Was I too hard on Christian Sinding’s Second Symphony of 1904 when I first encountered it in August 2000 (‘a dispiriting plod of a work…woefully deficient in melodic freshness…and scored with persistent‚ nigh­on unventilated thickness’)? Well‚ Thomas Dausgaard and his admirably polished Hanover band do their level best to minimise the work’s relative longueurs (phrasing is always shapely and imaginative‚ and Dausgaard’s chosen tempos are more judicious and helpfully flowing than Rasilainen’s)‚ but it’s still emphatically no long­buried masterpiece. Completed in 1892‚ the First Symphony is more to my liking‚ a soundly constructed affair of no mean craft and substance. Neither outer movement perhaps ideally catches fire‚ but the Andante slow movement boasts some striking inspiration (not least that passage beginning at 5'06"‚ where three solo violins soar above the dusky landscape)‚ and the exuberant Scherzo with its brassily festive trio section is also pretty effective. Interpretative honours are more evenly divided here: Dausgaard secures the better drilled orchestral response‚ though I do prefer the extra‚ out­of­doors tang of Rasilainen’s excellent Norwegian Radio woodwind section. CPO’s sound is rich and glowing to match. It’s only fair to point out‚ however‚ that even Sinding’s First tends to pale next to the vernal thematic freshness and wonderfully deft orchestral resource of both symphonies by his elder countryman‚ Johan Svendsen (to which Dausgaard himself has recently so eloquently turned his attention – Chandos‚ 11/01). Yes‚ by all means give Sinding a try‚ but do check out Svendsen first; you won’t be disappointed‚ I promise.