This bold juxtaposition of Beethoven and Hummel resurrects a real-life musical rivalry that to us seems unlikely, history having long since judged the latter as a mere also-ran. Equally bold are the timbres displayed by this vividly imaginative trio of period instrumentalists. They convey fully the vertiginous dramatic attack of Beethoven’s Op 1 No 3 Trio, with their lowered pitch increasing the darkness without any loss of brilliance in the upper register. The piano on this recording is a fine modern copy of a Graf c1825. While it’s the centre of gravity in this early trio, it never overwhelms, even in the more thunderous bass passages, and the many scale passages in the seething finale are effortlessly done.

In the Ghost Trio, these players make much of the sheer strangeness of the music, particularly the eerie slow movement. Here, however, I found the modern-instrument Florestan even finer, their greater lyricism sustaining the mood to more moving effect. But the new group are irreproachable in the finale, with its kaleidoscopic range of colours and bubbling energy.

The Hummel Trio is a welcome and imaginative partner. Though the booklet-note writer slightly short-changes the composer, there’s no sense of hesitation or emotional reticence in the performance, which is sheer delight from start to finish. At the work’s final cadence, Staier indulges in a moment of whimsy, applying what sounds like a janissary pedal, fully in keeping with Hummel’s eastern-tinged writing in this irresistible catch-me-if-you-can movement, full of witty interplay. This is the first recording which offers a serious challenge to the superlative Parnassus Trio. The only caveat is that the close recording captures some quite prominent sniffing (less obvious in the Beethoven). With six more Hummel trios to choose from, is it too much to hope that this might be the first in a series?