There are two fundamental approaches to Beethoven’s Triple Concerto: the coming-together of three star soloists and the piano-trio-plus-orchestra. The first of these can be highly effective, especially when it comes to savouring the prominent cello part, as witness Mutter/Ma/Zeltser/Karajan (DG); the risk is that matters become weighed down by outsize personalities, as in the case of the Oistrakh/Rostropovich/Richter/Karajan reading (EMI, 7/93R).

The Smetana Trio replace soloistic glamour with a genuine sense of coherence and shared vision. This is particularly enlightening in passages where Beethoven sets the private conversation of the trio against the orchestra. But if you have in your mind’s ear the tone of an Oistrakh or a Ma (particularly in the latter’s sublime opening of the Largo) then you will be disappointed. There’s a sense, too, in the finale that elegance and a slightly conservative tempo outweigh ebullience and drama.

The real selling-point of this disc, however, is the inclusion of Vorísek’s Grand Rondeau for the same forces as the Beethoven. Lasting under a quarter of an hour, Vorísek packs much incident and virtuosity into this piece, composed in the year of his death, 1825, aged just 34. He and Beethoven met on several occasions, and the influence of the older man is evident in the work’s taut construction and its use of thematic motifs rather than sweeping melodies. The Rondeau’s brilliant figuration, though, surely comes from Hummel and Moscheles. The Smetana Trio have the field to themselves as theirs is the only version in the catalogue; it’s a piece ripe for rediscovery, though, so it would be good to hear other trios offer this apt coupling.