The disc begins with one of Sibelius’ greatest poems, Night Ride and Sunrise. Heretofore my favorite recording was the one by L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Horst Stein on Decca. It had all the excitement that Simon Rattle’s rather tepid account with the Philharmonia—coupled with his outstanding Sibelius Fifth—on EMI lacked, but the brass playing could be a little crass at times. With Inkinen, you get the best of both worlds. The “night ride” portion is nearly as exciting as Stein’s and the “sunrise” is much more majestic. This is now my favorite version.

The remainder of the disc is not one whit inferior. The Suite from Belshazzar’s Feast demonstrates that Sibelius could write “exotic” music with the best of them, yet still maintain his unique fingerprints. His orientalism may not be as extrovert as Nielsen’s in his Aladdin suite, but with its greater subtlety makes the more lasting impression. Indeed, the second and third movements, Solitude and Night Music offer much in the way of inward beauty and are really haunting. Likewise, Pan and Echo and The Dryad are examples of the mature Sibelius’ own special brand of impressionism. The New Zealanders woodwinds in Pan and Echo are ravishing, and the rhythmic pointing is infectious. The Dryad is like a chip off the Fourth Symphony in its wonderful strangeness, and its oboe and flute solos—beginning at 1:29 and recurring throughout the work—reminded me of Janáček. The second of the Two Pieces shows Sibelius in his “Spanish” mode when its dance turns to cornets and castanets adding local color. There is a bit of that in The Dryad as well.

If I had to single out anything dispensable on the disc it would be the last two movements of Kuolema that the composer added later to his incidental music to Järnefelt’s play, which seem less inspired than the other works on the disc. No matter. The whole disc merits the highest recommendation for interpretation, performance, and sound. As usual with Naxos, the presentation and notes are very good, too.

Belshazzar is winning and seductive. The Dryad, Tanz-Intermezzo, Pan and Echo and Kuolema with its famous Valse triste and Scene with Cranes, the composer's favourite image from nature, round out the lineup. More from this group, please.

Nightride and Sunrise has long been a favourite work of mine—the galloping forward momentum, with flashes of themes rushing across the musical landscape, the journey we’re taken on. As we approach the sunrise, which is the second half of the work, the music broadens and becomes lighter; with the dawning of a new day the terrors of the night pass. This is truly magnificent stuff. Inkinen and his orchestra convey the ride well, and the relentlessness of the barren landscape through which we are traveling is laid out before us; when dawn breaks there is the most wonderful horn playing, and later, the woodwind figurations are delicate and precise. Towards the end there is the most brilliant climax which Inkinen builds with care and places it perfectly within his concept of the piece as a whole…

Nothing can really follow Nightride and Sunrise and the poor little Pan and Echo doesn’t stand a chance, which is a shame for it is a lovely piece—one of Sibelius’s many examples of light music…It’s a winsome little piece, a gorgeous slow opening section giving way to a bacchanalian dance Belshazzar’s Feast was a play by Hjalmar Procopé, which has sunk without trace…The [Suite’s] four movements are full of mock eastern promise and are wholly uncharacteristic of their composer, but they are very enjoyable nonetheless. But this incidental music pales beside the superb pieces from Kuolema (Death), a play by Sibelius’s brother–in–law Arvid Järnefelt…What is interesting about these four pieces is that they were created from the incidental music and have found places in the repertoire—especially the Valse triste, tinged, as it is, with a bitter sweet melancholy. Scene with Cranes is a very dramatic piece, while Canzonetta is an elegiac movement for stings and the Valse romantique is just that. A Finnish waltz? What will they think of next? These last two pieces are more of Sibelius’s huge catalogue of lighter pieces and they are charming.

Between these two sets of theatre music come two more light miniatures. The Dryad is a peculiar little piece for it has big intentions. There’s a strange chromatic figure which keeps re–appearing on strings and winds, some beautiful muted string music, and a big brass dominated climax near the beginning. It’s strangely static for the music seems suspended in mid air, with no real idea of where it is going, but yet it’s a very complete and satisfying miniature. The following Tanz-Intermezzo is another oddity; part suave waltz, part fandango, complete with castanets.

As with Inkinen’s previous Sibelius disk this is very enjoyable and with the orchestra recorded slightly away from the microphones you can turn up the volume and have a wonderful aural experience for the recorded sound is magnificent. I loved every minute of it and this is a real must have which should not be missed at any cost.

Naxos’s sound combines helpful transparency with plenty of ambient glow, and I for one would welcome more off-the-beaten-track Sibelius from the NZSO/Inkinen team.