Lovers of French rarities will enjoy this stroll down the boulevard of belle époque Paris featuring Reynaldo Hahn’s Piano Concerto and concertante works by Gabriel Fauré and Nadia Boulanger. Korean pianist William Youn has recorded a number of sonata discs (Mozart for Oehms, Schubert for Sony) but it’s good to hear him in a concerto outing, for this disc is very fine.

This year marks the centenary of Fauré’s death. What a shame that this master of the keyboard never composed a piano concerto. His Ballade in F sharp major, Op 19, was an early solo work (1879) that the composer revised for piano and orchestra two years later. It’s a far cry from Chopin’s ballades, and Youn slowly teases out the work’s gentle charm, its melodies meandering over a largely unobtrusive Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valentin Uryupin. I detect more magic in Philippe Cassard’s rippling account though, a tauter reading (La Dolce Volta). Fauré’s Fantaisie comes from the other end of his life, composed in 1918 for his old classmate Alfred Cortot, who wasn’t especially keen on the work, feeling it lacked brilliance. It’s beautifully crafted, though, and Youn gives an affectionate, nuanced account.

Nadia Boulanger’s Fantaisie variée is a substantial single-movement work, composed in 1912 for Raoul Pugno but heard here in Anthony Girard’s new edition that restores a number of cuts. After a sombre introduction, the piano plays the theme – said to be based on a Russian folk song – which is then treated to a series of rhapsodic variations. The writing is often muscular and heavy – we’re miles from Fauré here – and Youn tackles it valiantly, but there’s tenderness too.

Hahn’s Piano Concerto in E (1930) has only had a few recordings, notably the composer himself conducting Brazilian pianist Magda Tagliaferro, who gave the premiere. It also featured – coupled with the concerto by his composition teacher, Massenet – in Hyperion’s ‘Romantic Piano Concerto’ series (7/97) and on Shani Diluka’s ‘The Proust Album’ (Warner, 12/21). Youn captures the perfumed wistfulness of Hahn’s piano-writing well, especially in the doleful ‘Rêverie’ that opens the third movement. It’s a substantial concerto, one that deserves far more performances than it gets, and it earns persuasive advocacy here.

Hahn is best known for a handful of songs, two of which – ‘L’heure exquise’ and the perfection that is ‘À Chloris’ – Youn plays in his own arrangements for solo piano, along with Fauré’s ‘Après un rêve’ as a delicate epilogue. At 87 minutes, this just spills over on to two CDs (hopefully at a competitive price). Warmly recommended.