Alexander Brincken, born in Leningrad in 1952 and Swiss-based since 1992, writes in an accessible and unashamedly late-Romantic language. His grandiose Fourth Symphony of 201415, written for a huge orchestra, has echoes of a number of earlier composers, among them Berlioz, Bruckner, Martin, Wagner and, especially, Franz Schmidt and Richard Strauss, all assimilated into a big-hearted style that blends dignity, lyricism and power, with a strong sense of the Swiss landscapes in which he has made his home. The earlier Capriccio for piano and orchestra a concerto in all but name has, in turn, something of the sober strength and wiry energy of Frank Martin curiously, since it was written seven years before Brincken moved to Switzerland. Rainer Helds recent Sutermeister recording for Toccata Classics was a revelation, and heres proofs that he has not yet run out of symphonic surprises.