One of the recent developments in the history of the Carl Nielsen International Music Competition is that the winners of its three categories – violin, flute and clarinet, after the three instruments for which Nielsen composed concertos – don’t just pick up a €12,000 prize but are also awarded a recording with the Odense Symphony Orchestra on Orchid Classics. This is arguably worth even more in terms of the potential exposure it offers.

Liya Petrova and Jiyoon Lee (joint 2016 winners of the violin competition) have both released discs, as has Sébastian Jacot (2014 flute winner). The most recent violin winner (2019), Johan Dalene, already has an exclusive contract with BIS (and two discs under his belt now) but here are attractive showcase releases by the 2019 clarinet and flute category winners, BlaŽ Šparovec and Joséphine Olech.

Their respective Nielsen concerto is obligatory, which immediately invites comparisons with the eminent likes of Emmanuel Pahud and Martin Fröst, both artistic advisors to the 2019 competition in pre-jury selection. And while neither mounts (at present) a serious challenge to Pahud and Fröst, both offer enjoyable accounts. Olech, a French flautist, has a wonderfully limpid, airy tone and attacks the Allegro moderato opening movement of the Nielsen with plenty of vim. The Adagio ma non troppo section of the second movement has an attractive flow. The Odense Symphony Orchestra (who host the competition) prove the perfect partners, their alert contributions conducted by Anna Skryleva. The bass trombone slides towards the end sound particularly naughty.

Šparovec, principal clarinet of the Gürzenich Orchestra since 2015, has a good, clean tone, although the chalumeau register can be a little tubby in the Nielsen. There’s an occasional lack of urgency to the opening, particularly compared with Sabine Meyer’s more driven account with Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. The Adagio section is nicely shaped, though, while there’s plenty of punch in the finale – where the snare drum menace is reminiscent of Nielsen’s Fifth Symphony – before a calming close.

It’s interesting to see how these two players have chosen to programme their respective discs around the Nielsen, and they take different approaches. Šparovec goes all out for big-name 20th-century concertante works, which certainly makes for an attractive album in terms of repertoire, even if he is entering a crowded field. Debussy’s Première rapsodie opens the disc very ponderously. It is billed as a live recording, the only one on the disc (with Vincenzo Milletarì conducting), although it feels curiously studio-bound and circumspect. Lutosławski’s Dance Preludes, however, have a real spark and pungency – you can feel the adrenalin rush. Copland’s Clarinet Concerto really suits the Slovenian. His narrow, wiry tone is beautifully controlled in the tender opening movement and there is plenty of sass in the jazz-infused finale.

Olech decides to take us off the beaten track, following the Nielsen with concertos by Theodoor Verhey and Jean Françaix. Verhey was born in Rotterdam (Olech is principal flute of the Rotterdam Philharmonic) and was taught composition by Clara Schumann’s stepbrother, Woldemar Bargiel. His Flute Concerto No 1 in D minor is a delightful, if brief (13-minute) work, in Romantic vein if minus Brahmsian weight; Olech plays the Allegro alla zingarese finale with great felicity.

I had not heard the Françaix Concerto before but it is everything one would expect, light-hearted and bursting with joie de vivre. It was composed for the great Jean-Pierre Rampal in 1966. Olech presents it in the best possible light, her sparkling articulation aiding the carefree atmosphere. It’s a concerto without any great depths, but there’s no harm in music that is purely fun and it makes a fine end to this appealing disc.