Here in a single CD is a reissue of the major part of a two­CD set by Argerich who‚ with her distinguished friends and colleagues‚ rejoices in every facet of Schumann’s tireless fantasy and inventiveness. Greatest of all living pianists and a figure unique in the history of piano playing‚ Argerich has rarely sounded more radiant and less fraught‚ inspiring her partners to an ultimate eloquence and vivacity. Yet throughout there is an inimitable sense of interplay‚ of eight musicians delighting in each other’s company. Has the Scherzo from the Quintet – where‚ as Joan Chissell so aptly puts it in her accompanying essay‚ the composer ‘works miracles with ascending and descending scales’ – ever sounded more infectiously molto vivace from all five players‚ its second trio seemingly whirled off the page? Here and elsewhere everything is so vital and concentrated that it sounds new­minted‚ recreated as it were in the first flush of inspiration. The Andante and Variations is played in the original version with its glorious extensions and unusual scoring for two pianos‚ two cellos and horn. Again the performance‚ while scrupulously true to the text‚ transcends every instruction‚ taking wing at più animato and at 1'10" offering the sort of legerdemain that can only make lesser mortals listen in astonishment. Natalia Gutman (always among Richter’s favourite musical partners) is notably vibrant and refined in the Fantasiestücke and Nobuko Imai‚ taking a leaf out of Argerich’s book‚ shows an astonishing agility in the ‘Rasch’ (No 3) of the Märchenbilder. But if I were to choose just one item from this glorious concert‚ it would have to be the final Langsam‚ mit melancholischem Ausdruck from Op 113 which‚ as Joan Chissell so beautifully puts it‚ is a ‘heart­easing lullaby that no instrument could sing more eloquently than the dark­hued viola’. Such distilled and interior music is played by Argerich and Imai with a sense of rapt communion as remarkable as their air­born brilliance elsewhere. The recordings‚ happily complete with applause after each item‚ faithfully capture an unforgettable occasion.