How to make the ubiquitous Haydn and Hummel concertos sound both fresh and familiar – but not hackneyed – musical “events” is one of the hardest challenges for the modern player. Gábor Tarkövi is an exceptional trumpeter, as you would expect of the principal of the Berlin Philharmonic, and he traverses every technical challenge with pronounced and disciplined placement. Likewise, the performances of Neruda’s and Leopold Mozart’s concertos (alas, neither the lost work of Wolfgang Amadeus nor the brilliant Maurice André transcription of the Oboe Concerto) present mathematical proofs of the ease with which these works are negotiated in our Olympian age.

The Haydn is an object lesson in supreme control, the Neruda smooth and efficient and the Mozart pinpoint in its pristine piccolo trumpet intonation. The Hummel has rather more swagger; here the orchestral player begins to emerge with a relative degree of élan and charisma but it really is too little too late. These are disappointingly dull performances from a man who can doubtless lift you off your chair in a Mahler symphony.

Horses for courses, I suppose. Alison Balsom’s brilliant performances (EMI, A/08) knock spots off it. It also does no harm to be reminded of Warner’s recent three-volume Maurice André retrospective (hopefully with more to come) of a man whose personality, sound and inimitable panache still reign supreme.