This is the second time Herbert Schuch has paired Schubert and Janáček on record. He lifts the D899 Impromptus out of the intimate drawing room into the big arena, so to speak, resulting in Schubert interpretations that abound in outsize dynamic contrasts, emphatic transitions and seriousness of purpose. In the opening C minor piece, the left-hand repeated-note figurations acquire a wide berth of articulations and meanings, almost to the point where the music’s bardic momentum bogs down, as it does not in Artur Schnabel’s comparably epic reading. The E flat Impromptu’s minor-key Trio episode features clear inner voices and intriguing dynamic gradations. While Schuch’s calibrated voicings don’t impede the G flat’s melodic flow, one misses the knowing simplicity of Rubinstein or Curzon. His A flat Impromptu matches Alexandre Tharaud’s elegance and control, albeit to slightly heavier effect.

Selections from Book 1 of Janáček’s On an Overgrown Path intersperse with Schubert’s Six Moments musicaux. Schuch’s angular italicisations in the first of the Schuberts differs from Radu Lupu’s offhand fluency, while uncommon linear tension characterises No 2’s central section. This piece easily dovetails into the Janáček group’s second piece. So does the bitingly accented Moment musical No 3 into ‘Come with us!’. Janáček’s minor-key opening selection is next, serving as a lyrical prelude to Schuch’s measured and Bachian reading of Schubert’s No 4.

On the other hand, a weighty, brooding ‘The Madonna of Frýdek’ contrasts with the pianist’s breezy and supple Schubert No 5. Finally, his slow yet well-sustained way with the instrospective No 6 is sandwiched between Janáček’s faster, lighter No 5 and more mercurial No 10. How Schuch’s Schubert/Janáček pairings will hold up over repeated hearings remains to be seen, yet he unquestionably imparts a personal stamp upon this repertoire. A fine-sounding album, with annotations that include a perceptive interview with Schuch.