It is unfortunate Prokofiev never had a revelatory memoir published to fight his posthumous battles for him; his complex relationship with authority and his naive belief in the sacred inviolability of art has meant his true stature remains concealed by the fog of an ideological blame-game. A virtuoso pianist-composer in his youth; the essence of his genius is distilled in his piano writing.

Despite the profound accounts of Richter, Gilels et al, brutish performances that evoke the iron foundry have done little to dispel his reputation as a political conformist, so I was delighted that Alexander Melnikov was recording a complete set. On the evidence of this first volume it will be a revelation to many. His transcendental virtuosity is never an end in itself but gives free rein to his fertile interpretive imagination, revealing the gamut of Prokofiev’s invention, originality and vision.

The Second Sonata is a remarkable work for a 21-year-old composer and Melnikov treats it as an integral part of the canon. Note the care he takes over the Andante’s accompaniment – so often blankly phrased but here invested with subtle narrative point. He relishes the comic antics of the Vivace, evoking a hilarious...