Bach’s B flat Partita opens the first release on Rhodes’s new label with an unusually slow and languid Prelude that functions like a long, austere corridor leading into the relatively peppy Allemande. The Courante is a shade slapdash rhythmically; it concludes with a gentle upwards scale leading into an eloquent, highly rhetorical Sarabande. Like Glenn Gould, Rhodes takes the second Minuet repeats up the octave, and concludes with a brisk yet well-controlled Gigue. The Allegro first movement of Beethoven’s Op 28 resembles the DG Barenboim recording’s Andante, but with a little more ebb and flow, while, by contrast, Rhodes’s perky second movement trivialises the detached left-hand writing’s woodwind-like character. Following a wittily nuanced Scherzo, Rhodes’s graceful, singing Rondo turns appropriately audacious in the coda.

Rhodes challenges convention by exploring the contrapuntal trajectory in the second section of Chopin’s Third Ballade. Unusual voicings draw attention throughout the Second Scherzo, along with a few crowd-whipping accelerations. In contrast to Yuja Wang’s fleet and curvaceous Gluck/Sgambati Melody, Rhodes indulges in serious and sustained time-stretching, and finishes up with a noble, sensitive account of the Schumann/Liszt ‘Frühlingsnacht’.

The DVD offers new performances mostly of pieces familiar from the pianist’s earlier CDs, prefaced by casual yet vividly informative introductions. These touch upon the music in disarming detail, supplemented by Rhodes’s frank autobiographical reflections. We see Rhodes rehearsing at home, puttering in the kitchen, lighting up his umpteenth cigarette of the day and riding a Bakerloo line tube train. He leans into the piano as if he’s excavating under the notes, moving his arms in a way that suggests both high drama and the utmost in physical economy. Rhodes also enjoys talking about having to master difficult passages, such as the opening phrase of the Bach/Busoni C major Toccata. Rhodes’s fusion of instinct, mindfulness and individuality would make his talent stand out in any era.