Anyone who invested in Piers Lane’s splendidly charismatic Hyperion recording (6/07) of the Piano Concerto by Eyvind Alnæs (1872-1932) will also find much to savour in this enterprising coupling of his two symphonies. Like Grieg, Svendsen and Sinding before him, Alnæs studied under Carl Reinecke in Leipzig, where his First Symphony enjoyed a successful premiere in 1899. A very likeable find it proves, too, a work of no little fluency and craft which reveals an undeniable lyrical gift in the generously songful Adagio slow movement in particular. There are echoes of Grieg, Dvorák and (closer to home) Stanford in this endearing music, which radiates a skip and warm-hearted honesty that make it easy to forgive the occasional lapse into sequential squareness and timid convention. Its successor (completed nearly a quarter of a century later) employs a larger orchestra – the celesta makes an ear-tickling appearance halfway through the first movement – but emerges more as a sizeable suite, albeit full of attractive invention and with rather more in the way of local colour to boot (the finale’s main idea dances to the step of the Norwegian halling).

To be honest, neither symphony operates at anywhere near the same level of exalted inspiration as Svendsen’s but they do make highly diverting listening and many will be well pleased to make their acquaintance, especially when Terje Mikkelsen secures such tidy, bright-eyed results from the Latvian National SO. Copious presentation and vivid sound, too, though the slightly hollow acoustic precludes the last ounce of transparency and bloom. No matter, inquisitive collectors with a sweet tooth can safely investigate.