Elena Kats-Chernin’s piano music is a gift to the contemporary classical repertoire. Performed by pianist Tamara-Anna Chislowska, Butterflying features over five decades of music by Uzbekistan-born Australian Kats-Chernin. The compositions presented here include piano solos and transcriptions of larger works, such as ‘Marcato’ from Five Chapters for saxophone quartet and orchestra. Despite the array of styles – from transcriptions and arrangements to waltzes and rags – Chislowska presents a unified package. Her playing is tender and agile, and generally a joy to listen to.

A highlight is the transcription of ‘Eliza’s Aria’ from the ballet Wild Swans. Based on a story by Hans Christian Anderson, the vocalise ‘expresses [Princess Eliza’s] pure soul, innocence and faith in the good of the world’. Although many will be familiar with soprano Jane Sheldon’s lovely recording of the aria, on this recording Chislowska’s fingers to do the singing, and she brings previously unknown melancholy to the music. It’s beautiful. She draws out phrases, and allows silences to speak. I also loved Schubert Blues – derived from Schubert’s lied ‘Death and the Maiden’ – which is among the more traditionally ‘classical’ pieces on the disc. Butterflying is a fine tribute to the combined skills of Kats-Chernin and Chislowska.

Alexandra Mathew