The Turkish pianist Can Çakmur certainly knows how to put together an interesting recital; this SACD delves deep into notions of nation, identity, and what makes both of those up. He’s assembled a program that centres on the early 20th century, when composers started to really take folk songs seriously either as a viable source for new compositions, or as concert music in its own right. Çakmur’s liner notes point out also that “on a purely musical level, using the essence of folk music as art supplied a very convincing solution to the dissolution of tonality.”

Can Çakmur

Beginning with Bartók’s Piano Sonata, Çakmur gives a deliciously percussive performance of this rich work, shifting seamlessly from the percussive plonks of the opening movement to arcing folk-like melodies in the second. Çakmur follows it with Dmitri Mitropoulous’s Passacaglia, Intermezzo e Fuga, which was a reaction to Ferruccio Busoni’s negative critique of his previous works. If the work is somewhat self-consciously serious, it’s nonetheless a large-scale piece that summarises Mitropoulous’ dark, austere compositional style before he turned to conducting.

Next up is the Turkish composer Ahmed...