BIS’s third recording of the four tone poems Sibelius based on the adventures of the hero Lemminkäinen from the Kalevala is another winner. Composed between 1893 and 1897, with revisions to 1939, the cycle is a fascinating, exhilarating mash-up of symphony, suite, recycled operatic prelude and Straussian tone poem. The pieces can be played separately (though only ‘The Swan of Tuonela’ and the finale, ‘Lemminkäinen’s Return’, usually are), but were designed to be played as a whole though, as with Mahler’s Sixth, the order of the central pair of movements is debatable. The published order puts ‘The Swan’ third but most recordings – like this newcomer but not Segerstam and Oramo – opt for the musically more satisfying option of placing it second, before the dramatically intense ‘Lemminkäinen in Tuonela’.

Susanna Mälkki and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra produce well-crafted, beautifully detailed accounts on a par with rival versions – including the Helsinki orchestra’s own with Segerstam (with warm Ondine sound) from the mid-1990s. True, Mälkki takes a more measured view than Segerstam, or Vänskä second time around, but I like her more nuanced way with the less familiar ‘Lemminkäinen and the Maidens in Saari’, which hits its final pay-off – those wonderful pulsing closing chords – spot on. So, again, with ‘Lemminkäinen in Tuonela’, the trickiest to bring off, the expressive heart of which she and the orchestra lay bare with skill. While Neeme Järvi in Gothenburg is more overtly dramatic, there is no lack of poignancy in Mälkki’s ‘Swan’ (beautiful cor anglais solos from Paula Malmivaara) or excitement in the finale, even if some rivals play more to the gallery.

With shades of refinement separating competing versions, the fillers may prove the deciding factor for choice. Where Mälkki provides fine if unspectacular accounts of the Karelia Suite and the orchestral Rakastava (actually, this latter is subtle and rather winning), Oramo offers Spring Song and the Belshazzar’s Feast suite, Vänskä respectively original versions of two of the four movements or The Wood-Nymph, Järvi nothing (his recording of the Karelia Suite was coupled with The Maiden in the Tower – 10/84). BIS’s sound is top-notch, as one expects, making this newcomer highly recommendable.