Still in his mid-forties, Jörg Widmann has a sizeable discography as a composer, clarinettist and now conductor. This latest release focuses on a Viola Concerto (2015) written for Antoine Tamestit, and as much a concerto for its dedicatee as for his instrument; not least in the way interaction is enhanced by onstage events, the soloist moving to various points on the stage according to the music being heard. This is most perceptible in the textural contrasts of the first movement, culminating in a massive chord from where the slow movement attempts a more sustained dialogue, summarily obliterated by the explosive force of its brief successors, before the finale attempts a measure of repose which perhaps feels gratuitous as an outcome.

What is undeniable is the commitment of Tamestit as he plays, moves and sometimes shouts his way through a score more distinctive for its gestural immediacy than its thematic content. He combines with Marc Bouchkov and Bruno Philippe in a specially arranged selection from the 24 Duos (2008), whose expressive profile is redolent of those gnomic miniatures by Kurtág – at least until a ‘Lamento’ as poised and affecting as anything Widmann has composed. After this, the Third Quartet (2003) makes for a rather jarring conclusion. Its tensile propulsion is rendered with panache by the Signum Quartet, yet this scherzo is more productively heard within the context of Widmann’s series of five quartets as played by the Leipzig or Minguet ensembles.

Finely recorded and amply documented, this release remains short measure: given its built-in visual dimension, would a DVD presentation of the Viola Concerto not have been feasible?