TUBIN: Complete Symphonies

BIS has conveniently packaged Neeme Järvi's epoch-making set of Eduard Tubin's complete symphonies, hopefully giving them a new lease on retail life. In case you haven't been paying attention over the past decade or so, these works constitute as fine a legacy of Scandinavian music as the symphonies of Sibelius or Nielsen. There are some extraordinary masterpieces here, including Nos. 3, 5, 6, and 8, and the performances are every bit as marvelous as the music. The only disappointment is the limply played and distantly recorded account of the serenely beautiful No. 4, taken from a live concert in Bergen, Norway, but it would be churlish to deny this important project the highest recommendation as a result of this one lapse. Fortunately, an excellent new version of the Fourth has just been released on Alba so it's easy to supplement this complete set with that one extra work, and be in Tubin heaven. Not to be missed! --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com