‘A blistering performance,’ was how The Guardian described this account of Kullervo, caught on the wing at the Barbican last autumn. Sir Colin Davis has recorded Sibelius’s early, uneven and overlong choral symphony very successfully before with the LSO (RCA, 12/97 – nla) but this version supersedes that.

The adrenalin is free-running and the LSO choral contribution is gutsy in expansive tone and sharp Finnish articulation – especially in the spectacular finale. The recording, although extremely vivid in impact, is less than ideal: it is forwardly and artificially balanced, the LSO violins often not flattered, and at its first entry the chorus seems right on top of the listener. One hardly recognises the Barbican acoustic at all. But the soloists are in better perspective, and they are truly excellent, so Slavic in feeling that the singing sounds almost Russian at times, and the orchestral brass has tremendous sonority and impact.

If you want a first-class account, dramatic and powerfully atmospheric, Vänskä’s BIS version with a Finnish choir has the added sophistication of top-flight studio recording and as sound is unsurpassed. But the epic sweep of the new Davis account is irresistible and the LSO CD, with notes and translation, is remarkably inexpensive. I have not heard the mid-price SACD version.