No matter how well you know these two life-enhancing works, I strongly suggest you hear them in their alternative garb. That on its own may not be sufficient justification for the outlay on repertoire of which every self-respecting record collector will have at least one (favourite) version. So let me add a further reason: Kevin Kenner. And a third: the precision of the ensemble and heart-warming rapport between the string players and soloist. There have been more sprightly accounts of the F minor Second on disc (not least Katsaris’s lightweight performance from 2010 of a piano and string quintet version – Piano 21) but few that are so lovingly phrased, with every fioritura run given real meaning and not merely applied as decoration.

The concertos are presented in the order in which they were composed, rather than published. Straight away you will notice that the piano is part of the tutti. At various points along the way, sometimes the strings will take the woodwind figures, at other times the piano. It all sounds perfectly natural, even when one is fully acquainted with the originals (and, occasionally, wishing the bass was a little less self-effacing). The Larghetto is captivating, like a short story told by a great actor. Kenner saves the virtuoso stuff for the finale without charging at fences. There are many moments in this performance that make you aware of figures and phrases that are often obscured in the orchestral setting, few more obvious than the piano’s concluding eight bars of swirling triplets.

In the E minor First Concerto, likewise, Kenner’s tempos are far more deliberate than average but no less poetic. It will not be to everyone’s taste, but I found this approach entirely convincing and certainly more engaging than Fumiko Shiraga’s chamber version from 1996 (BIS, 6/97), despite the warmer string sound and firmer bass. Kenner adds a few of his own subtle little flutters here and there in the Romanza, improvisatory almost, and makes a striking contribution to the fortissimo tuttis in the finale in a way that makes you rather wish that this was the norm. It certainly underlines the collaborative nature of this venture, which comes highly recommended to all who love these two concertos.