With this disc, Benjamin Frith finally completes his cycle of Field’s piano concertos. The Seventh Concerto was made back in 1996 with the same forces as the earlier instalments in the cycle – the Northern Sinfonia and David Haslam. I can only think this has hung around gathering dust until now as it was short of a disc-mate. That has been provided by the so-called Irish Concerto, a piece new to me (and not mentioned by Field’s biographers) which is in fact a reworking of the first movement of the Second Concerto, into which the composer inserted a nocturne. It certainly benefits from the characterful playing of the RSNO under Andrew Mogrelia but even Frith can’t disguise the fact that it’s a bit of a ragbag – a single extended movement lasting nearly 23 minutes. There’s plenty of fine filigree, beautifully realised, but ultimately it’s more about gesture than depth.

The new version of No 7, a work much admired by Schumann, makes slightly less of its darker qualities at the outset than Bamert’s LMP, but Frith conveys the movement’s generous melodiousness with complete naturalness and only towards its close (sample from 15'57" of tr 1) did I hanker after a Shelley or a Hough to bring Field’s virtuosity truly to life. The following Rondo is marked Allegro moderato and Frith and Haslam take a markedly elegant approach, yet Míceál O’Rourke’s faster tempo allows Field’s unexpected silences and sly accentuations to make more effect. The latter version also finds a greater playfulness at the witty passage around 8'04". Frith is, however, unfailingly musical and palpably enjoys the panache of its ending.

The Fourth Piano Sonata (recorded in 2013) – modest in dimensions and aspirations – is charming enough and again performed with commitment, Frith never less than elegant. In the end, though, a disc for completists, I rather think.