This touching disc is issued in memory of Vladimir Sofronitsky (1901­61)‚ the legendary Russian pianist whose artistry was greatly admired by the likes of Richter‚ Gilels‚ Horowitz and Neuhaus. Produced by Yuri Paterson­Olenich‚ part of whose previously issued Scriabin recital appears on a bonus record‚ the sound ranges from the barely adequate to the execrable while still allowing something of Sofronitsky’s charisma‚ the fascination he held for so many musicians‚ to shine through. You can hear him teaching two of his students – notably Pavel Lobanov‚ who first offered these tapes for issue – coaxing and cajoling them towards greater simplicity‚ begging for both calm and freedom. Certainly‚ listening to his own playing‚ you are made more aware that for him stiffness and inhibition were among the cardinal crimes. In Schumann’s Carnaval‚ ‘Eusebius’ is grandly rather than intimately inflected. ‘Sphinxes’ is humorously included while in ‘Paganini’ confusion reigns before it is abruptly terminated. An interpolation in Liszt’s ‘La leggierezza’ surely occurs more by accident than design and the opening of Debussy’s ‘Reflets dans l’eau’ is sufficiently downright to suggest that Sofronitsky had lost patience with the composer’s dream world at the outset. Again‚ in Chopin’s First Scherzo it is a case of anything goes‚ with Sofronitsky’s dys­synchronisations and rhythmic changes offered very much as the mood takes him. Yet if character frequently topples into caricature‚ Sofronitsky’s spontaneity and vitality can be enchanting; never more so than in the final section of ‘Promenade’ from Carnaval where Schumann leaves his dancing magic and glides into reverie. Sofronitsky’s reading of Scriabin’ Ninth Sonata is also of a special character and distinction. These performances and lessons were recorded ‘on amateur equipment in domestic conditions’ and they hardly bear out Lobanov’s claim that Sofronitsky surpassed Cortot in profundity and dramatic intensity. But‚ supplemented by Philips’ Great Pianists of the 20th Century Sofronitsky release (of Chopin and Scriabin)‚ they still make for compelling listening.