Martha Argerich returns for the umpteenth time to Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto, a work she has championed throughout her career while others have often favoured the larger, more heaven-storming works. It may have been recorded a matter of days before her 78th birthday but nevertheless bubbles over with that ever-youthful sense of improvisation, of molten creativity taking place absolutely in the moment that always characterises this unique pianist’s performances. Seiji Ozawa’s orchestra brings a chamber edge to the sound but the focus – perhaps inevitably – favours the piano over the last degree of orchestral detail.

In terms of large-scale interpretation, this doesn’t depart notably from other recordings in the pianist’s catalogue, perhaps most notably the one she made with Abbado and the Mahler CO 20 years ago and which became Gramophone’s Recording of the Month in 2005. ‘Enthralling spontaneity’ was Bryce Morrison’s verdict then and nothing has changed – except the way the light newly, revealingly catches the contour of a phrase or a hidden inner voice suddenly catches Argerich’s ear. She keeps Ozawa and his players on their toes and, to their credit, they stick with her every step of the way. The Japanese audience respond at the end with ringing cheers and wild applause.

The joy of music-making beams from Ozawa’s face in the booklet pictures but only intermittently in a relaxed Holberg Suite, and in one of Mozart’s Salzburg divertimentos stripped not only of fizz but also, for some reason (other than disc space), of its slow movement and finale.