Plenty to enjoy here‚ 10 minutes more in fact than the booklet and CD casing would lead you to expect (a number of individual track timings are also wrong – but never mind). The Swedish­born Leonard Rose pupil Mats Lidström invests this generous ‘Smörgåsbord’ (medley‚ miscellany) with plenty of dash and temperament‚ conspiring with his superb pianist Bengt Forsberg to include one or two unfamiliar Swedish locals. Jakob Adolf Hägg‚ for example‚ whose simple but affecting Andante and Albumblatt are among the most appealing tracks programmed. Speaking critically‚ I could have done with a tad more restraint in Fauré’s Papillon – the central section is somewhat lacking subtlety – and one or two of Lidström’s own transcriptions don’t quite come off. I’m thinking of his curious reworking of Rachmaninov’s already overwrought version of Kreisler’s Liebesleid‚ which sounds arbitrary‚ even uncomfortable‚ in the way that the cello alights on this or that phrase. Then again‚ I should in honesty come clean and admit that for me Rachmaninov’s excessive chromatic wadding quite spoils the simple nostalgia of Kreisler’s original. Similarly‚ Lidström’s version of Scriabin’s quizzical little Poème in F sharp minor sounds more earthbound than fanciful. Otherwise‚ the programme works well‚ whether charming us with Korngold and Sibelius‚ or tugging at our heart strings in the closing Adagio by Stenhammar. Lidström’s informed notes are a pleasure to read but I was disappointed to learn‚ regarding Offenbach’s not­so­brief Souvenir du val (2'30" rather than the promised 1'10")‚ that ‘it will take a lot of persuasion before Bengt will play music of this kind!’ Why‚ I wonder? It’s one of the loveliest pieces on the programme.