Kuhlau left his native Germany when Hamburg was overrun by Napoleon's armies in 1810 and settled in Copenhagen. There he made an important contribution to Danish opera and syngespiel, though the bulk of his output (his opus numbers reach 127) is for the piano and, of course, the flute. The present release makes an admirable supplement to Unicorn-Kanchana's earlier issue of the Concertino for two horns and the C major Piano Concerto from the same source (9/91). Only the Overture to The elf's hill (''Elverhoj'') is duplicated. Kuhlau's first syngespiel, The robber's castle (''Roverborgen'') scored a great success in 1814, and its short Overture is represented here along with three overtures from the 1820s, including the intriguingly-named The three triplet brothers from Damascus (''Trillingbrodrerne fra Damask''). As Antony Hodgson puts it in his informative notes, ''the styles of nearcontemporaries flicker across the surface'' of much of the music, and it must be conceded that like so much of Kuhlau, it is fresh and pleasing while it lasts but leaves little lasting impression. The Odense orchestra play with much zest under Othmar Maga in The elf's hill and the Russian conductor, Edward Serov gets spirited playing in the four overtures. The recording is bright and forward with not perhaps quite enough air around the aural image but fully acceptable all the same.'