Eyvind Alnæs’s Piano Concerto (1915) has charm aplenty. The Norwegian composer’s score is tuneful and opulently orchestrated, and the virtuoso piano-writing is often dazzling. It’s impressive for its craftsmanship, too, the myriad ideas developed and interwoven with a sure hand. What’s disconcerting is an occasionally jarring juxtaposition of mood and emotion. Listen to the end of the first movement’s central development section (beginning around 8'15"), for example, and how Alnæs screws the tension tighter and tighter, building a climax of Tchaikovskian intensity that leads to nothing more than a flippant recapitulation of the opening theme. Or take the end of the darkly lyrical slow movement, where an even more gripping climax this time subsides into eerie stillness – a spell that’s rudely broken by the ditzy waltz theme of the finale. The result of these ill-fitting joins is a patchwork effect that undermines the work’s structural integrity and narrative coherence.

This is the second recording of Alnæs’s concerto, and while excellent, it’s perhaps a touch sober in comparison with the joyous exuberance of Piers Lane and Andrew Litton (Hyperion). Håvard Gimse conveys a delightful sense of improvisatory freedom in some passages but Lane makes the complex piano part flow more easily, giving the music a much-needed feeling of inevitability.

Alnæs’s First Symphony (1897), composed following his studies with Reinecke in Leipzig, is less characterful but more cohesive than the concerto. The two inner movements are very fine, particularly the solemnly expressive Adagio with its aching harmonies and inventive orchestration (try at 6'15", where the upper strings are divided into delicate strands). Certainly Eivind Aadland and the Oslo Philharmonic make a more compelling case for this work than Terje Mikkelsen and the Latvian National Symphony (Sterling), and LAWO’s close-up recording adds to the musical impact.