Ensemble Diderot do it again, and this time cello lovers can rejoice. Four cello concertos by four composers – only one known to me previously – and two of these are premiere recordings. We are perhaps used to Johannes Pramsohler unearthing unknown gems of the Baroque violin and chamber music repertoire, as well as reimagining well-known works (I can’t think of a perkier version of Pachelbel’s Canon – 6/21 – which practically skips down the wedding aisle).

It’s not made explicit in the booklet notes who has done the archival digging this time round, but I commend them. Plucked from obscurity, we are introduced to Ignác František Mara (1709 83), a native of Bohemia, who was active at Dresden’s royal court from 1742. He held an important position in the king’s orchestra (with a salary to match). We have the Eisenach native Markus Heinrich Grauel (c1720-1799), who entered the court as a cellist in 1763. We learn that Charles Burney heard Grauel play a concerto in 1772 at a party in Berlin, reporting that the cellist held the bow in the old-fashioned manner (with the so-called underhand grip). Then we have Johann Wilhelm Hertel (1727 89), court composer in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, where he penned no fewer than 17 harpsichord concertos. Listeners are more likely to know the fourth composer on the disc, Carl Friedrich Abel (1723 87), student of Johann Sebastian Bach and gambist extraordinaire.

The performances are full of vitality and have that trademark Ensemble Diderot warmth. Soloist Gulrim Choï’s playing has an understated joy, open and ready to take on risk. Even the sour intonation – the opening movement of the Abel concerto is the worst culprit here – doesn’t really blemish but rather instils a liveliness to the music-making. Perhaps my favourite movement is Hertel’s opening Allegro con spirito. It’s a brooding, dramatic performance, and Choï mixes a stylish blend of operatic diva and drawing-room empfindsamer Stil. Grauel’s opening Allegro is particularly lovely, too: Ensemble Diderot glide through harmonic sequences as if they’re high on morning-fresh air alone.

A final note: I’m touched to discover that the booklet notes include translations into Japanese and Korean. This is an important and commendable move from Audax.