Full disclosure. These are two of my favourite chamber works, even if the Piano Quintet in D minor, Op 74, presented here is better known as the Piano Septet in D minor, Op 74, more usually heard in its original garb of flute, oboe, horn, viola, cello, double bass and piano. Hummel’s own arrangement for more manageable forces was published in the same year (1816), albeit for another unusual combination: violin, viola, cello, piano and double bass, a line-up that provided Schubert with the model for his Trout Quintet.

Though probably composed much earlier (Grove puts it at 1802), the Op 87 Quintet in E flat minor was not published in its present form until 1822 and, intriguingly, with the three flats of E flat major (or C minor) as the key signature. Perhaps the publishers thought that six flats might deter prospective customers, but in fact the only sections in the parallel major are the Minuet’s Trio and the brief recitatif slow movement.

I know of only one other recording that couples both works together in this form: lively, well-recorded accounts from 2004 by the Klavierquintett Wien. Furthermore, this Brilliant Classics release is the only one on period instruments, recorded back in 2006 and 2009. (The fortepiano is a Pleyel from 1842, five years after Hummel’s departure, but no matter.) So, all in all, several persuasive USPs.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite cut the mustard. Excepting the near-invisible presence of the double bass throughout, and though in their tight ensemble the other three strings prove zesty, colourful colleagues, the fortepiano is all but overwhelmed in the recording balance. This is especially true in Op 87, where the strings give every impression of being the most important element. They are not. Both works are showpieces for a virtuoso keyboard player. Often, simple string passages merely providing harmonic support are given such prominence that they sound condescending and impatient whenever the fortepiano has the effrontery to appear. Added to which, playfulness and a light touch are in short supply (try the final movement of Op 87, a decidedly flat-footed response to Allegro agitato).

To hear both works at their best in their quintet versions, turn to the (non-period) Klavierquintett Wien for the full scores. Alternatively, go for the Melos Ensemble of London (Decca, 5/66) for the original versions of both and if you don’t mind the omission of their first-movement exposition repeats. Recorded in 1965 with the nimble Lamar Crowson leading from the front, every note of Hummel’s sparkling piano-writing is clean, focused, blended with the strings and guaranteed to put a spring in your step.