Horn tone mellifluous or rough-edged from Alessio Allegrini, but his orchestral counterparts in K417 and K495 are, like the woodwinds, subdued in a slightly distant balance. The clarinets in K447, for instance, don’t register as well as they might, but violins are separated and the solo instrument is always very present. Allegrini can take the spotlight because he is an exceptional artist.

Claudio Abbado, if not quite as uplifting as he was for the violin concertos (9/08), is nevertheless on his mettle, though little interested in the Rondo second movement of K412; excusably so, because it’s by Süssmayr, who instead of finishing Mozart’s torso – 40 fully scored bars, a complete draft of the solo part and sketches – substituted a composition of his own based on the main motif. Back with Mozart, Abbado’s resilient rhythm and themes shrewdly differentiated in the first movement of K417 offer Allegrini a framework for remarkably secure playing. Remarkably varied in colour too, changing cast as the music modulates through four minor keys from B flat minor before arriving at the recapitulation (2'56"-3'49"). Add in an artistically phrased, softly spoken Andante and a stimulating 6/8 finale, all representative of the quality of a disc which, apart from a few inconsistencies, offers good sound too.

If you also like the zesty natural horn, Teunis van der Zwart and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra will fulfil wishes – with a bonus: Mozart’s Rondo for K412 considerately reconstructed by Torsten Johann, and far superior to Süssmayr.