The French composer Benjamin Godard (1849‑95) is remembered today for the Berceuse from his opera Jocelyn (Bing Crosby made a memorable recording of it with a violin obbligato played by Jascha Heifetz). It is clear from this, his works for violin and orchestra (Chloë Hanslip on Naxos, 4/08), his piano trios (Trio Parnassus on MDG), other recent recordings and the present disc that here was a composer of Mendelssohnian facility, lyricism and charm.

The four-movement Piano Concerto No 1 (1875) is a case in point, with an agreeably virtuoso solo part, strong themes and some beefy orchestral writing (the RSNO’s fruity brass and enthusiastic percussion departments have plenty to do). The same is true of the Introduction and Allegro (1880) with its amusingly camp finale. Lovers of Saint-Saëns, Litolff and their ilk need not hesitate. Victor Sangiorgio, you feel, has had these works in his fingers for some time, while the equally infectious vitality that Martin Yates brings to proceedings adds to the impression of everyone having a thoroughly enjoyable time. Dutton’s sound (Michael Ponder and Dexter Newman in Glasgow’s Henry Wood Hall) is more spacious and resonant than the drier, cooler sound picture preferred by Hyperion for its Romantic Piano Concerto series.

Had they thought of recording Godard, however, Hyperion would surely have included Godard’s other piano concerto (No 2 in G minor) rather than the (albeit) entertaining Symphonie orientale (1884). Hardly a symphony, these five short verse-inspired tone-poems representing Arabia, China, Greece, Persia and Turkey might well be mistaken for prescient, deftly scored works by German, Ketèlbey or Coates. An altogether delightful disc of world-premiere recordings.