Two and a half hours of solo flute music is a tall order, and it takes a flautist with the muscular virtuosity, command of colour and sheer charisma of Emmanuel Pahud to even come close to pulling it off. The Swiss flautist’s SOLO double disc alternates Telemann’s 12 Fantasias with works spanning Karg-Elert’s 1917 Sonata Appassionata to Widmann’s 2016 Petite Suite, in a whole that’s less than the sum of its parts.

Pahud compellingly traces the polyphony implied in Telemann’s Fantasias, his crisp attacks and full tone in the low register highlighting the counterpoint with the singing high register – and his self-assured embrace of the ‘fantasy’ keeps these well-worn works sparkling fresh.

The modern...