The Aurora label has done much to disseminate largely Norwegian music and this disc features three major Nordic cello concertos. Most recent is Momentum (2009), Per Nørgård’s second such piece, which embodies the expressive economy of his later symphonies and string quartets. The incremental energy of its title is evident across the four movements with the first, ‘Monologue’, outlining a lively process of development and reprise while the second, ‘Together’, is a romanza the more affecting for its restraint. The third, ‘Multiplicity’, is a scherzo whose effervescence carries over into the finale, ‘Infinity’, its rhythmic impetus taking in a degree of pensiveness before the ethereal dissolve near the close. An assured account from Kullberg, who makes light of its technical demands and evinces understandable pleasure in the inventive solo writing, alongside an ensemble deployed with the deftness familiar from Nørgård’s latter-day concertante works.

Nor is Kullberg to be found wanting in the other concertos. Indeed, the sombre tread and brooding expression of Arne Nordheim’s Tenebrae (1982) arguably benefits from the clarity afforded by its chamber scoring as undertaken by the composer with Szymon Bywalec, who inspires the New Music Orchestra to considerable virtuosity during the explosive climaxes of its later stages, while the marine-inspired luminosity of Kaija Saariaho’s Amers (1992) is replete with the subtle interplay of detail such as is a hallmark of her earlier music. Finely balanced sound and comprehensive booklet-notes, enhanced by numerous session photographs, make for a package almost as enticing as the music herein.