Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear hit “an emotional slump” following the impact of COVID and his mother’s death last year.

On top of that he was booked to start recording two concertos and a sonata by Sergei Prokofiev, a composer he hadn’t performed for 20 years, when his right arm stopped working properly.

He thought of cancelling and tried acupuncture, exercises and a machine with muscle stimulators, but his shoulder and wrist were still not right.

Then came the first day of recording and “a miracle” – power returned to his fingers.

The resulting album, featuring the second and third concertos and Piano Sonata No. 7 is an absolute peach. “Prokofiev always felt like a young pianist’s favourite to me, filled with vitality, speed, volume and aerobics”, Goodyear writes.

Recorded with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Andrew Litton, these are performances from the top drawer and the disc is a celebration both of the pianist-composer’s 45th birthday and the spirit of his late mother who helped guide his career.

The Second Concerto is notoriously difficult...