Salomon Jadassohn (1831- 1902) was the high priest of German musical conservatism, a hugely influential musical thinker and pedagogue – but could he write a decent melody? No, he could not. The busy piano-writing in these two world premiere recordings is brilliant and passionate, the scoring is textbook 1887 and the musical structure inventive: the C minor Concerto (15'34" in a single movement) opens with an Introduction quasi recitativo and ends with a sonata-form Ballade; the F minor work, too, defies expectations. But having listened to both works three times I cannot remember a thing about either of them.

The Concerto by Jadassohn’s fellow German Felix Draeseke (1835-1913) is a different matter despite being more traditional in structure and even if, as Kenneth Hamilton observes in his droll and perceptive booklet, “melodic inspiration is ultimately not the equal of its slick craftsmanship”. The rumbustious 6/8 last movement, nevertheless, with its echoes of the finale of Henselt’s Concerto, has the “memorable melody factor”, one that would not be out of place in a Savoy opera.

Hyperion’s A-team for concertos (Andrew Keener and Simon Eadon) is on top form, while the Berlin orchestra and Michael Sanderling provide crisp support for the sparkling and industrious Markus Becker who leaves the impression not only of having an affection for the three works but also that he has been playing them all his life. In the Draeseke, he adopts marginally brisker tempi than the admirable Claudius Tanski (MDG, 3/00), and benefits from a brilliantly voiced Steinway as opposed to Tansky’s somewhat plummy 1925 Blüthner.