The package contains detailed explanations of every one of the 60 studies by Angelo Gilardino, an Italian composer born in 1941, who also had a long and successful international career as a concert guitarist.

You may be forgiven for finding that the written descriptions in the CD notes are a good deal more entertaining than the sounds you hear. The reality of what is played is dry as a bone compared to anything you read, so tantalising references to “Pink Floyd’s electrophonic music” (sic), ghost clarinets, barbarian drums, isolated drippings of melting crystals and homages to various composers and artists boil down to fanciful notions of what you might make of these solo acoustic runs if you give your imagination freedom to run amok. You will only find out anything about either participant from the brief, untranslated biographies.

Full marks, true enough, for these pieces being exactly what they set out to be: studies, with none of the characteristics of sonatas or anything else that might make more sense to a non-specialist audience. Handsome as the box may be, unless you are a guitar ace yourself, you may find one of the CDs on its own is more than you can comfortably take in one sitting. As studies, doubtless good enough for five stars.

As music, thanks but no thanks.