Long in want of a champion, Mendelssohn’s Piano Concertos – neglected in the concert hall, paid scant attention on disc, dismissed as poor second cousins to the Violin Concerto – might just have found one in Jan Lisiecki.

After admired performances of Chopin and Schumann, the young Canadian strengthens his claim to the romantic repertoire with these lithe, lyrical, technically alert readings. Now 23, Lisiecki is just one year older than Mendelssohn when he composed his First Piano Concerto in 1831, a ripe concoction carried along by youthful brio and free-flowing ardour. He sets off with a thrilling cascade of liquid octaves in the opening movement, imbuing its elasticated rhythms...