Kairos’s Lachenmann discography already extends into double figures. This double-CD presents the expanded version of his choral piece Les Consolations, which originated as a pair of settings in the late ’60s and was expanded 10 years later with a Prelude, Postlude and Interlude and the addition of an orchestra. The treatment of the text here evokes that of the rather later “…zwei Gefühle…” (Musik mit Leonardo), one of the composer’s most frequently recorded pieces. It’s good to be able to hear the two versions alongside each other (the earlier one was issued by the same Schola Heidelberg on the same label, 12/01). By comparison, the treatment of the text in Salut für Caudwell is rather distracting (dare one say, “didactic”?), having regard to the boldness and delicacy of the instrumental treatment. The microphones have been placed very near the instruments; while this is surely necessary to capture the sounds being produced, the lack of surrounding ambience gives a slightly claustrophobic impression. It’s perhaps best not to listen to this on headphones.

The orchestra or large ensemble (or, one might say, Lachenmann’s consummate mastery of it) is the very subject of the most recent piece here, Concertini (2005), in the composer’s words “an overgrown garden” of sound. It’s the most playful piece here and, for all its considerable length, perhaps the best place to begin listening to this somewhat disparate collection. It’s difficult to over-praise the commitment of the performers or the quality of the recordings of the ensemble pieces.