There cannot be many compositions from the past 40 years that have three competing recordings all currently available. That one composer should write three within a five-year period is remarkable. At 40 years old, the Third Symphony is the oldest and was the first to be recorded, in Berglund’s magical account. I first encountered it on a Decca LP and it remains a vivid performance but the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra four decades on match their predecessors in verve. With its glittering palette, the Third is the nearest Kokkonen came to an orchestral concerto and the clarity and presence of Ondine’s new release make every sonority count, even more than in Söderblom’s fine competitor from Lahti.

The Cello Concerto followed two years later, written for Arto Noras whose premiere recording remains definitive despite Thedéen’s and Vänskä’s superb rival. Ylönen’s is a masterly alternative and choice here will be decided probably by couplings (Noras’s is part of a mid-price two-disc collection, including the Third Symphony) and acoustic. Ondine’s close-miked sound makes it feel as though one is sitting if not next to the soloist then at least right in front of him; BIS gave Thedéen (in a brilliant programme, coupled with the Fourth Symphony and Symphonic Sketches) a more recessed, back-of-hall sound, making the acoustic of Lahti’s Ristinkirkko seem cavernous by comparison.

Ylönen’s now seems to me the first choice and Oramo’s interpretation of the Fourth Symphony (1971) matches those of Berglund and – almost – Vänskä. Ondine will hopefully add the much less well known First and Second Symphonies in due course, to which I heartily look forward.