At the 2003 Martinu Festival in Prague I had the good fortune to hear Bohuslav Matousek and Jennifer Koh give a spirited account of the highly enjoyable Duo concertante (1937) with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Written in Martinu’s best 1930s concerto grosso style, its three movements (fast-slow-fast) are limpidly scored, allowing the flowing, interweaving lines of the soloists to sound to best advantage; as the excellent booklet-notes say, “an extraordinary musical experience”.

For this equally vibrant recording, Régis Pasquier partners Matousek while Koh appears with Matousek in the Concerto in D major (1950). Unlike its predecessor, the later work is in the standard 19th-century concerto format – one reason why Martinu did not number the works – and structurally quite different. For one thing, there is no real slow movement, the central span (dovetailed into the finale) being moderate in pace with a più vivo central section. In atmosphere it is one of those fleet-footed yet serene works in which Martinu’s inspiration seems just to beam from ear to ear.

This first volume, in what will be a series of four devoted to Martinu’s concertante works for violin, is completed by another enchanting early double concerto, for flute and violin, penned in just 10 days in 1936. There is no hint of rush in its fresh and lively invention, the solo roles played with beguiling ease by Janne Thomsen and Matousek. Accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic – in whose second violin section the composer played in the 1920s – this disc is an utter delight from start to finish.