It was on a Chandos issue nearly two decades ago (6/87) that Stephen Hough transformed our ideas of Hummel piano concertos, a disc that won a Gramophone Award. Howard Shelley took up the challenge with more Chandos discs; this one is every bit as fine as its predecessors, with full, open, well-balanced sound and sparkling performances. The earliest of Hummel’s mature piano concertos, written in 1809, the year of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, is coupled with two semi-concertos never previously recorded, each labelled Rondo brillant.

Starting with a military motif, the C major Concerto establishes its ambitious scale in a forthright first movement built on sharp contrasts between strongly diatonic ideas, often with a military flavour, and charming lyrical ideas typical of Hummel. The structure is as clear and forthright, with fewer dalliances in empty passagework than one finds in the later concertos. Indeed, the first movement is among the most satisfying of the concertos, more Beethovenian in style than usual even without a cadenza.

The booklet-note suggests this work is half as long again as any of Hummel’s later concertos. In fact it is shorter than the B minor Concerto and not much longer than several others. The central Adagio, though, is more expansive than in any of the other concertos. Lasting 11 minutes, the amiable movement is full of Hummel’s easy-going melodies, each treated to elaborate decoration by the soloist, echoing John Field and anticipating Chopin and (in opera) Bellini.

The rondo finale starts with a striking fortissimo heralding the piano’s first entry. Fanfare motifs restore a military flavour and a timpani roll introduces the reprise. This is Hummel at his most delightful, full of sparkling ideas deliciously delivered by Shelley.

The two Rondos brillant, from 1814 and 1822 respectively, each have a lyrical introduction leading to a finale full of elaborate passage-work for the soloist. They are like concertos without a first movement, which leaves one slightly disappointed. Even so, there are striking moments: the horn-calls leading into the main Rondo theme of the A major, and the Slavonic flavours of the B flat in the mysterious introduction and in the main Rondo theme with its jaunty dotted rhythms, apparently taken from a Russian folk-song. These are rarities well worth sampling, unlikely to be performed or recorded better.