I was surprised to read recently that the Ballade was originally something danced to, then danced to a sung accompaniment, and only gradually morphed into a spoken narrative. Benjamin Grosvenor seems to have somehow internalised this earlier definition for his interpretation of Chopin’s G minor Ballade (a term for piano he invented). 

In a rhythmically alert and volatile rendition he calibrates the narrative development from the nostalgic G minor opening to the agitated transition to the calmer waters of the E major second subject and the effusion of optimism before the blazing despair of the coda.

He brings a distinctly operatic flavour to the two Op. 55 Nocturnes. In the first, he is clearly inspired by Chopin’s friend Bellini, seeming to delight in lingering over the cantabile melody, imbuing it with a mixture of anxious sorrow bordering on self-pity. Intensifying for the more dramatic più mosso section he ends with faint ray of hope in the delicately swirling conclusion. The Op. 55 No. 2, strangely one of the most neglected of the...