On the third instalment of his Chopin series, Louis Lortie precedes what is a strikingly powerful account of the Third Sonata with a series of nocturnes and impromptus. He has taken particular care with the key sequence, so that the C sharp minor Nocturne Op 27 no 1 is followed by the Fantaisie-Impromptu Op 66 in the same key, the Nocturne Op 32 no 2 by the Op 29 Impromptu, both in A flat, and so on, and includes the B major Nocturne Op 9 no 3 to provide a bridge from those to the B minor Sonata.

Lortie's Chopin playing has a wonderful, penetrating directness about it; there's not a trace of dreamy indulgence in any of the nocturnes, though all their decorative tracery shines out with a sharp-cut brilliance, and the impromptus dance and divert without a trace of self-consciousness. The sonata, though, is made of much tougher stuff, once again doing nothing purely for show, and culminating in a titanic account of the finale; it's hard to think of a better one on disc in recent times.