Ever since Michael Tilson Thomas and Ralph Grierson made the first recording of Stravinsky’s four-hand reduction of The Rite of Spring in 1967 for EMI, a good number of piano duetists have taken up the work’s challenges on disc. This latest offering features Fazil Say, who shares the spotlight with himself via studio multitracking. Say essentially sticks to what Stravinsky wrote, while fleshing out the piano textures with effective octave doublings, registral changes, and an occasional added bass note in the Danse Sacrale.

Mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa and pianist Fazıl Say share some tantalising, captivating and sensuous Secrets in this album of songs, centred on Debussy’s Trois Chansons de Bilitis, Ravel’s Shéhérazade and Fazıl Say’s own Gezi Park 3 – which he and Crebassa premiered in 2014. Describing the recording sessions, Marianne Crebassa says: “Sometimes we worked in a kind of trance … there were some moments when nothing seemed to exist around us …”

Before talking to Fazil Say about these performances, I’m not sure that I would have used the word “operatic” to describe them—but from the beginning, I was struck by their conversational quality, by the superbly characterized playing of the solo winds and by the exceptional chamber-music rapport of pianist and orchestra as they toss material back and forth. And while I might not have thought of the word “smiling,” I certainly noticed the high level of wit, both in the playing itself and in the slightly anachronistic cadenza that Say offers for K 467.

Fazil Say first came to international attention as a pianist, but he used that career as a springboard for launching his own compositions, and he has become widely recognized in both fields. This release from Naïve includes a fascinating assortment of his works that draw on his background in the Western classical tradition, his Turkish heritage, and his interest in jazz. His 2008 Violin Concerto, subtitled "1001 Nights in the Harem," skillfully brings the harmonic language, modal melodies, and textures of traditional Turkish music to the format of the concerto.

Fazil Say brings a composer’s approach to these two strangely complementary French figures. He plays with a delicacy and restraint, almost as if a veil had been thrown over the piano: colors are subtle, rhetoric replaced by intimate whispers. He brings Debussy’s lovely Préludes vividly to life, his personality glinting off the notes, each miniature painted with tiny brushstrokes. Satie’s Gnossiennes and Gymnopédies, epigrammatic and wistful, are done with the perfect amount of reverence balanced with a cheeky smile. The piano is nicely recorded in an ambience that perfectly fits these infinitely rewarding small creations.

Fazıl Say is one of the world’s most prominent pianists but he is also a much-admired composer with a substantial catalogue of works. He combines both these accomplishments in his two Violin Sonatas, the first of which is suffused with Turkish motifs and dances, such as the horon. The second sonata takes as its theme the abuse of nature and the need to resist despoliation. His Violin Concerto is subtitled ‘1001 Nights in the Harem’ and is full of rich melodies and atmosphere, and features an array of Turkish percussion instruments.