''Since he died in 1976 at the age of 54, Géza Anda's reputation has gone into eclipse. The Budapest-born pianist is remembered now mostly for his rather strait-laced Deutsche Grammophon recordings of Mozart concertos and a steely set of Bartók's three concertos, all of which have since been superseded on disc. In his lifetime, though Anda's reputation was considerable; he was ranked high among the pianists of the postwar era, and this collection of solo recordings, mostly dating from the 1960s, shows why. One disc is devoted to Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and a performance of Schubert's B flat Sonata of extreme contrasts, fast and slow, loud and soft. Another features a Chopin selection (including the 24 Preludes and Op 53 Polonaise) and some Liszt. The remaining pair are given over to what seem to me some of the greatest Schumann performances ever issued; Anda's concern for clarity and rigour and his sense of the fantastical in Schumann's piano writing were perfectly balanced. There are details in his account of Kreisleriana to quibble with, but the performance of Davidsbündlertänze is arguably the greatest on disc, while both the C major Fantasy and the Etudes Symphoniques (two versions, recorded in 1943 and 1963) have a sweep and concentration that compel attention. For those of us who never heard Anda in his prime, this set is a total revelation.'' The Guardian