As concept albums go, this is certainly one of the better ones. That Chopin’s exquisite shadow extended long beyond his tragically short life is hardly news, but I for one certainly didn’t realise how far its delicate tentacles reached. While it’s understandable that Schumann and Grieg – and even to a lesser extent Tchaikovsky – should have been inspired, I was intrigued to see Samuel Barber included in this homage. The Barber work is actually dedicated to the memory of John Field, the real ‘inventor’ of the nocturne, but it’s essentially Chopin-inspired.

The inclusion of both the Chopin concertos is interesting, especially as orchestration was hardly his strong point. Chopin’s genius at extending the...