Pity the poor bassoon, imprisoned in the depths of the woodwind section, usually let out only for brief comedy turns, famously drawn by Gerard Hoffnung with a chimney sweep’s brush poking out of its bell. Of course, such characterisations only tell part of the bassoon’s story. Gifted players, both amateur and professional, inspired a steady stream of virtuoso works for the instrument, demonstrating its versatility across a wide range – its gruff bass opening out into a plaintive treble – and its facility for wide melodic leaps and tricksy passagework.

Perhaps an hour or more in the bassoon’s company might present itself as a slightly monotonous prospect. Not in the hands of Jaakko Luoma, principal bassoonist of the Tapiola Sinfonietta, who exploits all the personality intrinsic to the instrument in a programme of four works spanning a little over 70 years. The Mozart is well known, as is the Hummel (not least its perkily Haydnesque finale), but the Rossini and Winter works are more rarefied fare. Mozart and Hummel cleave to the usual sequence of a fairly serious allegro, an aria-like slow movement and a far lighter finale, the latter work barely reaching beyond the expressive bounds of the former, despite the gap of 30 years that separates them.

Peter von Winter, though, is a composer whose music, on this showing, demands far more attention. His single-movement Concertino is in C minor, with all the Sturm und Drang fervour that entails. If the central barcarolle section and jaunty finale don’t follow through on the seriousness with which the work sets out, the concertino is nevertheless something out of the ordinary in the context of the company in which it is presented here. Rossini’s Concerto is a typical confection from the period of his long retirement, replete with the cantabile and coloratura familiar from his operas.

Luoma is a genial guide throughout, demonstrating the instrument’s expressive possibilities and surmounting every challenge presented in these four works. Even if you don’t feel the need for another disc of the Mozart or the Hummel, this is a rare chance on disc to hear the Rossini and – even more so – the wonderful Winter.