Sibelius: Symphonies 1 & 4
This Sibelius cycle from one of the hometown teams has a lot going for  it and received a very positive critical response. Osmo Vänskä's First Symphony  is probably the fastest in the history of the piece, and very exciting too. The  Fourth, on the other hand, is without a doubt one of the slowest, but it's also  one of the most carefully detailed and shaped. Given the fact that the music is  almost uniformly bleak and creepy, the result is at times quite terrifying. The  Lahti Symphony Orchestra plays this music as if they have something to prove,  and they certainly succeed. This is totally committed, highly accomplished  playing. Demonstration-quality sound, too.--David Hurwitz