Among the most prominent of younger Finnish composers, Perttu Haapanen (b1972) now has a substantial catalogue and this Ondine release offers an overview of his recent larger works. Reflecting his deep interest in Japanese anime, Compulsion Island (2014) evinces a cinematic perspective on what is essentially a concerto for orchestra, numerous solo instruments leaving their mark in the course of a piece whose texture and harmony are more than a little redolent of 1980s Lutosawski – for all that its abstract if often fraught scenario keeps one in suspense.

Not that Ladies’ Room (2007) is much more explicit in this respect – the odd-numbered of its nine songs featuring texts stretching from Paul Celan, via contemporary Finnish writers, to an invoice of expenses incurred during witch-burning. These settings bring forth a wide range of expressive contrast that Helena Juntunen renders with real insight, but she cannot disguise the sparse invention of the ‘Hommages à Adolf Wölfli’ which act as interludes. Cliché-ridden and unamusing, they feel intent on caricaturing that Swiss schizophrenic of vast creative resource.

The Flute Concerto (2018) is the most successful of these pieces. Its near half-hour continuity, as divided into two parts, yields a three-movement trajectory. The first evolves from breathy undulation to sustained eloquence, the second frames a climactic quasi cadenza with more combative dialogue, then the third pivots between the capricious and the winsome before its deft final pay-off. Principal flautist of the FRSO, Yuki Koyama is wholly attuned to a piece written for him, with Dima Slobodeniouk assured in his direction. Sound and annotations are both up to Ondine’s customary standards, so making for a firm if qualified recommendation.