These are all first recordings, and interest centres on the score Sibelius wrote for Hofmannsthal's morality play, Jedermann ('Everyman') in 1916. The final score comprises 16 numbers and runs to some 40 minutes. Some of the music is fragmentary and hardly makes sense out of context, though most is atmospheric and it's all characteristic. The sustained Largo section for muted, divided strings (track-11), is among the most searching music Sibelius ever wrote for theatre and, artistically, is fit to keep company with The Tempest music. Overall the material doesn't lend itself to being turned into a suite in the same way as Belshazzar's Feast but this recording rescues from obscurity some strangely haunting and at times really inspired music – the last 25 minutes are very powerful.
By all accounts Hjalmar Procopé's Belshazzar'sFeast was a feeble play and when it first appeared, one newspaper cartoon showed the playwright being borne aloft in the composer's arms. There seems little doubt that his name wouldn't be alive if it weren't for Sibelius's music. The latter certainly makes an expert job of creating an effective and (in the case of the 'Notturno') a moving concert suite. The Countess's Portrait (1906) is a wist- ful, pensive and charming piece for strings, which was published only recently. Obviously this is a self-recommending issue of exceptional interest.

Dedicated, sensitive performances from the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, and erxcellent recording...An indispensable disc for all Sibelians.