ECM’s fourth release devoted to Tigran Mansurian (75 this year) focuses on his concertante music for string orchestra from the past decade. Most imposing is the Double Concerto, in which violin and cello combine over two movements – the first building to a febrile confrontation before withdrawing into the shadows, then the second bringing a sustained and intense discourse, with the soloists inexorably drawn into the enveloping string textures. Both shorter pieces sound tailor-made for the soloists in question: Romance unfolds as an initially lyrical dialogue whose poise is not regained after an agitated central phase, while Quasi parlando pursues a more discursive exchange well suited to the thoughtful artistry of Anja Lechner.

The emotional acuity of Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s playing is further demonstrated in Four Serious Songs, a concerto whose teasingly oblique assembly of formal elements is evident in a follow-through from the impassiveness of the opening movement, via the increasingly fractious gestures of its successor and the glowering unison writing of the ensuing Allegro (its single minute bringing the only fast music on this disc), to a finale whose inwardness readily affords the serenity implied by its semplice marking.

Throughout the programme, the playing of the Amsterdam Sinfonietta – as directed by Candida Thompson – reinforces the impressive showing from its series of recordings for Channel Classics, while both the spacious yet never remote sound and the detailed booklet-notes are up to ECM’s customary standards. Those intent on exploring the music of this arresting figure could well start here.