Despite a smattering of new recordings in 2024 to celebrate the centenary of his death, Ferruccio Busoni still maintains only a toehold in the repertoire. Among his orchestral works, the gargantuan Piano Concerto gets the most performances, driven perhaps by its ticket-selling sensational demands. Giovanni Bellucci’s classy accounts on this new release, however, prove that the Italian composer with a thoroughly German manner has several other works up his sleeve thoroughly deserving of an outing or two.

First up is admittedly mostly by Liszt. Busoni’s 1893 arrangement of the older composer’s 1867 Rhapsodie espagnole was intended to lend colour to a work he felt deserved a brighter palette than the piano solo original. Shimmering with triangle, castanets, tambourine and cymbals, it’s a sumptuous affair, with Bellucci leaping each of its finger-shredding hurdles with room to spare. Once heard, it’s hard to resist popping it on loop.

The Concertino for Piano and Orchestra is a curiosity, combining the Op. 31a Konzertstück written for a competition in 1890 and the Op. 54 Romanza e Scherzoso, composed 31...