Phenomenal natural talent, outstanding gifts of mental concentration, agility and energy, enabling him to coast through situations where others would be at full stretch, and of shifting into even more exciting overdrive, yet on the downside a certain ruthlessness and a competitive streak that threaten to displace humanity and depth of feeling. I’m actually talking about the young Prokofiev. But the description fits the scarcely middle-aged Yevgeny Kissin pretty well too.

This latest disc is a stunning demonstration of pianistic prowess. Kissin is so ideally wired up from brain to fingers that he always seems to have extra nanoseconds in which to articulate and add colour and rhetorical accent. And since EMI’s recording balances him a fraction further forward than usual – to the point of occasionally masking important orchestral detail – none of those touches is wasted. For that reason he never needs to indulge in gratuitous point-making in order to keep the excitement level high.

The question remains whether this combination of brilliance and straightforwardness offers a comprehensive view of Prokofiev’s world of imagination. If you think that world encompasses sly wit, fairy-tale fantasy, black humour, hobgoblin fearfulness, vulnerability and so on, you may find that Kissin’s highly projected, pile-driving accentuation, with its relentlessly close-up view of the musical surfaces, eventually palls, even ultimately infuriates. To put it another way: Kissin knows how to project this music with peerless clarity. Whether he yet knows how to confide, empathise, intrigue, insinuate and tantalise, or indeed simply to be playful, is another matter.

In sum, this is clearly one of the outstanding concerto discs of the year – perhaps one might be tempted to say “of the decade”. Just resist the temptation to think of its world-beating qualities as being the entire story in this inexhaustible music. Prokofiev himself hit a second maturity and achieved greatness when he subordinated his exhibitionist streak to higher qualities; who’s to say that something comparable may not one day happen with Kissin?