From Igor Levit to Stephen Hough the piano takes centre stage this month, but there are vocal pleasures too with Respighi songs and Christian Gerhaher’s complete Schumann.

Canadian star crafts Chopin to console us in these worrying times.

Rare outings score over same old-same old, new wine in old bottles, and do we really need more Beethoven?

Neglected gems get a polish from a master and his apprentice.

Lisiecki brings winning youthful brio and ardour to Mendelssohn’s Piano.

Schumann’s Piano Concerto has undergone something of a recording and live performance eclipse in recent years. It was once known as a “woman’s” concerto, presumably because of Clara’s advocacy, however it still runs rings around the vast majority of other Romantic piano concertos.  The work has never been a vehicle for bravura and one hurdle has always been the lack of shameless virtuosity in the soloist’s part. Jan Lisiecki’s rendition of the work is obviously “young man’s” Schumann (fair enough as he’s all of 20!) but as impressive as most of it is, much of the first movement lacks the intimate poetic ruminations (Lisiecki himself refers to these in the liner notes) that I enjoy in my favourite version with Annie Fischer (despite Klemperer’s rather bluff, emphatic accompaniment) making them sound almost perfunctory. Also, the Gramophone review refers to the Santa Cecilia orchestra’s oboe as characterful whereas I find it quite the opposite. Lisiecki handles well what can be the tricky transition from the charming Intermezzo (which he does beautifully without sounding either coy or laboured) to the finale.  The other two substantial works are rareties: Allegro  Appassionata, Op. 92 and Introduction and Allegro, Op. 134, which James Jolly breathlessly…