Young pianist Jan Lisiecki has been studying at the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto and it seems the Canadian genius’s flair and sense of adventure has rubbed off on the 18-year-old.

When Deutsche Grammophon decided to record Chopin’s Études as a follow-up to his debut album of Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos 20 and 21, the Calgary-born youngster felt firmly on home ground. He had already recorded Chopin’s Piano Concertos in F and E Minor in Poland for the Fryderyk Chopin Institute and has a natural affinity for the music. What showed Gould-like daring however was his decision to do each of the 24 pieces in one take. Not only that but he would warm up before each take by playing something completely different – a Bach Goldberg Variation or a little Messiaen. “That would change the mood, in the same way as a different piece would in a live performance,” Lisiecki says. 

This latest disc shows why he was so quickly snapped up by the German label. Lisiecki’s touch is light and fluid, much like Chopin’s was reported to be by his contemporaries. He manages a mysterious, distant feel in the Op 10, No 6, but still with a subtle sense of yearning. But the young Canadian muscles up for the many stormy challenges, registering a thrilling defiance in the so- called Revolutionary which closes the Op 10 set with four defiant chords, and chilling us to the bone in the Winter Wind Étude.

The lovely Cello Étude (Op 25, No 7), the longest of the works, is played with beautiful balance. Sometimes described as a conversation between two lovers – with the male left hand getting all the best lines – Lisiecki brings out the mini-drama which plays out in just under six minutes: the love, the raised voices and then the consoling embrace.

The listener is very much ‘in the moment’ as this glorious slideshow of works rolls out with a superb sense of freshness under Lisiecki’s fingers. First class.