Most gratifying about these red-blooded performances (on a very red harpsichord) are the forthright qualities of Aapo Häkkinen’s resonant and personable musicianship. In the likely instrumentation of Bach’s original Collegium Musicum concerts, the soloist is joined by a small string band – one-to-a-part strings without 16-foot bass, and concertante recorders for the composer’s F major version of Brandenburg Concerto No 4 (BWV1057).

In repertoire whose recent performances have often been overcooked (I particularly recall the string neuroses in Ottavio Dantone’s readings – L’Oiseau-Lyre, 11/08), Häkkinen’s sprightly and easy style is remarkably refreshing and unmannered – full of sinewy joyfulness. Indeed, the D major work (BWV1054), which can so often seem a poor relation to the E major violin original, grasps its new context in many unusual ways. Notably, the registration contrasts are used sparingly but effectively in the majestic first movement, almost summoning up the opulence of a great festive cantata chorus.

Subtle rhythmic inflection is another striking aspect of this distinguished volume. The slow movements are discreetly chiselled and – rare these days – played on their merits rather than manipulated to distraction. Likewise, the unusual use of grace notes – rather more snappy than we are used to in the radiant A major Concerto (BWV1055) – brings an agreeable added dimension, yet never at the expense of the inner lyricism provided by the alert and supportive Helsinki Baroque Orchestra. How courtly is the opening of the third movement with its placed up-beats, and how rural-sounding the bucolic F major Concerto with its ruddy chordal work, piping conversations and spontaneous roulades, only occasionally soured by recorder tuning. Three thoroughly engaging performances of all but one of the major-key harpsichord concertos are memorably concluded by the solo G major Concerto by Bach’s eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, whose tendency for both technical ambition and emotional excess is presented compellingly by Häkkinen on the splendid Hass copy which belonged to Igor Kipnis until his death in 2002. This is the most enjoyable Bach harpsichord concerto disc since Bertrand Cuiller’s accounts for Mirare (9/09).