Flautists have often adapted the Franck Violin Sonata but Emmanuel Pahud goes further in taking over Richard Strauss’s early Violin Sonata. Linking the two is the charming Widor Suite, giving us works from three generations yet written within three years of each other.

In the Franck the comparison with James Galway’s RCA recording demonstrates the qualities that a pianist of the calibre of Martha Argerich brings. In the first movement the new performance builds to a powerful climax, but next to its rival seems a little too evenly paced. Argerich’s flair in the surging second movement is compelling, and so is the extra flexibility of the recitative of the third movement. Again, in the finale, Pahud and Eric Le Sage are steadier, less impulsive. Nonetheless, Pahud’s is a fine performance, using a wider tonal and dynamic range (partly a question of recording balance).

Le Sage’s positive qualities are more evident in the Strauss Sonata. If in the Franck few would suggest the flute is preferable to the violin, there is a strong case in the Strauss for preferring this flute arrangement. Both players are more impulsive than in the Franck, building up the long first movement in high contrasts.

The lyrical second movement strikes me as even more beautiful on the flute, losing the hint of salon music that even a fine violin performance brings, and the finale in Pahud’s hands has an engaging swagger. Add the delightful four-movement Widor Suite – his most popular work outside the organ repertory – and Pahud presents us with another winning disc.