[David Lefeber] has also given some enterprising projects a degree of permanence, such as the activities of the Firebird ensemble, formed in 1988 and conducted by Barry Webb, whose disc of contemporary Italian music stems from a series of concerts they gave outside the Huddersfield Festival. This is a well-planned programme, covering several generations of composers, as well as different styles. The most obvious choices have been ignored in favour of lesser-known figures, thereby showing that the work of Luciano Berio, Luigi Nono and other living Italian composers emerged from a rich context. Luca Francesconi is the youngest composer represented, and his two pieces underline the significance of his output during the past two decades. Plot In Fiction is the better-known of the two and, though a comparatively early work, remains one of his finest achievements. It deserves to give the disc its overall title, but the other composers provide some attractive and fascinating items.