These are well-prepared performances, decently recorded, which will serve adequately at super-budget price. The Festive Overture is properly ebullient, and in the concertos Michael Houstoun is a clear and characterful soloist, in a straightforward, commonsensical way. The Concerto for piano and trumpet suffers from some rhythmical stodginess, however, and the finale is short on uproarious panache. The strain shows for the orchestra in the long Adagio from the Golden Age suite, while the infamous “Polka” is too hard-driven and has an untidy ending, although the last of the four movements is first-rate.
For the concertos, Alexeev on bargain-price Classics for Pleasure remains preferable – a strong contender for best modern version at any price, to go with the two available recordings by the composer (on EMI and Russian Disc, both versions being hyper-adrenalized).'