The Italian-born pianist and Leeds competition winner Alessio Bax returns with his third solo recital disc for Signum. His programme surveys a selection of highlights from Brahms' pianistic output, charting his development from the early lyrical collection Ballades (1854) through to the 'eight perfect gems' that are the Acht Klavierstücke Op 76 (1871-78). Bax also tackles Brahms' fiendish set of Variations on a theme of Pagainini, Op 35, which Bax describes in the programme notes as one of 'the most fearsome works ever written for piano'.