there's no mention of his more recent activities as conductor and pianist.

The playing, though, makes all that irrelevant; everything about these performances is wonderfully compelling, and each of these miniatures (a selection of 19 that ranges right across Grieg's output) is perfectly focused and exquisitely played. This is great artistry pared down to match the dimensions of these pieces perfectly.