The Romantic Piano Concerto • 42 : Alnæs & Sinding (Piers Lane~Andrew Litton) (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

For the 42nd issue in its 'Romantic Piano Concerto' series, Hyperion turns for inspiration to Norway and, in a first recording of Eyvind Alnæs's Concerto, they light up the sky like an aurora borealis. Here is music very much for those in love with the most succulent romanticism, with lush, lavishly decorated melodies and a fin-de-siècle array of props. The opening Allegromoderato follows one sumptuous gesture with another and in the central Lento the pianist weaves starry figuration around the orchestra's full-blooded outcry. In the finale all fashionable gloom is cast aside for a rollicking waltz guaranteed to sweep its dancers off the floor. So for those wishing to venture beyond the Grieg or MacDowell concertos such music is heavensent, particularly when played by Piers Lane with such enviable poetry, fluency and aplomb.
Few pianists could have entered into the romantic spirit more infectiously, though even he is hard-pressed to make a convincing case for Sinding's less heart-warming Concerto. Here, the music remains more effortful than inspired, huffing and puffing its way through one inflated gesture after another. Yet listening to Lane in the finale is to be reminded of playing as to the romantic manner born. Andrew Litton and the Bergen Philharmonic are a perfect foil for their scintillating and indefatigable soloist, and Hyperion's sound balance is impeccable. by Gramophone

Alnaes: Piano Concerto in D major, Op. 27

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Andrew Litton
Piers Lane (piano)

Sinding: Piano Concerto in D flat major, Op. 6

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Andrew Litton
Piers Lane (piano)