Assiduous followers of Hyperion’s ‘Romantic Piano Concerto’ series may well know the name Alexander Dreyschock (1818-69), as he featured back in Vol 21 (10/99). Should you be unfamiliar, Heinrich Heine’s summation of the playing of this Bohemian whizz (and former child prodigy) goes like this: ‘Go hang yourself, Franz Liszt! You are but an ordinary wind god in comparison with this God of Thunder!’ Dreyschock’s C minor Morceau de concert is as tempestuous as the key might suggest and the solo cello theme (at 3'42"), answered fervently by the piano, is unexpectedly affecting. His Viennese tribute is, by contrast, a frippery, but no less charming for that and with an irritatingly catchy Rondo theme.

Theodor Döhler (1814-56) is still more obscure, long lost in the doldrums of musical history. Was history wrong? Not really. Schumann unsurprisingly hated his A major Concerto: in fact it was works such as this, where the sparkle factor unashamedly outweighs seriousness of intent, that led to his famous 1839 essay on the future of the genre needing to be found – and fast. Stylistically, it is Hummelian in its vivid solo writing but generally without his memorability.

So what’s the point of rescuing such pieces? Well, they offer a fascinating backdrop to the greatest masterpieces of the age. And you couldn’t imagine a finer advocate than Howard Shelley, who is not only palpably committed to the cause (enthusing the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in the process) but who has both the dexterity and the musicality to make the best possible case for this music. Mention should be made, too, of the entertaining and informative notes by Jeremy Nicholas. If the results are more Babycham than Krug, that is hardly the fault of the performers.