Adam Walker, principal flute of the LSO, tells us that the music he performs here ‘has at its heart the human voice and its range of emotional expression’. He is a superb player, with a tone that is slightly cool, and there is much delicacy of nuance in his phrasing. This especially suits French music, and his partner James Baillieu provides accompaniments with just the right degree of often gentle support, balanced with the flute to perfection. So the listener can expect something distinctive here, and is not disappointed.

Moreover, the programme could not be more enticing. Poulenc’s Flute Sonata has one of those exquisite, unforgettable cantilena slow movements, and it is played here quite magically. The work then ends with a delicious Presto giocoso, which brings stunning virtuosity from Adam Walker. I did not know Messiaen’s Leçons de solfège but they include another seductive Très lent and an equally memorable Modéré finale, played by both artists quite hauntingly. Bartók’s Suite paysanne hongroise was another surprise – 15 miniatures, including nine brief Hungarian peasant dances (to my ears not very Bartókian), all brimming over with charm. Barber’s rather melancholy Canzone is touchingly vocal and has much in common with Poulenc’s Vocalise. The concert ends, appropriately, with Schubert’s only significant work for flute, a set of variations on the 18th song in Die schöne Müllerin, its variety of style providing flautist and pianist with a diverting partnership which they relish. They are beautifully recorded.