Recorded the better part of 10 years ago, here’s a disc of four Haydn piano trios, none of them perhaps first choices in terms of popularity, played on period instruments. Not, perhaps, the most enticing prospect on paper; but such is the glory of this music, and such is the palpable identification of these players with Haydn and the evident rapport between them, that the disc is a pleasure from start to finish.

The alertness and playfulness at the outset of the opening A major Trio (No 18) finds an ideal foil in the veiled tinta of its A minor slow movement, the tone warming again for its major-key sections and the rumbustious finale; then the change of tone between that and the austere opening of the D minor work (No 23) makes one wonder what these musicians might make of a Ghost Trio. Tempi are well chosen and intonation – with only a bare minimum of vibrato – is near ideal. More importantly, though, balance between the three instruments is beautifully judged, allowing each its moment in the spotlight, the piano (a modern copy of a 1785 Stein) never overpowering the string instruments and, crucially, allowing the cello full voice, dispelling the lazy notion that it is merely a secondary voice in this music.

The rustic conviviality of the C major Trio (No 21) is lustily conveyed with cheeky portamentos, the two-movement E flat (No 10) with a driving seriousness of intent in the Allegro moderato that is gleefully subverted in the Presto rondo. An hour spent with Haydn is never wasted, especially in such convivial company as this.