Howard Shelley’s new recording with the Ulster Orchestra of three of Jan Ladislav Dussek’s concertos is a sequel to their 2014 disc, which presented the composer’s concertos Op 1 No 3, Op 29 and Op 70 (A/14). Both are part of a larger Hyperion series devoted to ‘The Classical Piano Concerto’, to which Shelley and the Ulster Orchestra have also contributed three other discs with concertos by Clementi, Kozeluch, Franz Xaver Mozart and Steibelt.

The concertos on this disc span 14 years of the Bohemian virtuoso’s career. Despite their general formal adherence to the late Classical style of Haydn and Mozart, comparison with either master is misleading. These concertos are perhaps more akin to Hummel, although the technical challenges Dussek poses for the soloist are less ostentatiously virtuoso. Beethoven was 10 years Dussek’s junior but both composers’ keyboard styles evolve in close tandem with the contemporary piano’s rapid technological development. Overall, Dussek impresses as a forward-looking composer. In addition to distinctive melodies and original harmonic thinking, passages from the first movement of the passionate Op 49 Concerto in G minor, from 1801, if heard out of context, could easily be mistaken for Mendelssohn.

Shelley handles the often intricate solo parts of these concertos with characteristic aplomb and stylishness. The theme and variations of the Andantino of the Op 3 Concerto in E flat, the military inflections of the Op 14 Concerto in F and the ‘Turkish’ Rondo of the G minor Concerto are particularly appealing. Dussek wrote little orchestral music beyond his concertos but the sympathetic collaboration of the Ulster Orchestra showcases the increasing subtlety and sophistication of his handling of the orchestra. If these performances may not necessarily represent the last word in ensemble precision, they are nevertheless a welcome addition to the library of anyone interested in the fertile territory of late 18th- and early 19th-century piano music.