Neeme Järvi is “one of those conductors who never quite made it to the leadership of one of the world’s great orchestras but who has made an essential contribution by bolstering symphonic music on the periphery. When he arrived at Gothenberg in 1982 the orchestra was decidedly second division; now its only rival as the leading Scandinavian orchestra is the Oslo Philharmonic, and on many counts it can claim superiority.”