Once, recordings of Ravel’s output for solo piano were rare. Historically, significant “complete” recordings were made in the 1950s by Walter Gieseking, Marcelle Meyer, and Robert Casadesus, and in the ‘60s by Vlado Perlemuter and Monique Haas. Meyer, Casadesus and Perlemuter were all acquainted with the composer; the latter studied with him. A 1991 Decca set from Jean-Yves Thibaudet has dominated modern recordings for years, but lately many young pianists have joined the fray, most recently Alexandre Tharaud and Florian Uhlig. Tharaud added the early, uncharacteristic La Parade in the name of completeness, and Uhlig included a piano transcription of portions of Daphnis et Chloé.

The latest contender, Bertrand Chamayou, neglects those extras but adds an effective transcription of Ravel’s Kaddisch by Alexander Siloti, and a piece by Casella, À la Manière de… Ravel, from the same collection that included Ravel’s pastiches of Borodin and Chabrier.

The 34-year-old Chamayou is an up-and-coming French pianist who has previously recorded Schubert, Liszt and a highly praised disc of solo and concertante works by César Franck. How does his Ravel rate in what is now a competitive field? Extremely well. None of Ravel’s piano music is simple to play and...