Norwegian Geirr Tveitt envisioned seven suites of Hardanger Folk Tunes, each comprising 15 numbers (to give 105 in all), but only Nos 1, 2, 4 and 5 have survived. Hitherto, BIS’s fine set of Tveitt recordings has mostly avoided clashing with the excellent Naxos series. With this new release, however, completing the recording of the suites, battle is firmly joined and a tremendous tussle it is. Unlike Naxos, which paired the Fourth with No 1 and the Fifth with No 2, BIS here couples the final surviving pair, with the added bonus of the original version of the rollicking finale– ‘Hardanger Ale’, even more spicily scored – of the ‘Wedding Suite’.

Ruud’s view of this music is refreshing and direct, though he takes more than a minute more than Engeset in the spooky Fifth, ‘Troll Tunes’, despite the latter taking rather longer over the dramatic ‘Doomsday’ finale. Engeset perhaps has the edge in this suite’s other-worldliness, whereas Ruud has it in the lively ‘Wedding Suite’, with its marvellous penultimate movement, ‘Drunken Talk’, a deliciously ironic ‘homage to atonality’ (which Tveitt abhorred). As performances both versions have much to commend them. On one hand is Engeset’s intimate knowledge of the music (he has edited and restored several Tveitt scores), and at a bargain price; on the other, Ruud’s unbounded enthusiasm – inspirationally communicated by his players – with sound as sharp as an iceberg. Each orchestra relishes the exuberant and glittering scoring.

If forced to choose between Engeset and Ruud, this newcomer wins by a hair’s-breadth for its glorious sound, but owners of the Naxos need not feel theirs is in any way inadequate. Recommended.