A new Hough disc is one of life’s pleasures. You know the programme will have been carefully considered and nurtured, every aspect of the performance and recording attended to in the finest detail, matched by Hyperion’s exacting standards of presentation. Hough’s Chopin can be a little emotionally chilly in a studio-perfect environment (viz his 2003 recording of the Ballades and Scherzi) but here, for the most part, he transcends the lonely confines of St George’s (Bristol) to offer a masterclass in pianistic command and stylistic poise with the most heartfelt playing of any of his recent recordings. There are few who can elucidate the question-and-answer phrasing of Chopin’s music with Hough’s transparency and unaffected simplicity. I refer you to the opening Barcarolle, the selection of four Mazurkas, two Nocturnes and the closing Berceuse. At the centre of the recital is a masterly performance of the enigmatic Polonaise-Fantasy. In Hough’s hands, this discursive, experimental piece of great depth and beauty becomes an operatic aria. It seems to cry out for lyrics and a soprano.

After the first movement of the B minor Sonata (without the exposition repeat), Hough takes the Scherzo at a conservative molto vivace compared with, say, Freire, Lipatti or Oborin, while the finale, after one of those long-spun cantilena movements that Hough does so well, is an acutely executed studio recording. The disc’s striking cover has the Bowler-hatted Hough gazing at a Rothko abstract. The connection between Bowler, Rothko and Chopin is the subject of a thought-provoking essay by the pianist.