Sources close to the 2021 Chopin Competition jury say that had it not been for some inspired risk-taking from the Canadian Bruce Liu, the Italian-Slovenian pianist Alexander Gadjiev would have been a worthy overall winner. (As it is he came second and carried off the Krystian Zimerman prize for best performance of a Chopin sonata.) That’s easy to believe from this follow-up to Gadjiev’s acclaimed debut album of performances from the Sydney Competition last year (Decca Eloquence, 12/21).

Even knowing what’s in store from Prokofiev’s Sarcasms doesn’t entirely prepare you for the sheer venom he unleashes at the opening, nor for the intelligence with which he moderates that attack thereafter. The set of five pieces is not just the epitome of Prokofiev’s grotesque and motoric manners; it is also underpinned by eeriness and fantasy, as Gadjiev’s own interview-note puts it and as his playing beautifully demonstrates.

The coupling is pleasingly adventurous but also logical, given that the Eight Pieces by Tcherepnin fils are so thoroughly indebted to Prokofiev and that Prokofiev himself was not only taught (orchestration) by Tcherepnin père but also (exceptionally) expressed his admiration. That several of Alexander’s Eight Pieces could be interleaved with the Sarcasms and probably fool most listeners is a tribute to their craftsmanship and strength of character; at the same time, the fact that they were composed 40 years later opens the door to a more judgemental verdict: on their lack of compelling individuality.

Giving us only 14 of Prokofiev’s 20 Visions fugitives is not easy to justify, for all the abundance of insight and imagination Gadjiev brings to them. Why not make space for the rest by cutting the two Tcherepnin Preludes (evocations à la Rachmaninov and Bartók, respectively) and if necessary also the not uninteresting Quatre Préludes nostalgiques? Better still, substitute with something like the tumultous Prokofiev Studies, which I bet would be right up Gadjiev’s street.

Never mind. I shall certainly be returning to Nikolay Tcherepnin’s rarely heard Illustrations to Pushkin’s Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish. These may borrow extensively from Debussy but they also display a subtle sensibility all their own, belying the composer’s reputation for second-hand academicism. Has the orchestral original ever been recorded, I wonder?