This latest recording of Sibelius’s Third gets off to a vital start, with marvellously gutsy playing from the Gothenburg strings...Yet the most exciting performance is of the Kalevala-based tone-poem Pohjola’s Daughter – a piece that can easily fall into a series of picturesque episodes but here, from its brooding opening to its visceral climax, delivered in a single sweep.

[3rd Symphony] The second movement is beautifully if more conventionally done, showing care over inner detail and a continuing sense of enthusiasm. Through personal phrase-shaping the finale sounds more varied and capricious than I’ve ever heard it. [5th Symphony] Rouvali is totally comfortable in the tricky finale, setting a quick pace but controlling every shifting tempo as if spontaneously...an outstanding addition to the overflowing Sibelius catalog.

The orchestral playing is splendidly articulate and expressive throughout, with excellent attention to dynamics and colour.