Mozart’s two piano quartets leave you wanting more in that medium, and these chamber-size versions of two 1782 piano concertos just about fill that need, especially in such intentionally small-scale performances. Typically, recordings of the composer’s adaptations are performed like miniature concertos – certainly valid – though this one, influenced by period-instrument performance, accepts the scale of Mozart’s chamber adaptations more on their own terms. Mozart’s musical train of thought emerges in higher relief, especially when played with the comprehension and grace of these performances.

The concertos still don’t show Mozart at his deepest and don’t sustain one’s interest as well as in their full orchestral versions, making this a curious debut recording for pianist Karin Kei Nagano. She’s a model of interpretative responsibility, meaning that she maintains a restraint appropriate to the anti-virtuoso path that’s been chosen here, though the slow movements are full of exquisite playing with some subtle rubato. But what makes you want to hear Nagano (daughter of Kent Nagano) in some future spotlight is the cadenzas: they’re hugely witty and brimming with personality.