Virtuoso pianist Carl Czerny was a pupil and friend of Beethoven in Vienna. His prodigious output as a composer included numerous sets of variations on operatic themes, both with orchestra [Naxos 8.573254] and, as with the Trois Rondeaux, Op. 347 on themes by Rossini and Bellini, in the form of entertaining chamber music. With its cadenza and technical flourishes the Introduction, Variations and Finale, Op. 80 is composed in true concerto style, while the elegance and refined artistry of the Rondoletto and Duo concertant are both characteristic of a Classical master whose works have only recently started to gain wider recognition.

Overshadowed by giants such as Mozart and Beethoven, the music of Carl Czerny beyond the Studies for Piano known to every student is only now emerging as work of the highest quality and substance.