In Das Konzert (2001-02), Mauricio Kagel revisited the idea of the Baroque concerto grosso with a work for flute and orchestra that purposefully queried the boundaries between ‘solo’ writing and what would normally be thought of as an ‘accompaniment’ for percussion, harp and strings. That was the plan, at least, but listening to this new recording by flautist Michael Faust and the Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä under Patrick Gallois I wonder who miscalculated – Kagel or the performers?

As a ‘flute concerto’ with a keenly developed orchestral part, Das Konzert is packed with trademark Kagelian sleights-of-hand: flouncy impressionism twisted into deadpan marches; athletic and directional string-writing suddenly divided into an infinity of insect-like movements; a droll false ending. But with the obviously soloistic flute part always riding high in the orchestral range, the trailed independence of parts simply fails to materialise. In the opening moments, should Michael Faust’s flute be balanced more discreetly against the Mexican wave of pizzicato and bowed strings criss-crossing each other? To do so would feel perversely counterintuitive and it seems to me that Kagel’s gestures torpedo his concept. A rare own goal; but there’s no doubting the intrigue of the sound world he evokes – an idealised flute concerto that blushes at its own perfection and turns nasty.

Pan, Kagel’s jokey little scherzo for piccolo and string quartet (1985), ends with a gag that will leave any fan of The Magic Flute with a smile on their face. Phantasiestück (1988) – heard here in both Kagel’s original flute/piano version and in a bold reimagining with ensemble – deals with weightier matters. Kagel muses on ‘fantasy’ music by coolly and forensically unpacking clichés of Romantic gesture, creating a fantasy on the idea of fantasies. Faust and Ensemble Contrasts are suitably restrained and deadpan – nothing kills a punchline like laughing before you get there.