No one in his lifetime doubted Anton Rubinstein’s brilliance as a pianist, though he always thought of himself as first and foremost a composer. Liszt was generous with praise, though reproachful of his alterations of Chopin (a fine example of the pot calling the kettle black). Rubinstein genuinely admired Chopin, as can be heard in both these piano concertos. No 2 also owes much to Mendelssohn’s concertos and is the more exuberant of the pair, if rather strenuous in the making of a lively finale.

The Fourth Concerto was one of Rubinstein’s most successful works, belonging to the decade between the mid-Sixties and mid-Seventies that also saw his greatest operatic success, The Demon. Tchaikovsky learnt much from him and was influenced by him but, though incomparably the greater creative genius, could be clumsier than the elegant Rubinstein with piano textures (well served in this recording). One of the most charming movements in these two concertos is No 4’s Barcarolle, an idea that always appealed to Rubinstein and which he handles pleasantly here with gently plashing oar sounds and a singing gondolier-style melody. Anyone with a liking for the music of the great age of pianism will enjoy these works, especially as Alexander Paley, in a good if 20-year-old recording, has the virtuosity and also the essential relish of them. Enthusiasts will probably already have acquired the famous 1937 recording by Rubinstein’s pupil Josef Hofmann, in some ways inadequate but a fascinating glimpse of a now historic style of performance.