I had not previously realised that Sibelius had scored his Fifth Symphony for male solo and orchestra, but that is the case here. It may not bother others, but it sure bothered me.

I was even more bothered by the slack and eccentric performance, particularly of the finale of the Fifth. For comparison, I put the Decca Blomstedt/San Francisco version on straight afterwards. Pay the extra!

High voltage Sibelius from Davis and the LSO. The build up to the big climax in the 1st movement of the 5th is electric, the LSO strings digging in as if their lives depended on it. The magical transition thereafter is handled with fleet grace by Davis, and the movement wraps up with more fireworks from the fabulous LSO. The slow movement ticks over and the last movement is as grand and stirring as you could ask for. Where Davis and the LSO score in this performance is in the telling detail, and the bold, sweeping interpretation. This is the finest 5th I've ever heard.

LSO + Davis are on top form here. This new Sibelius cycle looks like being his best (the Boston set was excellent, the first LSO set on RCA was less good). Very clear sound, sumptuous playing and some of the pacing, especially in the 5th, is masterfully handled. As with a lot of these LSO live releases, you can hear Davis humming along quite a bit if you listen closely, but its not off-putting to me. No audience noise that I spotted.
At this price its a steal.