In 1960, Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini won the International Chopin Piano Competition. EMI instantly took him to the recording studio, where he made a famous recording of Chopin’s E-Minor Piano Concerto with conductor Paul Kletzki. It has never left the catalogue.

As music lovers and recording executives began rubbing their hands in anticipation, Pollini recorded the two sets of Chopin Études – but the young artist was not ready to be drawn into this whirlwind. Further sessions produced personality clashes, and Pollini abandoned recording for ten years. Eventually he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. 

At Pollini’s insistence the EMI Études were never released. Fifty years later the recording is in the public domain and makes its debut, newly remastered from Testament. The stress and the arguments are ancient history. What remains is the brilliance of a young virtuoso in pieces that are designed to show off keyboard prowess: not only speed and accuracy but also the pianist’s way with legato (a melting Étude Op 25 No 1).

This is very good 1960 piano sound. The instrument is recorded in close-up, as opposed to the concert hall acoustic Pollini has favoured since. Close scrutiny is no problem; indeed, it’s an asset for playing that is so controlled, expressive and phenomenally accurate.

Pollini takes these testing works in his stride, but at 18 he was human. There is a warmth and lightness here that is lacking in several of his later recordings, where his monumental approach is not always appropriate.